Physics teachers go back to school at CERN

CERN held the third of its programmes for physics teachers during the first weekend of May. This was the occasion for the presentation of the second 'CERN Education Award'.

The fifty physics teachers who came to CERN to find exciting ideas to stimulate the interest of their pupils hardly had a spare minute during their three-day stay, which included a detailed tour of CERN, and different seminars. From their visit, which lasted from the evening of 29 April until 2 May, they came away with information on the latest developments in physics and a host of new ideas for teaching the subject (see Bulletin 11/2002).
'One of the reasons why I wanted to take part in the programme was to gain a better understanding of today's big physics projects and the results of the latest research,' explains Luigia Cazzaniga, a teacher from Italy. 'As a physics teacher, I wanted to make my pupils aware of the importance of the research done at CERN, both from the point of view of pure knowledge and on the technological front. I teach at a technical school and my pupils are not especially keen on abstract theories. However, when I told them that I was taking part in CERN's programme for physics teachers, it motivated them to take part in the project I had in mind.'
In the framework of the CERN Education Award competition, Luigia Cazzaniga took her pupils to a laboratory run by Milan University's physics department. There they took part in their first particle physics experiment to study the tracks left by alpha particles in a cloud chamber. A total of three scientists, six secondary school teachers and seven classes were involved in the project, which was the winner of the CERN Education Awardù (accompanied by the sum of CHF 1 000). CERN's Director-General, Robert Aymar, personally presented the prize to the Italian teacher. All in all, the teachers certainly have something to be proud of.