Outreach
The Cockcroft Institute is committed to the public understanding of science, and the communication of the scientific work of the Institute to the wider community. We can provide scientific talks and visits to clubs and education establishments by Institute staff, and will organise outreach activities at the Institute throughout the year.
We work closely with the Daresbury Laboratory Science in Society team to support school visits, and to deliver the annual Particle Physics Master Class which is held in March during national science week. We can also arrange tours of the ALICE energy recovery linac prototype accelerator for interested schools and groups.
The Big Bang Fair
Graeme
Burt and Adrian Hannah show some interested schoolchildren how an accelerator
works.
The Cockcroft Institute staff have been demonstrating to the public how
particle accelerators work at ‘The
Big Bang’ science fair in Manchester on the 11th-13th March this
year. The Cockcroft Institute staff created and manned a stand called ‘Particle
Accelerators’ which demonstrated the major components of accelerators:
electric and magnetic fields, charged particle beams and vacuum systems.
The small 3x5 metre stand was packed full of interesting demonstrations such
as steering electron beams using electric and magnetic fields in a fine beam
tube, a magnetic accelerator which accelerates an iron rod to 60 mph in only
5 centimetres, and a huge array of vacuum experiments in a bell jar, including
demonstrating the triple point of water, where water freezes and boils at
the same time. Also the stand included a pair of the EMMA quadropole magnets
and a 3D walkthrough of the ALICE accelerator at Daresbury Laboratories.
There was a constant stream of interest from schoolchildren, teachers and
the general public at the stand who were all eager to use some of the hands-on
exhibits on display.
…read more »
We support the Lab in a Lorry programme run by the Institute of Physics, and the annual Physics Olympics run by the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool.
Work Experience - Matthew
Work experience - Katherine
Contact
For bookings, contact Alan Brown by email
or telephone on 01925 603488
For further information contact Dr Lee Jones, cioutreach@stfc.ac.uk
Departmental outreach contacts in the Cockcroft Institute
ASTeC: Sue Waller sue.waller@stfc.ac.uk
STFC: Alan Brown alan.brown@stfc.ac.uk
Lancaster Physics: r.lewsey@lancs.ac.uk
Lancaster Engineering: g.neville@lancs.ac.uk
http://www.engineering.lancs.ac.uk/schools/
Liverpool: tara@hep.ph.liv.ac.uk
Manchester: David.Bailey-2@manchester.ac.uk
Other masterclasses in the Cockcroft Institute:
http://www.hep.lancs.ac.uk/Schools/Masterclass.html contacts:
r.lewsey@lancaster.ac.uk H.Fox@lancaster.ac.uk
Tel: + 44(0)1524 593616
http://www.hep.manchester.ac.uk/u/masterclass/masterclass2009/
David.Bailey-2@manchester.ac.uk Tel: + 44 (0)161 2754177
http://www.scitech.ac.uk/PandS/Events/DL/public/pp.aspx
stfctalkingscience@dl.ac.uk + 44 (0)1925 603040
Alan.brown@stfc.ac.uk +44(0)1925 603488
Physics Olympics
http://www.liv.ac.uk/physics/olympics/index.html ajb@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk
Resources for schools
http://www.hep.lancs.ac.uk/Schools/HighSchools.html
http://lppp.lancs.ac.uk/
http://www.liv.ac.uk/physics/resources/schools/index.html
And elsewhere in the UK
http://www.particlephysics.ac.uk/teach/master-classes/2009.html"
http://www.iop.org/activity/outreach/Resources/Physicists_and_
Primary_Schools_Project/page_5784.html
Further afield: Stanford Linear Accelerator Virtual Visitor Centre
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/Default.htm
