QuarkNet Cymru
Lead Research Organisation:
Swansea University
Department Name: College of Science
Abstract
This project aims to enthuse secondary school students in STEM activities through engagement in real hands-on astrophysics experiments - measuring cosmic rays (high energy particles travelling through space) using detectors based in schools.
Building on a currently-funded Welsh Government grant to pilot the use of an array of cosmic detectors in schools across South Wales (which began in Jan. 2016), this project will:
* Develop and provide a range of educational resources based upon particle physics and linked to the Physics curriculum in schools (WJEC in Wales). This will include paper-based resources, interactive resources and also a roadshow for schools-based workshops
* Work with scientists involved in this area of STFC science to gather advice on the current state of this research, and also to help them disseminate their work to a wider audience
* Develop and maintain a website which will both act as a repository of the resources for using the detectors in the classroom, but also as a collaborative learning space where schools can upload their data and work together to analyse their results
* Develop and run a teacher CPD programme for teachers across Wales to come and learn about particle physics research and how they can become involved in the QuarkNet Cymru project
* Train undergraduate and postgraduate students from Cardiff and Swansea Universities in science communication and the contents of the QuarkNet Cymru programme, so that they can help deliver the programme in local schools, act as role models for the school students, and also aid the teachers with the practical aspects of the project
* Develop a particle physics equipment 'loan scheme' where schools from across Wales can apply to borrow smaller items of kit which can be used for experiments in their classrooms.
This project will be the first of its kind in Wales, building on an existing STEM programme, HiSparc/QuarkNet, operated by the University of Birmingham (with Bristol, Bath and Glasgow).
Building on a currently-funded Welsh Government grant to pilot the use of an array of cosmic detectors in schools across South Wales (which began in Jan. 2016), this project will:
* Develop and provide a range of educational resources based upon particle physics and linked to the Physics curriculum in schools (WJEC in Wales). This will include paper-based resources, interactive resources and also a roadshow for schools-based workshops
* Work with scientists involved in this area of STFC science to gather advice on the current state of this research, and also to help them disseminate their work to a wider audience
* Develop and maintain a website which will both act as a repository of the resources for using the detectors in the classroom, but also as a collaborative learning space where schools can upload their data and work together to analyse their results
* Develop and run a teacher CPD programme for teachers across Wales to come and learn about particle physics research and how they can become involved in the QuarkNet Cymru project
* Train undergraduate and postgraduate students from Cardiff and Swansea Universities in science communication and the contents of the QuarkNet Cymru programme, so that they can help deliver the programme in local schools, act as role models for the school students, and also aid the teachers with the practical aspects of the project
* Develop a particle physics equipment 'loan scheme' where schools from across Wales can apply to borrow smaller items of kit which can be used for experiments in their classrooms.
This project will be the first of its kind in Wales, building on an existing STEM programme, HiSparc/QuarkNet, operated by the University of Birmingham (with Bristol, Bath and Glasgow).
Planned Impact
Results will be disseminated through various means, including the relevant university/STFC press offices (local news stories about the events, workshops etc.), and in particular any scientific research work that project participants contribute to. We will also write articles for relevant STEM education journals (e.g. IoP, ASE and IAU).
We will promote this project through various mechanisms, targeting local, regional and UK-wide STEM bodies that allow information on the project to be delivered direct to target audiences (primarily schools). This will be done through direct contact with education authorities (via university Marketing depts. etc.), teachers and schools on e.g. the FTP user database, and through our extensive personal contacts and networks. Roberts and Roche have many existing networks and connections with relevant STEM educational bodies that will ensure the project is broadly publicised to both formal and informal education sectors.
Both FTP and Space Made Simple have extensive contact lists of schools with whom they have previously worked, and will be able to promote the project through this and associated social media accounts. The FTP and Space Made Simple teams already make extensive use of social media (notably Facebook and Twitter), and relevant STEM forums such as PTNC. These provide additional routes to engage with teachers in particular. The team have many contacts in STEM education across the UK, and anticipate that other education partners may become involved across Wales, and nationally through the existing HiSparc work being carried out by university staff in Birmingham, Bristol, Bath and Glasgow.
We will work with relevant professional bodies across the UK (e.g. ASE, IoP, ESERO-UK and several Royal Societies), looking for opportunities to expand the programme in future. We have extensive contacts within various bodies associated with teacher training, and would be able to deliver CPD sessions to PGCE science students in Cardiff Met, Swansea Met, Swansea and Aberystwyth universities.
In particular, we will be working with the Welsh Assembly Government's National Science Academy (NSA) programme, which has funded the hardware for the large QuarkNet Cymru project. Through the NSA (directly into the Dept. of Education and Skills), we will have contact with schools throughout Wales, and also with other STEM education programmes that they fund (e.g. the IoP Lab in a Lorry). This ensures we can communicate with the relevant teachers and other educators who might be able to further publicise or participate within the programme.
We will promote this project through various mechanisms, targeting local, regional and UK-wide STEM bodies that allow information on the project to be delivered direct to target audiences (primarily schools). This will be done through direct contact with education authorities (via university Marketing depts. etc.), teachers and schools on e.g. the FTP user database, and through our extensive personal contacts and networks. Roberts and Roche have many existing networks and connections with relevant STEM educational bodies that will ensure the project is broadly publicised to both formal and informal education sectors.
Both FTP and Space Made Simple have extensive contact lists of schools with whom they have previously worked, and will be able to promote the project through this and associated social media accounts. The FTP and Space Made Simple teams already make extensive use of social media (notably Facebook and Twitter), and relevant STEM forums such as PTNC. These provide additional routes to engage with teachers in particular. The team have many contacts in STEM education across the UK, and anticipate that other education partners may become involved across Wales, and nationally through the existing HiSparc work being carried out by university staff in Birmingham, Bristol, Bath and Glasgow.
We will work with relevant professional bodies across the UK (e.g. ASE, IoP, ESERO-UK and several Royal Societies), looking for opportunities to expand the programme in future. We have extensive contacts within various bodies associated with teacher training, and would be able to deliver CPD sessions to PGCE science students in Cardiff Met, Swansea Met, Swansea and Aberystwyth universities.
In particular, we will be working with the Welsh Assembly Government's National Science Academy (NSA) programme, which has funded the hardware for the large QuarkNet Cymru project. Through the NSA (directly into the Dept. of Education and Skills), we will have contact with schools throughout Wales, and also with other STEM education programmes that they fund (e.g. the IoP Lab in a Lorry). This ensures we can communicate with the relevant teachers and other educators who might be able to further publicise or participate within the programme.
| Description | Partnership between Oriel Science and the National Waterfront Museum |
| Organisation | National Museum Wales |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Oriel Science was invited to curate "Super Science Saturday" on 10th March 2018. We arranged for 21 Swansea University exhibitors to showcase their research to the public. 2,000 visitors attended the day. We repeated this exhibition on 10th March 2019 where we had over 20 exhibits and arranged around 6 public talks. The footfall for this event was 3,600 in just 5 hours. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The National Waterfront Museum was the host of this event. |
| Impact | The footfall for this event was 1,987. Some feedback is below: Good Morning, We had a fantastic event! ...and a huge thank you to you all too. The partnership with Oriel Science and Swansea University made it an exciting, and dynamic event, and the buzz in the Museum was great. I hope you all had a chance to rest up on Sunday. Best wishes Miranda Miranda Rose Berry-Bowen Swyddog Digwyddiadau / Events Officer Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau National Waterfront Museum Ffon/Tel 02920 573620 www.amgueddfacymru.ac.uk www.museumwales.ac.uk |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Title | HiSPARC installed on Swansea University roof |
| Description | HiSPARC is a detector for cosmic rays, and is linked to a national database where all HiSPARC detectors across the world can store and log data, ready for analysis by students. |
| Type Of Technology | Detection Devices |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | This HiSPARC detector will be used by schools in the Swansea area, as well as undergraduate students, investigating the abundance of cosmic rays. We have an undergraduate student currently working on making this detector 'talk' to the national network, and hope to have this running (with lesson plans etc for teachers) soon. |
| Title | Production of a "portable HiSparc" |
| Description | MSc Physics students at Cardiff University have produced portable, modified and smaller, more schools-friendly HiSparc detectors. These will be used in schools workshops and possibly as loan equipment as part of this small award. |
| Type Of Technology | Detection Devices |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | This equipment has been taken into schools for example workshops/talks but has not been loaned out yet. |
| Description | IOP Rugby Schools event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We had a presence at the IoP Rugby School event (07/06/18) but that was mainly through 2 external people who ran 2 x 45 min. CPD sessions, about the CERN@school project but mentioned QuarkNet Cymru and the equipment scheme (MX10s, Muon Observatories and QuarkNet detector). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Oriel Science (science exhibition centre) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In September 2016, Swansea University pioneered a unique way to engage with the community by opening Oriel Science, an imaginative, interactive gallery showcasing our research. We created a hands-on pop-up science centre in a large disused shop in Swansea's city centre, staffed by Swansea University's own student ambassadors. Oriel Science welcomed 17,000 visitors from all sectors of the community, many of whom had no previous interaction with the University, or its research. The diversity of our visitors, from across the South Wales community, was the envy of larger, iconic museums such as National Museums Wales. We ran talks, workshops and a school's programme, inspiring younger visitors to choose STEMM subjects at school, developing pathways to STEMM degrees in University, and enhancing the scientific literacy of all. The three key features of Oriel Science were its: • location: in the heart of the community, on the pedestrianised shopping mall, • exhibits: concentrating on current research performed in our own University, • vibe: arty, interactive and visceral. Our exhibits were designed to be accessible, informative and interactive igniting our visitors' curiosity, making them pause, engage and think. Oriel Science is the UK's first university-run, research-led science centre. It is designed for passers-by to see, feel and touch University research; a place where researchers and the community converse; a shop-front for the University in the community. By providing a venue, marketing and a guaranteed footfall, we removed many hurdles that researchers confront when contemplating outreach activities, and encouraged our colleagues into public engagement, some for the first time. It builds on our University's civic responsibility strategy - our institution was founded 1920 to support the local community's metallurgy industry and this social focus is being re-energised as the University approaches its centenary. The Oriel Science project was designed and delivered by a small, but dedicated group of Swansea University academics, students and professional staff. The gallery was launched on 10th September 2016 to coincide with the British Science Festival, hosted by Swansea University. Our call to researchers for ideas connected to our exhibition's theme of "Time" resulted in 15 exhibits which filled our large, 400 square-metre venue. These included: • A "Back to the Future" DeLorean Sports Car and a "Tardis" complemented by a scientific description of time travel, • Time-lapse video of a 30 storey high glacial calving event in Greenland, • Display of 1GB of information using different storage devices: 3,000 paperback books; a 2 metre stack of floppy disks; 1.5 CD's; and an SD memory card, • Mock-up of CERN's Large Hadron Collider, • A collection of particle detectors: a cloud chamber, "muon cosmic ray observatory", an MX10 silicon detector and a number of hand-held geiger counters, • Animation of time dilation near black holes, • Display showing how historic atmospheric compositions can be extracted from tree rings, • A 100 foot-long "Time Wall" animation of the Universe's history from the Big Bang to the present day. A special gallery component was our "Future Wall". Visitors wrote their ideas for the future on coloured paper which were hoisted up a two-storey internal wall to form an audience-curated artistic exhibit. This spawned its own twitter bot illustrating our guiding principle: to build a venue where both academics and the community co-contribute to the gallery content. During school holidays we hosted University groups showcasing their research: e.g. the medicinal use of maggots, and how the ecological benefits of the Swansea Tidal Lagoon can be maximised - which encouraged and included visitor input. Crucially, by placing our venue in the heart of the community, we achieved significant reach in our visitor demographics and built an engaging University gallery which was welcoming to all. This is evidenced from our visitor statistics. A postcode analysis showed that our visitors exactly matched the profile of the Swansea community based on the "Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation" socio-economic indicator. Our visitor demographics were similarly gender- and age-balanced. From our surveys: • 98% would recommend us to a friend • 95% learnt more about science • 97% thought our location was "great" Significantly, 40% of our visitors had not set foot on a University campus - proving that we created a gateway between the community and our institution. Alongside our public openings, we welcomed 16 schools and 900 students on organised trips where we delivered age-specific activities relating to their curriculum. Swansea University (£80k), Welsh Government (£52k), the STFC (3 awards totaling £26k) and EPSRC (£12k) Research Councils funded our project, as did the Swansea Business Improvement Group. We closed in June 2017 when our rent-free premises was leased to a restaurant chain. Since this time, we have run a number of events such as an exhibit in the Swansea Science Festival in September 2017 and several "Big Bang Cymru" Schools Fairs. Also, on 10th March 2018, we curated the Super Science Saturday event in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. This attracted 2,000 visitors and hosted 21 exhibits showcasing the research including a new exhibit showing "spaghettification" near black holes, plus our usual particle detector exhibits. We featured on the front page of the South Wales Evening Post, developed a significant social media presence and were interviewed on ITV Wales, BBC Radio Wales, Bay TV and numerous times on the Swansea Sound radio station. We've received many testimonials: From a teacher: "Thank you for enthusing the children and making them see that science is fun! Diolch" From a pupil: "I want to do more science workshops!" From a visitor: "Good, central location, great to see something different and interesting in the city centre" Oriel Science's tagline succinctly summarises our mission: "Showcasing Science in the Community". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
| URL | http://orielscience.co.uk |
| Description | PGCE Student CPD |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A QuarkNet Cymru CPD session took place on 26/2/2018 at Cardiff Met University, delivered to the 7 PGCE secondary Physics teacher trainees. The aim of this was to give them information on the project and to find out what sort of resources they would find most helpful to be produced by us for them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Public Stargazing Live event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | QuarkNet Cymru had instruments on display at the "Stargazing Live" National Museum of Wales, Cardiff event which was attended by approx. 1,800 visitors. We had a display with equipment on show and information about the project to disseminate to the general public, but specifically to teachers who attended the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | QuarkNet Cymru Schools Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with Science Made Simple, 9 x 1 hour QuarkNet Cymru workshops were held in 13 schools across Wales, reaching a total audience of 315 students and 13 teachers. The workshops was aimed at KS4 and KS5 students covering topics such as particle physics and some atomic physics and astronomy. It was presented to a range of ages between 13 and 18 years. The challenge with presenting to younger audiences (under 16) was that their knowledge of particle physics was limited. This would require more time spent discussing the structure of an atom and some topics in astronomy/astrophysics. This was done by asking more questions and gaining some insight of what they already know about particle physics and astronomy. For all the audiences, it was difficult to explain some of the detection methods e.g. Cherenkov telescopes, as it requires quite an in-depth understanding of advanced physics, or at least good GCSE level/A-level physics. The audience was always surprised by the detectors, although the portable system is still quite 'raw'. It could be improved by having a neat container for the circuitry and some improvement on the aesthetics of the detector plates. The teachers were very impressed with the system and by the talk. They liked the presentation of physics, particle physics and astronomy, and how it gave students, in Welsh and English, some application of what they could do with qualifications in physics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2015,2018 |
| Description | QuarkNet Cymru Schools Workshops - Swansea |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with Oriel Science, 13 QuarkNet Cymru workshops were held in 14 schools and Swansea University, reaching a total audience of 674 pupils. The workshops were aimed at KS2 - KS4 pupils. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | QuarkNet Cymru Talk - Running club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A 1 hour talk on QuarkNet Cymru, particle physics and atomic physics and astronomy was given to a local running club in Cardiff. There were 20 attendees. Presenting to a running club which contained 20 people with a range of abilities presented challenges. It was necessary to go over basic atomic structure, some electromagnetism and then build up to particle physics and cosmic rays. It was also difficult to explain some of the detection methods e.g. Cherenkov telescopes, as it requires quite an in-depth understanding of advanced physics, or at least good GCSE level/A-level physics. The audience was surprised by the detectors, although the portable system is still quite 'raw'. It could be improved by having a neat container for the circuitry and some improvement on the aesthetics of the detector plates. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | QuarkNet Cymru Twitter account |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A twitter account @QuarkNet_Cymru was set up in Sept 2016 and regularly tweets information regarding the project or related-science. Since then there have been 4959 impressions (individuals who have viewed the tweets), with the peak being in March 2018 when Sam Gregson gave a talk on hunting for the Higgs at Swansea University, and we tweeted about it. The purpose is to disseminate information on the project and highlight particle physics related work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/QuarkNet_Cymru |
| Description | TeachMeet event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | SR gave a presentation at the local 'teachMeet' event attended by 15 teachers from local schools (to Swansea University). The aim was to disseminate interest in the project and gather details of interested particpants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Teacher CPD |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 12 secondary school teachers attended a CPD event in Cardiff University where the QuarkNet Cymru project was introduced. The main aim was to let teachers know about the project. This sparked questions afterwards about the project and there was a clear interest in the teachers in becoming involved or learning more. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |