LEGO Chart of Nuclides: Inspiring Future Physicists

Nuclear Physics is crucial in many branches of medicine and for power generation, as well as being a large area of fundamental research. However, it often has negative connotations and the subject is not well understood. The present project aims to use a hands-on LEGO activity to engage school students and teachers with the underlying principles of nuclear physics and to allow them to discover how these fundamental properties of matter lead to the development of applications. By demonstrating the links between Nuclear Physics and areas such as astrophysics, fusion and fission energy, medicine, and accelerator technologies, the project aims to inspire a new generation of nuclear physicists.

Teachers and school students will be introduced to the topic by active STFC researchers, who will be trained in public engagement to allow them to communicate their research effectively to non-specialists. A high researcher to student/teacher ratio will ensure that all participants will have the opportunity to speak to a researcher on an individual basis, and thus learn first-hand what modern nuclear research entails. The opportunity for students, in particular, to meet current researchers and find out about cutting edge science aims to both dispel myths and encourage the students to continue to study Physics to a higher level.

Teacher workshops will be developed and delivered in association with the National Science Learning Centre and, in addition to being curriculum linked, will include current developments in the field and will highlight the role of STFC facilities, including CERN-ISOLDE, GSI-FAIR, GANIL-SPIRAL2, and GAIA.

The project will initially run as a pilot project and has the potential to be expanded into a national programme for teachers, with resource kits (including the LEGO) available on loan.

Initial awareness raising of the project with schools will be through the network of schools already engaged with Physics outreach from the University of York. Currently 50 secondary schools across Yorkshire are signed up to the mailing list, and further schools can be contacted through the Institute of Physics and Ogden Trust networks. Teachers will be recruited by the National Science Learning Centre, which gives the project national reach. In addition, in utilising the activity for courses run at the National Science Learning Centre, we are not only introducing teachers to this resource, but workshop leaders and observers from a range of backgrounds including other Universities and STFC facilities.

Project details will be disseminated through e-news from the STFC Particle and Nuclear Physics Outreach Officer and to other Universities through the network of Ogden Science Officers, which span Universities across the UK. A report on the project will be delivered in the July 2016 meeting of the group, of which Katherine Leech is a member. Good practice will also be communicated through the Institute of Physics (IOP). Christian Diget is a member of the IOP Nuclear Physics Group and sits on the committee of the Astroparticle Physics Group, and Katherine Leech sits on the Yorkshire Branch Committee. We hope that, in engaging a range of organisations in the project at this pilot stage, they may become more involved should the project be rolled out nationwide in the future.

Members of the project team will be easily contacted through the University of York's webpage, which will have a page dedicated to this project. Our evaluation data will be made available through this to enable other groups to set up similar projects. Resources developed will also be available to download from the site, and will be disseminated to teachers through the National Science Learning Centre and National STEM Centre e-library.