Last week saw the conclusion of the 12th edition of IceCube After School, an annual program hosted by the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) that exposes local high school students to astrophysics. Over the course of eight weeks, twenty-one participants gained hands-on experience running their own experiments, from project planning through data collection and analysis.
For the second straight year, WIPAC partnered with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Physics Department and their Outreach Fellows program, where three graduate students volunteered for IceCube After School.
Participants learned about the IceCube Neutrino Observatory from guest speakers and were introduced to topics such as data taking, statistics, and computer programming. Students also designed and ran their own experiments using tabletop Cosmic Watch muon detectors.
“This program gave students not only the opportunity to explore topics they won’t see in a normal high school curriculum, but also to design their own experiments with the Cosmic Watches,” says Rachael Lancor, a research program coordinator at Madison Country Day School and lead educator for the program. “Even though some of their experiments didn’t get the results they expected, they learned a lot from an experience that left them wanting to do more science, which I really think is the best possible result!”
The program culminated in an evening where students presented posters of their experiments in front of fellow participants and their family members.
“This year’s program truly simulated what it’s like to be a researcher: participants learned key physics concepts, then planned for and ran an experiment,” says Ellen Bechtol, outreach program manager at WIPAC who helps run and organize IceCube After School. “To fit this into eight weeks is a testament to the enthusiastic support of the teaching leads and volunteers and to participant engagement.”