Speaker
Ivan Melo
(University of Zilina (SK))
Description
International Particle Physics Masterclasses are successful in motivating high school students. However, it is a one day event and some of the students are ready to go deeper into the realm of particle physics. In the Cascade competition (developed at University of Birmingham) teams of 3 - 6 high school students work for several weeks on projects on projects of their choice with the help of mentors - volunteers from the HEP community and their teachers. Then they make 20 minute presentations in their schools, record them and send videos to organizers. The best teams are selected by the jury and given appropriate prize.
Experience from the UK and Slovakia shows that this is a very good format to engage students. They enjoy team work and public presentation. About 40% of participants are girls. The competition is easy to organize since presentations at schools do not require presence of the organizers. Winning projects have a solid scientific content and can be fun to watch. Team members are often interested in pursuing a physics career a the competition helps them to establish contacts with the HEP community.
Primary author
Ivan Melo
(University of Zilina (SK))
