The following graduate course is available at CSU Dominguez Hills for CHICOS teachers .

    1) Physics 595 (3 unit credit)
    "Cosmic Rays and Elementary Particles"

This is a graduate level course in the rudiments of particle physics and cosmic ray/astroparticle physics. Undergraduate classes in modern physics (quantum mechanics and special relativity) and in math methods in physics are required, although modern physics will be reviewed. Teacher-members of the CHICOS (Cosmic Ray) Collaboration should find this course particularly useful and stimulating.

If interested please contact Ken Ganezer

The following graduate courses are available at CSU Northridge for CHICOS teachers .

    1) Science 595C (3 unit credit)
    "Physics and Astronomy of Cosmic Rays for High School Teachers"

    2) Science 595N (3 unit credit)
    "Nuclear Science for High School Teachers: from Basic to the Fontier"

Outlines of the courses are described below. If interested, please contact R. Seki.
Note that the course credits could be used toward a MS degree in Science Education from College of Education, CSUN.

The following graduate courses on basic physics are also available from Department of Physics and Astronomy, CSUN.

    1) Physics 595A (2 units)
    "Mechanics and Heat for High School Teachers"

    2) Physics 595B (2 units)
    "Electromagnetism and Waves for High School Teachers"

    3) Physics 595C (3 units)
    "General Physics for High School Teachers"


       1) SCI595C : PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY OF COSMIC RAYS FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS

The course will be taught, mostly based on self-paced learning,  in connection with the CHICOS project. All CHICOS work (including activities in the high school classroom) by the participants will count towards credit for the course.

A) Text Books:

  1. 1) The participants are strongly encouraged to read first during the summer 2001 :
      2. "Cosmic Rays" by Michael W. Friedlander (Harvard Univ. Press,Cambridge, 1989).
      A new edition is scheduled to appear in September or October 2000.
  2. 2) Additional  materials will be discussed, some chosen from
      3. "Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics" by Thomas K. Gaisser (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990).
       
    The other materials may be taken from:
     
      1) PhD thesis of Masahiro Takeda, "Extremely High Energy Cosmic Rays Observed with AGASA"
      (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, 1998).

      2) Various published papers, for example:
       

        a) J. W. Cronin, T. K. Gaisser, and S. P. Swordy,
        "Cosmic Rays at the Energy Frontier,"  Sci. Am. Jan. 1997, pp44-49.

        b) J. W. Cronin,
        "Cosmic Rays: the Most Energetic Particles in the Universe,"
        Rev. Mod. Phys. Vol. 71 (1999) pp S165-172.

        c) M. Nagano and A.A. Watson
        "Observations and implications of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays"
        Rev. Mod. Phys. Vol. 72, (2000) pp 689-732.


B) Background References:

          1) Hands-on experiments in nuclear science:
             "ABC's of Nuclear Science Directory: Glossary of Nuclear Science Terms"
                     at  http://www.lbl.gov/abc/
          2) Basic nuclear physics:
             "A Teacher's Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart,"
             1998 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP, 1998).

          3) Basic particle physics:
               "Quarks, Leptons, and the Big Bang,"  Jonathan Allday
               (Institute of Physics Pub., Philadelphia (1998)),
               or
               "The Ideas of Particle Physics," by G. D. Coughlan and
               J. E. Dodd, 2nd ed. (Cambridge Univ. Press, (1994)),
               or
               "Femtophysics: A short Course on Particle Physics,"
               by M. C. Bowler (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1990).
               The second and third are more advanced.

          4) Others:
             a)"The Discovery of Subatomic Particles" by Steven Weinberg,  Scientific American Library
                (W. H. Freeman and Co., 1983).
             b)"From Quarks to the Cosmos" by Leon M. Lederman and David N. Schramm,
                 Scientific American Library (W. H. Freeman and Co., 1989).
             c)"Particles and Forces at the Heart of the matter"
                by Richard A. Carrigan, Jr. and W. Prter Trower,  W. H. Freeman & Co., N. Y. 1990).
 

C)  Samples of Topics:

      I. Introductory review
         a. Nuclear physics:
            Basic structure of atomic nuclei.  Radioactivities.  Basic laws of nuclear reactions.
         b. Particle physics.
            Baryons and mesons.  Lepton species.  Four fundamental  interactions.  Standard model.
         c. Astronomy.
            Solar system.  Galaxies.  Matters between galaxies.  The big  bang.  Microwave background.

     II. The sun and neutrinos
         a. The origin of the sun's energy.  Energy balance in the sun.  Solar neutrino problem.
         b  Neutrino mass and the fate of the universe.  Neutrino oscillation.  Neutrino detection.

    III. Cosmic rays in the galaxy.
         a. The origins of cosmic rays.  Acceleration mechanism.
         b. Energy spectrum.  Interaction with magnetic fields.
         c. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays.  Interaction with the microwave background.
             Possible origins of ultra-high energy cosmic rays.

     IV. Detection of cosmic rays.
         a. Airshowers.  Composition and cascade.
         b. Detection methods.  Detection grid networks, present  and future.

      V. Observation of ultra-high energy cosmic rays.
         a. Survey of the network: AGASA, Fly's eyes, Auger, and  WALTA and ALTA
         b. Properties and analysis of airshowers generated by  ultra-high energy cosmic rays

  I and II are preliminary.  We will spend most of time on III - V.


  2) SCI595N: NUCLEAR SCIENCE FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS:
      FROM BASIC TO THE FRONTIER

Nuclear physics/chemistry and their applications will be discussed. The emphasis is placed on enhancing and deepening participants' understanding of basic physics listed in Science Content Standards by State Board of Education, State of California.

The topics that will be covered include the key aspects of nuclear science: nuclear structure, radioactivity, fission, fusion, solar energy, and the origin of the elements. The frontier research problems that are currently under intense investigation will also be discussed, such as quark-gluon plasma, proton cancer therapy, solar neutrinos, and the neutrino mass and the fate of the universe.

In addition to the standard lectures, group discussions and individualized tutoring and projects will be the essential parts of the course. 1) Homework problems will be assigned to cover all physics items in Science Content Standards. They will will be discussed in class and will be explained further in individualized tutoring. 2) Under the supervision of the instructor, each participant will work on a project and will make a presentation to the class on 12/4. The projects are either hands-on experiments, which participants could bring back to their classrooms, or research on various frontier topics.

Internet will be used extensively for close communication as an integrated part of the course.

COURSE OUTLINE The following nuclear science and basic physics topics (in parentheses) are covered:

    I. Basic structure of the atom and atomic nucleus. Discovery of the nucleus: Rutherford's experiment.
    (Velocity, acceleration, and force. Gravitational force. Coulomb force. Circular motion.)

    II. More on structure of atom. Structure and radioactivity of the nucleus.
    (Basic concept of quantum physics. Waves. Force due to electric and magnetic fields.)

    III. Nuclear reactions. Fission and fusion. Solar energy.
    (Laws of energy and momentum conservation. Relativistic energy. Temperature, heat, and energy.)

    IV. The origin of the elements. Nuclear astronomy.
    (Laws of thermodynamics. Entropy.)

    V. The search for heavy elements. Accelerators.
    (More on momentum and energy conservation laws and on force due to electric and magnetic fields. Ohm's law.)

    VI. Neutrino and its mass. Quarks and gluons. Basic structure of the universe. The beginning and fate of the universe.
    (Properties of waves. Electromagnetic waves, Doppler effect.)

    VII. Radiation in the environment, Proton cancer therapy.

Note: The basic physics topics above are taken from the State Science Content Standards by State Board of Education, State of California (Pre-publication version: www.cde.ca.gov/board/ science.html) and cover basically all entries in Physics in the Standards and some in Chemistry and Earth Sciences.

Text: "A Teacher's Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart,"
1998 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP).

Hands-on experiments: "ABC's of Nuclear Science Directory:
Glossary of Nuclear Science Terms" at http://user88.lbl.gov/NSD_docs/abc/home.html

Supplementary texts:
"The Discovery of Subatomic Particles" by Steven Weinberg,
a Scientific American Library (W. H. Freeman and Co.,1983).

"From Quarks to the Cosmos" by Leon M. Lederman and David N. Schramm, a Scientific American Library
(W. H. Freeman and Co., 1989).

Various articles from the Scientific American and the Physics Today will be used for participants' projects.