| The origins and properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays form one of most puzzling enigmas in current particle physics and astrophysics. CHICOS contributes to the research in this field and involves students and teachers in the process of scientific discovery. | |
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High Schools Focus on the Extreme Universe
May, 2006.
Read this article (free, no registration) in the archives of the CERN Courier.
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Forging a Cosmic Connection Between Students and Science
4 November 2005
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Cosmic Rays Bombard L.A.
January, 2005. 'California Students Solving Cosmic Mysteries'
Scanned article (best quality at high zoom):
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Astrophysics Brings Together California Schools and Scientists
March 10, 2004. 'The hands-on experience of soldering wires together helped Mimi An better understand previous lessons she had learned about electricity, she said. "Doing this project made me like science more," said the 18-year-old senior, who describes herself as "not a science person."'
html article
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Teens Helping to Uncover Universe's Secrets
November 26, 2003. '[San Fernando Middle School teacher Bart Lennehan] talks excitedly about the prospect that his students will learn about electrons and protons and the physics of the universe. But this work, he says, also offers a chance to teach about discovery for discovery's sake.'
html article
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Monitoring Cosmic Rays
November 20, 2003. 'Astrophysicists from the California Institute of Technology enlisted help from San Fernando Middle School students Wednesday in the tracking of cosmic rays -- an ambitious quest to further unravel mysteries of the universe.'
Link to html article
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On the Trail of Cosmic Rays
September 30, 2003.
'Of the many mysteries in the universe, one of the most vexing is the origin
of high-energy cosmic rays. These tiny particles travel at almost the speed
of light, passing through the warp of space and time almost unimpeded. No
one knows where they come from or how they're formed. ... Southern California
high schools may hold the answer.' |
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Caltech
Partners With Local High Schools To
Measure Subatomic Shrapnel
January 31, 2003. "One of the things I like to show the students and teachers is that this really is a current and ongoing research project," says McKeown, "so it's not an exercise out of a textbook but real science." |
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New York Times
article about school-based cosmic ray observatories.
November 5, 2002. "The teachers have really helped us debug the system," said Robert McKeown, a California Institute of Technology physics professor who is working with 23 schools in the Pasadena area and the San Fernando Valley and has 20 more schools waiting to join. |
visit Discover |
Does the Very Existence of Cosmic Rays Defy the Laws of Physics? September, 2003 Discover Magazine's up-to-date look at the mystery of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. |
![]() visit Discover |
Discover
Magazine's Top Unanswered Questions February, 2002 Understanding where cosmic rays originate and how they obtain such high energy is the number 5 question in Discover Magazine's list of top 11 unanswered questions. |
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CHICOS article in the CSU-Northridge student paper, the Daily
Sundial. "The basic point of this program is that it's not your usual educational project. Our goal is to bring high school teachers and student participants into cutting-edge research."
Ryoichi Seki |
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CHICOS article in the TIGER, the South Pasadena High School student
paper. Science Building Roof Carries More Weight
Dean Papadakis |