High School Teachers at CERN: Teaching units

Array It was a program that poked fun at both media frenzy and the effects thereof (anybody remember the Welsh Pediatrician who was chased from her home after the News of the World’s name and shame campaign?) and media whore B-list celebs who will do anything for publicity and cash, to the extent that they don’t even listen as their spastic words tumble out of their mouths.Secondly, it very effectively embarrassed the relevant governmental spokesmen and women who rushed to condemn it before having to admit that they hadn’t actually seen it (although in fairness one could accept that David Blunkett is not really very likely to see anything…). Bearing in mind that the Treasury was probably intended to cause gasps of delight at the sheer range of artifacts and objects of unutterable beauty, a brisk walk around the room was enough to make me feel sick with anger at and loathing of the Catholic Church. There are hundreds of the damned things worldwide, and if we suppose that each one only held treasures a tenth of the value of those found in Seville then on can see that the Catholic Church must have a value running into billions, if not trillions (trillion= 1000 billion) of pounds. Shit, the stuff can be replaced with gold leaf and costume jewelry and nobody would know the difference.Of course, this will never happen, as all artifacts are needed for the greater glory of God. It was vast and gothic in it’s appearance, and at every corner there was some piece of tourist guide scribble reminding us that the building was completed in God’s name and for His glory, as if somehow it wouldn’t have been possible to build the damn thing without His blessing! Yes, it is an amazing achievement that so huge and imposing a building could have been constructed over 500 years ago but it was mankind who built it, not God (unless I’m mistaken; The fact that it was done in the name of a religion doesn’t make it any greater and to say that it does is to downgrade the importance of those two monuments I have just mentioned, the latter of which was built in the name of Freedom and the former as a monument to a great Pharaoh. Probably that the Treasury proved to me that the words of the Catholic church are hollow and meaningless when it comes to their claims that one can have a better life when one has faith. Even the ticket I had to buy to get into the Cathedral made the proud boast that 60% of the price would go on building (and presumably outfitting) new churches.
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****DISCLAIMER: if this entry is about you, I don’t mean to be mean or anything, just truthful. if you feel insulted, go ahead, stop reading my diary. whatever.****Today when I signed on, I got one of those messages that you get from MSN Messenger when someone adds you to their contact list, which gives you the option of blocking them from seeing when you’re online. I always feel kind of bad blocking people, although I pretty much always do when I have no idea who they are.Then I got a notification that this person had sent me some email. So I thought, hey, cool, maybe there’ll be some kind of note telling me who they are, how they found out about me (most likely through this diary), and maybe they’ll be a cool person and I’ll unblock them.Turns out, I was immediatly glad that I had blocked them, and I just became more and more thrilled as the minutes passed. This person (in my estimate, about 13 years old) had sent me four…count ‘em, FOUR chain e-mails (oh, and not a single personal note explaining why on earth I, someone who has never even seen her name, was receiving them from her). I promptly blocked her email address so as to not receive any more.The thing is, they were STUPID ones, like, if you send this to 6 people, the taco bell dog will run down your street, if you send it to 8, then ronald mcdonald will beat him up. anyone who believes that that would, or COULD happen AT ALL, let alone because of an email, is, I’m sorry, stupid.The others were about friendship. FRIENDSHIP. I’ve never HEARD of this person before in my life. The kicker for me was the second one, which consisted of an unspeakably stupid poem, if you can call it that, about friendship, and then this:*SEND THIS TO ALL YOURFRIENDS AND BACK TO THEPERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU…IF YOU GET IT BACK…THATPERSON IS YOUR TRUE FRIEND!!*PASS THIS ON AND YOU WILLRECEIVE ONE BIG KISS FROM YOUR CRUSH!!!SEND IT TO THIS MANY AND GET:0)NEVER GET KISSED AGAIN1)GET A PECK ON THE FORE HEAD2)GET A PECK ON THE CHEEK3)GET A PECK ON THE LIPS4)GET A KISS5)GET A LITTLE TONGUE6)GET A LOT OF TONGUE7)GET SOME TONGUE WITH A HUGNot only is this stupid (how is *a hug* suddenly THE ULTIMATE, beyond tongue????), but obviously whoever sent me this hasn’t even read my whole diary, and if they have, they don’t understand the concept of fiance, or getting married or Im twenty years old”. I dont know whether I should be laughing or puking.link

I thought for sure you would be here by your due date, and as I was encouraged by the losing of the mucus plug, I was equally discouraged at the thought of having to wait two more weeks! I told your Dad about it and he was excited! Alex, a friend of Popi’s, came over with his baby girl, and I watched and played with her while your Dad, Popi and Alex got the cobra chassis onto a truck to be taken to the shop. Afterwards your Dad and I went to the mall to walk around and try to coax you out. I had pepperoni and green peppers and your Dad had chicken. I wanted to be the only one to write in your baby book, as I wanted it to be consistent handwriting, your Dad didn’t understand. Around midnight I asked your Popi what we should do, he told me to go get some sleep, so we did. I went and woke up Popi and told him what was happening. I went downstairs and woke up your Dad. Penny (the nurse) called back and then told us to head in to the hospital. The nurse came in and checked me. Popi came in and we told him the good news! They asked me for my insurance card, I had forgotten it at home so Popi went home to get it. The nurses and your Dad helped me out of bed and onto the ball at the end of the bed. I sat on it and leaned forward resting my head on my hands as your Dad rubbed my back. The nurses were telling me that I would probably deliver around Noon. I sat up and chatted with your Dad. I rested and listened to some music, while your Dad slept a little bit in the chair next to me. Popi had left at this time to get Abuela. The nurses asked me if it was pain or pressure I was feeling, I said more like pressure. I had your Dad call Abuela and Popi, as I was now very nervous they wouldn’t make it in time for the delivery. The nurses were setting up the room and the one nurse had me start practice pushing. Dr. Jenkins had gone to another hospital so the nurses were trying to find a doctor to deliver you! I started pushing and Abuela and Popi walked in the door! Your Dad cut the cord. I missed seeing it because the nurse said you were a girl and I turned to Abuela and kept saying, “Mom, I got my girl! During that time I was getting stitched up and your Dad was with you. Once they nurses had your wrapped up, your Dad brought you over to me.
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The school was just outside of Boston, Massachusettes. It took us 6 hours (283 miles) to get to our hotel in Dedham, Massachusettes. August 11, 2001We drove to Quincy, Massachusettes to see President John Adams and President John Quincy Adams graves. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get back to Dedham, Massachusettes due to the lack of traffic now.We ate dinner at Joe’s Bar & Grill. There wasn’t a pool table like in Cheers but there was a pool table, it was on the ceiling.Back at the hotel we stopped in the lobby to ask what time they thought we would have to leave in the morning in order for me to get to school. School was about 5 miles away and class started like at 8:30 AM. We know traffic is bad here in the Boston area but an hour to go 5 miles? I won’t do that again.While I was in school, Peter drove to Bryant College and the New England Patriots Training Camp. There was more rain after dinner.August 14, 200172 DegreesAgain today Peter dropped me off at school and headed for the New England Patriots Training Camp. Peter picked me up from school and we ate at a Pizza Uno. The food was very good.August 15, 2001We checked out of our hotel and headed back home via South Deerfield, Massachusettes and the Yankle Candle Factory.
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I go first to the counter and quickly finish, but linger around after to make sure Jenn has no problems.Again, as we come into view of the baggage section, I see the gigantic suitcases. But this time they are all strewn about, because here, there is no luggage carousel except for a small chute that spits out the luggage onto a small conveyor belt and since the baggage are so many, passengers end up grabbing and removing the clogged belt so more can come out of the chute. We are conscious of the baggage boys attempting to handle our baggage for a fee, so we politely say no to them as we get to the arrival crowd.I still remember waiting in the arrival crowd as a kid, and the shear excitement generated just to see people arrive. the excitement created by arriving passengers.In planning this trip, Dennis and Denise, our family friends insist we stay with them, so we are now looking for Dennis or maybe Mike his business partner, in the crowd. It’s very dark on the roads, so I have to look closely for landmarks by memory. Ricks&Sari sign is still located at the first ninety-degree bend in the road after we leave the airport, and later I see the T-intersection where the public road and the Sosedyk/Linden Highway meet. To my left, as I pass the intersection, are the stalls used by fruit vendors to sell pineapple, bananas, papaya, mangoes and other fruits to the heavy passenger traffic that uses the road to and from both destinations.The public road is twistier than I recall and is more pronounced as Mike makes sudden swerves to avoid dogs and other animals coming out onto the road. It is not uncommon to see cows wandering onto the road either, and in extreme cases, the animals would actually lie on the road. At this time of day in the week, the entertainment part of this street is simply hopping with people, and the road is congested with parked cars. Socializing does not get any better.Just as I think Mike is turning on to Ogle airstrip road, he makes a U-turn at the intersection, and heads back again in the city direction, then makes a left into Oleander Gardens and within one hundred yards we are at the Dias’s.
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Teaching units in form of powerpoint presentations:CERN CERN for teachersModern physics Measuring momentum in bubble chamber picturesTeaching velocity using bubble chamber picturesNobel Prize Winners in Particle PhysicsQuarks for beginnersEnergy, temperature and time scales in the UniverseSemiconductors in High Energy PhysicsThe quest for the smallest particlesCreated by [1] Esperanza Garcia-Carpintero (Spain), Leonor De Miguel (Spain), [2] Kevin McClean (Ireland), [3] Seija Valtonen (Finland), [4] Dora Wagner (Germany) and Miguel Vieira(Portugal), [5] Dora Wagner (Germany), [6] Giovanni Romano (Italy), [7] Eliana Jimenez(Equador), [8,9,10] Wim Peeters (Belgium)

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Array It was a program that poked fun at both media frenzy and the effects thereof (anybody remember the Welsh Pediatrician who was chased from her home after the News of the World’s name and shame campaign?) and media whore B-list celebs who will do anything for publicity and cash, to the extent that they don’t even listen as their spastic words tumble out of their mouths.Secondly, it very effectively embarrassed the relevant governmental spokesmen and women who rushed to condemn it before having to admit that they hadn’t actually seen it (although in fairness one could accept that David Blunkett is not really very likely to see anything…). Bearing in mind that the Treasury was probably intended to cause gasps of delight at the sheer range of artifacts and objects of unutterable beauty, a brisk walk around the room was enough to make me feel sick with anger at and loathing of the Catholic Church. There are hundreds of the damned things worldwide, and if we suppose that each one only held treasures a tenth of the value of those found in Seville then on can see that the Catholic Church must have a value running into billions, if not trillions (trillion= 1000 billion) of pounds. Shit, the stuff can be replaced with gold leaf and costume jewelry and nobody would know the difference.Of course, this will never happen, as all artifacts are needed for the greater glory of God. It was vast and gothic in it’s appearance, and at every corner there was some piece of tourist guide scribble reminding us that the building was completed in God’s name and for His glory, as if somehow it wouldn’t have been possible to build the damn thing without His blessing! Yes, it is an amazing achievement that so huge and imposing a building could have been constructed over 500 years ago but it was mankind who built it, not God (unless I’m mistaken; The fact that it was done in the name of a religion doesn’t make it any greater and to say that it does is to downgrade the importance of those two monuments I have just mentioned, the latter of which was built in the name of Freedom and the former as a monument to a great Pharaoh. Probably that the Treasury proved to me that the words of the Catholic church are hollow and meaningless when it comes to their claims that one can have a better life when one has faith. Even the ticket I had to buy to get into the Cathedral made the proud boast that 60% of the price would go on building (and presumably outfitting) new churches.
link

****DISCLAIMER: if this entry is about you, I don’t mean to be mean or anything, just truthful. if you feel insulted, go ahead, stop reading my diary. whatever.****Today when I signed on, I got one of those messages that you get from MSN Messenger when someone adds you to their contact list, which gives you the option of blocking them from seeing when you’re online. I always feel kind of bad blocking people, although I pretty much always do when I have no idea who they are.Then I got a notification that this person had sent me some email. So I thought, hey, cool, maybe there’ll be some kind of note telling me who they are, how they found out about me (most likely through this diary), and maybe they’ll be a cool person and I’ll unblock them.Turns out, I was immediatly glad that I had blocked them, and I just became more and more thrilled as the minutes passed. This person (in my estimate, about 13 years old) had sent me four…count ‘em, FOUR chain e-mails (oh, and not a single personal note explaining why on earth I, someone who has never even seen her name, was receiving them from her). I promptly blocked her email address so as to not receive any more.The thing is, they were STUPID ones, like, if you send this to 6 people, the taco bell dog will run down your street, if you send it to 8, then ronald mcdonald will beat him up. anyone who believes that that would, or COULD happen AT ALL, let alone because of an email, is, I’m sorry, stupid.The others were about friendship. FRIENDSHIP. I’ve never HEARD of this person before in my life. The kicker for me was the second one, which consisted of an unspeakably stupid poem, if you can call it that, about friendship, and then this:*SEND THIS TO ALL YOURFRIENDS AND BACK TO THEPERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU…IF YOU GET IT BACK…THATPERSON IS YOUR TRUE FRIEND!!*PASS THIS ON AND YOU WILLRECEIVE ONE BIG KISS FROM YOUR CRUSH!!!SEND IT TO THIS MANY AND GET:0)NEVER GET KISSED AGAIN1)GET A PECK ON THE FORE HEAD2)GET A PECK ON THE CHEEK3)GET A PECK ON THE LIPS4)GET A KISS5)GET A LITTLE TONGUE6)GET A LOT OF TONGUE7)GET SOME TONGUE WITH A HUGNot only is this stupid (how is *a hug* suddenly THE ULTIMATE, beyond tongue????), but obviously whoever sent me this hasn’t even read my whole diary, and if they have, they don’t understand the concept of fiance, or getting married or Im twenty years old”. I dont know whether I should be laughing or puking.link

I thought for sure you would be here by your due date, and as I was encouraged by the losing of the mucus plug, I was equally discouraged at the thought of having to wait two more weeks! I told your Dad about it and he was excited! Alex, a friend of Popi’s, came over with his baby girl, and I watched and played with her while your Dad, Popi and Alex got the cobra chassis onto a truck to be taken to the shop. Afterwards your Dad and I went to the mall to walk around and try to coax you out. I had pepperoni and green peppers and your Dad had chicken. I wanted to be the only one to write in your baby book, as I wanted it to be consistent handwriting, your Dad didn’t understand. Around midnight I asked your Popi what we should do, he told me to go get some sleep, so we did. I went and woke up Popi and told him what was happening. I went downstairs and woke up your Dad. Penny (the nurse) called back and then told us to head in to the hospital. The nurse came in and checked me. Popi came in and we told him the good news! They asked me for my insurance card, I had forgotten it at home so Popi went home to get it. The nurses and your Dad helped me out of bed and onto the ball at the end of the bed. I sat on it and leaned forward resting my head on my hands as your Dad rubbed my back. The nurses were telling me that I would probably deliver around Noon. I sat up and chatted with your Dad. I rested and listened to some music, while your Dad slept a little bit in the chair next to me. Popi had left at this time to get Abuela. The nurses asked me if it was pain or pressure I was feeling, I said more like pressure. I had your Dad call Abuela and Popi, as I was now very nervous they wouldn’t make it in time for the delivery. The nurses were setting up the room and the one nurse had me start practice pushing. Dr. Jenkins had gone to another hospital so the nurses were trying to find a doctor to deliver you! I started pushing and Abuela and Popi walked in the door! Your Dad cut the cord. I missed seeing it because the nurse said you were a girl and I turned to Abuela and kept saying, “Mom, I got my girl! During that time I was getting stitched up and your Dad was with you. Once they nurses had your wrapped up, your Dad brought you over to me.
link

The school was just outside of Boston, Massachusettes. It took us 6 hours (283 miles) to get to our hotel in Dedham, Massachusettes. August 11, 2001We drove to Quincy, Massachusettes to see President John Adams and President John Quincy Adams graves. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get back to Dedham, Massachusettes due to the lack of traffic now.We ate dinner at Joe’s Bar & Grill. There wasn’t a pool table like in Cheers but there was a pool table, it was on the ceiling.Back at the hotel we stopped in the lobby to ask what time they thought we would have to leave in the morning in order for me to get to school. School was about 5 miles away and class started like at 8:30 AM. We know traffic is bad here in the Boston area but an hour to go 5 miles? I won’t do that again.While I was in school, Peter drove to Bryant College and the New England Patriots Training Camp. There was more rain after dinner.August 14, 200172 DegreesAgain today Peter dropped me off at school and headed for the New England Patriots Training Camp. Peter picked me up from school and we ate at a Pizza Uno. The food was very good.August 15, 2001We checked out of our hotel and headed back home via South Deerfield, Massachusettes and the Yankle Candle Factory.
link

I go first to the counter and quickly finish, but linger around after to make sure Jenn has no problems.Again, as we come into view of the baggage section, I see the gigantic suitcases. But this time they are all strewn about, because here, there is no luggage carousel except for a small chute that spits out the luggage onto a small conveyor belt and since the baggage are so many, passengers end up grabbing and removing the clogged belt so more can come out of the chute. We are conscious of the baggage boys attempting to handle our baggage for a fee, so we politely say no to them as we get to the arrival crowd.I still remember waiting in the arrival crowd as a kid, and the shear excitement generated just to see people arrive. the excitement created by arriving passengers.In planning this trip, Dennis and Denise, our family friends insist we stay with them, so we are now looking for Dennis or maybe Mike his business partner, in the crowd. It’s very dark on the roads, so I have to look closely for landmarks by memory. Ricks&Sari sign is still located at the first ninety-degree bend in the road after we leave the airport, and later I see the T-intersection where the public road and the Sosedyk/Linden Highway meet. To my left, as I pass the intersection, are the stalls used by fruit vendors to sell pineapple, bananas, papaya, mangoes and other fruits to the heavy passenger traffic that uses the road to and from both destinations.The public road is twistier than I recall and is more pronounced as Mike makes sudden swerves to avoid dogs and other animals coming out onto the road. It is not uncommon to see cows wandering onto the road either, and in extreme cases, the animals would actually lie on the road. At this time of day in the week, the entertainment part of this street is simply hopping with people, and the road is congested with parked cars. Socializing does not get any better.Just as I think Mike is turning on to Ogle airstrip road, he makes a U-turn at the intersection, and heads back again in the city direction, then makes a left into Oleander Gardens and within one hundred yards we are at the Dias’s.
link

Teaching units in form of powerpoint presentations:CERN CERN for teachersModern physics Measuring momentum in bubble chamber picturesTeaching velocity using bubble chamber picturesNobel Prize Winners in Particle PhysicsQuarks for beginnersEnergy, temperature and time scales in the UniverseSemiconductors in High Energy PhysicsThe quest for the smallest particlesCreated by [1] Esperanza Garcia-Carpintero (Spain), Leonor De Miguel (Spain), [2] Kevin McClean (Ireland), [3] Seija Valtonen (Finland), [4] Dora Wagner (Germany) and Miguel Vieira(Portugal), [5] Dora Wagner (Germany), [6] Giovanni Romano (Italy), [7] Eliana Jimenez(Equador), [8,9,10] Wim Peeters (Belgium)

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