Thanks to the EEE project, eight lucky students from three high schools: “S.G. Calasanzio” in Carcare (SV), “Nicoloso da Recco” in Recco (GE) and “Maserati” in Voghera (PV) had the privilege of travelling to CERN, in Ginevra, in order to carry out five days (13th -17th March) of school-work alternation.
The project “EEE – science inside schools” consists of a special research activity about cosmic rays, wanted by Antonino Zichichi, sponsored and managed by the Fermi Center in Rome, in collaboration with CERN, INFN and MIUR, with the crucial contribution of teachers and students.
The three high schools are part of a group of one hundred schools, of which fifty-two are equipped with a muon detector.
The important task of building the three chambers of which the detector is composed was assigned to the students, so that they could realize how high-precision instruments can be built with poor materials.
The whole school-work alternation took place in the laboratories of CERN, allowing the students to cooperate with researchers of the most exclusive research place in the field of particle physics.
The detector will be transferred and installed in Genova and the schools will cooperate to control its proper functioning , will take part in scheduled measurements and will care about data analysis.
This challenging, stimulating and unique opportunity allowed the students to come into contact with the typical working methods of a laboratory: dealing with new problems, finding suitable solutions for every situation, making them responsible for the different steps of the construction. In addition, this experience allowed them to improve their English skills and it represented an important opportunity to work as a team.
Prof. M. Occhetto
