30 minute lesson plan

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1	30 Minute Lesson Plan
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3	Name:	Hannah Seymour		Date:	1/14/2013	House:	West
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5	Essential Question: Why is finding supersymmetric particles an important task for physicists to undertake?			Objectives: What exactly supersymmetry is, the basics of the Standard Model, basic principles of quantum mechanics, what the vacuum energy is and why it's a problem.
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7	Category		Guide
8	Introduction		We live in a nice, cushy universe, not too hot, or too cold, perfect for life. Very stable. Or do we? According to the math, the universe should have killed us a long time ago.
9	Verification (Steps to check for student understanding)		• Beginning of Presentation: Is light a particle or a wave? What is smaller than an atom? Smaller? • End: What is the difference between bosons and fermions? How do they couple in supersymmetry? Why is there a vacuum energy according to quantum mechanics?
10	Body (Give and/or demonstrate necessary information)		• Literal: Here I will explain the Standard Model and the particles it contains, the difference between bosons and fermions, their properties, and the force carriers. I will go in-depth mostly about the Higgs Boson. Then, I will explain the vacuum energy and the underlying principles in quantum mechanics that say there is a vacuum energy. I will tell them why it is a problem that we have a (theoretically) very large value for the vacuum energy. Then I will explain supersymmetry. I will explain boson-fermion coupling, spin, and particle vs. wave. I will show them how pure supersymmetry gives us a vacuum energy of 0 and spontaneously broken supersymmetry gives us a value close to 0 (and what the difference between the two is.) I will explain using words and equations. • Interpretive: The existense of supersymmetry could offer an answer to why we even exist and what the eventual fate of our universe is. In fact, their existense could determine how long we are here for. Supersymmetry offers what physicists love the most-neatness, order, and stability. • Applied: Discovering supersymmetric particles would mean experimental evidence for an answer to one of physics' most pressing questions. And because the LHC hasn't yet found them, this means huge opportunities for both theoretical and experimental physicists to strike.
11	Visuals		I will show a couple of clips from "Through the Wormhole" which is an entertaining show and how I first became interested in supersymmetry. I will have a PowerPoint showing the particles of the Standard Model and their basic properties. Other than that I will use the board to draw diagrams and write equations. As for my essential question, I will display that on a drawing of an event diagram (which are the pictures of "particles" you see from the LHC.)
12	Activity (Describe the independent activity to reinforce this lesson)		• What is the activity: Particle scavenger hunt and matching game to ensure the continuation of the universe. • How it will be done: I will hide stuffed particles around the room and break the class into three groups to find them. These will be supersymmetric particles, And I will have a "master set" of regular Standard Model particles. Each of these will have an information card. The groups will have to match the supersymmetric particles to their Standard Model counterparts based on the info on the cards. This will ensure that the vacuum energy does not boil the universe away! The most sucessful group will earn chocolate "Nobel Prizes." • What materials will be used: Felt, glue, googly eyes (to make the particles,) notecards, chocolate, ribbon (for the medals)
13	Three Important Sources		Three Important Sources 1. Lisa Randall, Warped Passages. Although this is really a book about string theory and extra dimensions, Randall presents a very easy to understand explanation of supersymmetry and its implications that is accurate enough for scientists and consise enough for laypeople. 2. John Terring, Modern Supersymmetry: Dynamics and Duality. This book is also very consise but more mathematically detailed than Randall's, and gives the best mathematical explanation of how supersymmetry and spontaneous breaking affect the vacuum energy. 3. Howard Baer, Vernon Barger and Azer Mustafayev, Implications of a 125 GeV Higgs scalar for LHC SUSY and neutralino dark matter searches. This paper gives a very good explanation of how a light Higgs Boson constrains SUSY parameter space and encouraged me to move ahead with the ideas I have.
14	Conclusion		The universe is very mysterious, and she doesn't yield her secrets easily. But the more and more we delve in, the more and more layers we uncover, the more tiny things like supersymmetric particles we see, working away to keep us in existence. So rejoice and be glad, brethren. Someone other than our mothers wants us around!
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