Tag Archives: Higgs boson theory

Public Museum creates a ‘bang’ of a show for Chaffee Planetarium on Higgs boson

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

Imagine taking a complicated theory such as the Higgs boson and creating a 30-minute film that not only provides an explanation of the theory and its importance for all ages to understand but developing a component that children with autism would also enjoy.

 

That is exactly what the Grand Rapids Public Museum did with its recently released original production “Subatomic,” now showing at the museum’s Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium.

 

“The show focuses on arguably the most significant scientific discovery in the last 50-75 years,” said Grand Rapids Public Museum President and CEO Dale Robertson. “We tend to think about science having great discoveries happening a long time ago: Newton’s theory of gravity in 1676, Einstein’s theory of relativity in 1915.”

 

Museum visitors check out the pinball-style interactive exhibit demonstrates how the Higgs boson was discovered.

British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs proposed a theory in 1964 that stated that a field exists joining everything and giving it mass. For about the next 50 years, the scientific community set about to prove this theory with more than 10,000 scientists around the world collaborating. In 2012, the largest machine in the world, a Large Hadron Collider, discovered the Higgs boson. It also has been nicknamed “the God particle” because it’s said to be what caused the “Big Bang Theory” that created the universe many years ago but more importantly to the scientific community, it gives validity to The Standard Model of Physics, the authoritative theory for particle physics. There is also hope that the Higgs boson will help shed light on other mysteries such as dark matter.

 

“It is a very difficult concept but we are trying to do now particularly with the passage of our millage and promise to the community is to really bring significant discoveries and significance happenings to the world right here locally to Grand Rapids and doing it in a partnership way,” Robertson said.

 

And just like international collaboration that took place to discover the Higgs boson, there a large collaboration with groups like Hope Network and Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design along with a couple internationally know scientists with local ties.

 

“So this really is the biggest of big sciences but here is what is great about it two West Michigan natives were among the scientists who collaborated worldwide to discover the Higgs boson,” Roberton said, adding that Dr Jacob Bourjaily, a theoretical physicist at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and a graduate of Forest Hills and Dr. Brian Winer, chair and professor of physics at Ohio State University and a graduate of Ottawa Hills High School, participated in the project.

 

“Both have shared with us right up front that they have very fond memories of coming on school tours [to the Public Museum], with their parents and so forth on weekends to see planet shows,” Robertson said. “It was inspiring to them as a child growing up and lead to a path that they chose for their career.

 

“We know that we touch lives here at the museum and we know that we touch lives here at the planetarium, which is exactly what it exists to do,” Robertson said.

 

Visitors look at how mass is created.

Touching lives is part of the reason why Museum officials purposefully focused on those with autism developing a program that would be particularly appealing to the autism population from the theory of universal design learning and improving the experience for everybody, Robertson said. “Subatomic” has three parts with a live presentation with the planetarium presenter right in the middle of the room talking to the audience. Then there is the full dome presentation with the audience exiting out to the hands on activities focused on specific principles.

 

“We learned through our Hope Network partnership that with certain principles, it begins the gears turning and then to immediately go into something that has multi-sensory, active learning engagement helps make that visceral, cerebral connection that will lead into increased learning,” Robertson said about offering the hands on portion after the film’s showing. Activities include a pinball-style particle collider that allows guests to try their hand at having two balls shoot through a wire frame and collide.

 

“I have been absolutely amazed with the groups here and the partnerships that takes something that is very complex and make it very accessible and is one of those great things that has happened in our life time,” “Robertson said. “Being able to take it in and understand and beginning to relate to it…I have seen it three to four times, and continue to want to comeback because I find it that inspiring.”

 

“Subatomic” is part of the Chaffee Planetarium’s regular schedule. Planetarium shows are $4 with regular admission and $5 for planetarium only. Museum members receive free admission to planetarium shows. The program meets middle school curriculum as it does explore such scientific concepts as gradational waves and atoms and the program can be reserved for school groups and field trips. For more information, visit www.grpm.org.

 

GR Public Museum launches new, original production in Chaffee Planetarium

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) is pleased to announce that it will open a brand new original production in the Chaffee Planetarium on Oct. 21. The show, titled Subatomic, will take visitors through the discovery of the Higgs boson, a scientific quest solved in our lifetime.

 

Subatomic will take viewers on a journey of scientific discovery. In 2012, after a 48-year search and the construction of the world’s largest machine, more than 10,000 physicists celebrated the discovery of the Higgs boson, an elusive subatomic particle crucial to physics and existence itself. Learn more about this important discovery, and how it fits into humanity’s quest for unraveling the secrets of the universe.

 

Subatomic will include a produced portion, followed by a live and interactive portion with a planetarium staff member, and hands on components just outside the Chaffee Planetarium to demonstrate the concepts highlighted in the show. The entire show will be 30 minutes in length.

 

Subatomic was developed through collaborations between the GRPM, scientists, and local experts specializing in serving neuro-diverse audiences. It will be part of the daily schedule of shows in the Chaffee Planetarium upon its launch.

 

For scientific accuracy, the Museum worked with academic advisors Dr. Jacob Bourjaily, theoretical physicist at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Dr. Brian Winer, Chair and Professor of Physics at The Ohio State University, and Dr. Reinhard Schwienhorst, physics professor at Michigan State University. Numerous interns and staff helped produce the show with assistance from Kendall College of Art and Design for audio and sound editing. Subatomic is narrated by Grand Rapids’ own Adrian Butler.

 

“It is exciting to be part of a project like this” said Prof. Brian Winer, of The Ohio State University. “I was pleased to be one of the many experts the Museum worked with for the development of this show, which undoubtedly covers one of the important scientific discoveries in our lifetime – the Higgs boson. This show is a great way to bring a complex idea involving physics to the general public.”

 

The Museum also partnered with Dr. Mira Krishnan and Hope Network at the beginning of the show’s development, discussing the creation of an experience that would resonate for children with autism. Dr. Krishnan made recommendations for how the GRPM could visually enhance the show for these unique learners. As a consequence, a shorter show was developed, with some specialized graphics to emphasize complex scientific concepts in different ways, a live presentation was created to complement and reinforce the show, and hands-on activities were developed for students and Museum visitors to learn more scientific concepts in kinesthetic ways outside of the planetarium.

 

“I first approached the Museum looking for ways to make our community more accessible to people with differences. I was really overwhelmed with the Museum’s support for this,” said Dr. Mira Krishnan, a clinical neuropsychologist. “The Museum’s focus on universal design gave us a really common language to make Subatomic more autism and learning difference friendly. Beyond that, I did applied physics before I became a psychologist, so being a part of this particular project is an amazing dream come true for me, because it brings together so many of my passions!”

 

“This project has a great story,” said Dale Robertson, President and CEO of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. “From the very beginning, we were working with Dr. Krishnan to make this an experience that could be enjoyed by all audiences. We then brought in scientists – two of whom grew up in Grand Rapids – to consult on the content of the project. The group then took a very complex idea, physics and the discovery of a subatomic particle, and made it accessible for all learners. This is all part of our effort to embrace universal design for learning in the Planetarium and throughout the Museum.”

 

The show begins on Oct. 21 and will be part of the Chaffee Planetarium’s regular schedule. Subatomic can also be reserved for school groups and field trips. Planetarium shows are $4 with general admission and $5 for planetarium only. Museum members receive free admission to planetarium shows.

 

For additional information on the Chaffee Planetarium or to view the full schedule, visit grpm.org/planetarium.