From MariachiWiki
Smithtown East Students Analyze Data
How can 42 high school students participate in the analysis of a science experiment? Ask this question to students from Smithtown High School East. Late June two classrooms participated in a pilot program to analyze data from an experiment that was also built with the help of students and physics teachers. Led by Dr. Gillian Winters, their physics teacher, each student retrieved a segment of data and reduced the raw data into processed information. What they analyzed were data collected by the MARIACHI experiment. This innovative experiment encourages the participation of students, teachers and scientists to explore new techniques for the detection of cosmic rays, as well as to study the interplay between cosmic rays and atmospheric phenomena. Our scientific goal for this analysis was to investigating the sensitivity of the experiment to terrestrial magnetic field disturbances caused by solar flares, in particular from a weak event that happened late April. The muon rate detected at Smithtown East HS was first corrected for its dependence on atmospheric pressure prior to examining a rate enhancement or suppression in the data. To process the data each student imported the individual data segment into Excel for data manipulation and graphing, thus learning the basics of how experimental data analysis is carried out.
For many it was the first time in handling original scientific data while learning how to use cyber tools to retrieve, analyze and publish their results. It was also the first time they collaborated to reach a common goal. Results obtained by the students were discussed via videoconference with scientists. Although their results were not conclusive, their findings generated a series of new questions that led to a follow up analysis performed by a group of 25 students during the MARIACHI summer workshop. A much larger body of data from many different sites was combined and it seems to indicate that the experiment has sensitivity to fluctuations in the terrestrial magnetic field. This pilot analysis within MARIACHI was very successful and we plan on implementing in all MARIACHI participating schools. Based on what we have learned future students will be implementing procedures where students will be using our computer farm and grid computing for specific parts of their analysis. MARIACHI is expanding to many schools and the body of data is quickly growing. The involvement of students in the analysis of original data from an experiment that counts on them for implementation and data collection is a very positive way to introduce the use of computing tools for research in high schools.
