A Quick Introduction to Particle Physics

This class will be highly interactive and student-centered. We will begin by drawing out students' ideas around the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Topics in this class will include:

1) The Atom and Its Structure: We will start with students' ideas about the atom and then discuss the "planetary" and electron cloud models and representations of the atom. The purpose of this topic is to get students thinking about what the universe is made of. 
2) The Standard Model of Elementary Particles: We will look at the representation of the standard model as typically used by physicists. We will briefly discuss how this representation is organized, the different particles listed, and the different properties described. This description will be limited, however. For example, we will not have time to describe the quantum mechanical nature of "spin" or how photons act as carriers of the electromagnetic force. 
3) Quark Structure of Neutrons and Protons: Atoms are comprised of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons are not made of anything more fundamental, but neutrons and protons are made of quarks. We will look at representations of this structure as well as introduce the idea of color charge at this point. 
4) Particle Decay: Given time and the right circumstances, some particles will spontaneously "fall apart". We will specifically look at how a neutron can fall apart to become a proton, an electron, and a neutrino. We will describe the conditions under which such decays occur as well as the results of such decay. 
5) Matter and Antimatter: If we have time, we will consider the structure of antimatter as well as how matter and antimatter interact with each other. 
6) Mass and Energy: If we have time, we will consider the equivalence of mass and energy through Einstein's famous equation. 

Please note that this course is designed as a quick introduction only! There are a lot of topics above, and we will stick mostly with "what" happens and get very little into the "why". We will focus on building up students' abilities to represent these different ideas in words, gestures, and pictures. We will not spend much time on representations with equations or more abstract representations. In addition, we will only discuss the last two topics if there is time. This will depend on the specific student group. Regardless, the goal is to build a solid descriptive foundation from which students can build.