The students of Avalon Middle School delved deeper into the world of physics, thanks to a recent web conference with the Sanford Lab in Lead, South Dakota. Margaret Salter’s 7th and 8th grade science classes were introduced to the researchers via Skype at their facility which happens to be located 4,850 below the surface.
“I found it really interesting that we were able to see scientists in action,” Gillian Buckley said. “We hear all of the time about scientist doing these things, but we were actually able to talk with them and hear about what they do from themselves.”
The topic discussed during the two sessions surrounded the theory of dark matter, which was first inferred by Swiss American Astronomer Fritz Zwicky in 1933, Salter said. According to Wikipedia, dark matter is a hypothetical substance that is believed by most astronomers to account for around five-sixths of the matter in the universe.
“(Zwicky) was the first one to hypothesize that this dark matter was out there,” she said. “From there more people have worked on the theory.”
The second year teacher at Avalon said there is a lot still to be learned when it comes to subject of dark matter.
“In this class we ask what could dark matter be used for and we don’t know,” Salter said. “Because it travels through everything, we don’t even know if we could harness it and use it for anything. As technology progresses we might find a way to harness it.”
The Sanford Lab, which works in further exploring the field of physics including neutrinos or the origin of matter among other topics. According to the facility’s website, the Sanford Lab is home of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment which is assisting in the research. The website states the facility is already planning for the next generation of the experiment which scheduled for later this year.
After learning a family friend is working at the research facility and getting in touch with the lab’s educational facility, Salter said her students were the first to Skype with researchers in the underground facility.
It was also the first time, Salter has used Skype to teach a subject in her classroom and due to the first time’s success ,more online conferencing opportunities might be on the way.
“I am working on putting together a more biology-based lesson with Sanford and I also have a friend who happens to be an engineer with NASA and she has offered to Skype with our classroom and talk with them as well,” she said.
Salter’s students are in favor of exploring the world of science with those who work in the field, especially after the recent experience with Sanford Lab.
“It was very beneficial,” Jesse Fiveash. “It gets us more interested in the subject then just learning from a text book.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Avalon students discuss physics with researchers in South Dakota