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TITLEOFLESSON:B
IGHISTORY,THEBEGINNINGSOFTHEUNIVERSEAND
THEHIGGSBOSON.LEARNTHESTORYBEHINDOURSCHOOLSNAME!

DESIREDLEARNINGRESULTS:

STANDARDS/SKILLSUSEDPullfromappropriatestandards:
CommonCoreStandardsforSocialStudies
NCSSNationalStandardsforSocialStudies(PAGES3134ONLY!)
ColoradoStateStandardsWorldHistory
ScienceStandard#2:
Develop,communicate,andjustifyanevidencebasedscientificexplanation
supportingthecurrentmodelofanatom(DOK13))d.Developamodelthat
differentiatesatomsandmolecules,elementsandcompounds,andpure
substancesandmixtures(DOK23)
HistoryStandard#1:
A.Evaluateahistoricalsourceforpointofviewandhistoricalcontext(DOK2
3)b.Gatherandanalyzehistoricalinformation,includingcontradictorydata,
fromavarietyofprimaryandsecondarysources,includingsourceslocatedon
theInternet,tosupportorrejecthypotheses(DOK13)c.Constructanddefend
awrittenhistoricalargumentusingrelevantprimaryandsecondarysourcesas
evidence(DOK14)d.Differentiatebetweenfactsandhistorical
interpretations,recognizingthatahistoriansnarrativereflectshisorher
judgmentaboutthesignificanceofparticularfacts(DOK23)
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HistoryStandard#2:
A.Evaluatecontinuityandchangeoverthecourseofworldhistory(DOK13)
b.Investigatecausesandeffectsofsignificanteventsinworldhistory(DOK
12)c.Analyzethecomplexityofeventsinworldhistory(DOK23)d.
Examineandevaluateissuesofunityanddiversityinworldhistory(DOK13)
APWorldHistory

LEARNINGOBJECTIVESStudentswill MAINIDEAWITHINQUIRYBASED
beableto:
Evaluatethepotentialstrengthsand
weaknessesoftheBigHistorymodel
Understandthesignificanceofthe
HiggsBosonasitpertainstothe
beginningsoftheUniverse.
Createasketchormodeldisplaying
theHiggsboson
UnderstandhowtheHiggsboson
influencedthenamingofourschool
Koson!
ESSENTIALQUESTIONS:
HowdoestheHiggsbosonfactor
prominentlyintothescientifictheory
ofthebeginningsofouruniverse?
Shouldourhistoryandsciencecourses
betaughtaccordingtotheBigHistory
model?Whatwouldbethepotential
benefitsaswellaspitfalls?
Howdidourschoolgetitsnamefrom
theHiggsboson?

LEARNINGPLAN/ACTIVITY:

LEARNINGPLAN:

DISCLAIMER:Thislessonteachesthescientifictheoryoftheoriginsofthe
universe.Religiousconsiderations,andallindividualviewpoints,willbe
consideredlaterinthecourse.
WARMUP:F IRST,WATCHTHISVIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XxbIVsCVmMA NSWERTHESE
QUESTIONS:WHATIS"BIGHISTORY?"HOWDOESTHISTHEORY
MERGEHISTORYANDSCIENCE?WHYDOESTHISTHEORYPROPOSE
THATWESHOULDGOBACKTOTHEBEGINNINGSOFTHEUNIVERSE
TOPROPERLYSTUDYHISTORY?DOYOUAGREE?

INTRODUCTIONPleasereadthefollowing:M orethan50yearsagoPeter
Higgsandfiveothertheoreticalphysicistsproposedthataninvisiblefieldlying
acrosstheUniversegivesparticlestheirmass,allowingthemtoclumptogether
toformstarsandplanets.
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WhatistheHiggsbosonandtheHiggsfield?
TheHiggsfieldhasbeendescribedasakindofcosmic"treacle"spread
throughtheuniverse.AccordingtoProfHiggs's1964theory,thefield
interactswiththetinyparticlesthatmakeupatoms,andweighsthem
downsothattheydonotsimplywhizzaroundspaceatthespeedof
light.Butinthehalfcenturyfollowingthetheory,produced
independentlybythesixscientistswithinafewmonthsofeachother,
nobodyhasbeenabletoprovethattheHiggsFieldreallyexists.Prof
Higgspredictedthatthefieldwouldhaveasignatureparticle,amassive
boson.

WhatwouldtheworldbelikewithouttheHiggsboson?
AccordingtotheStandardModeltheory,itwouldnotberecognizable.
Withoutsomethingtogivemasstothebasicbuildingblocksofmatter,
everythingwouldbehaveaslightdoes,floatingfreelyandnotcombining
withotherparticles.Ordinarymatter,asweknowit,wouldnotexist.
Howlonghasthesearchgoneon?
ScientistshavebeenlookingfortheHiggssincethe1960s,butthe
searchbeganinearnestmorethan20yearsagowithearlyexperiments
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atCerninEuropeandFermilabintheUS.
DoesfindingtheHiggsbosonmarktheendofthesearch?
It'sjusttheendofthebeginning.ConfirmingtheexistenceoftheHiggs
wouldonlybethestartofaneweraofparticlephysicsasscientists
focusonunderstandinghowitworksandlookforunexpected
phenomena.

HowdoyoufindaHiggsboson?
Tofindtheparticleandcharacteriseit,scientistsmustfirsttrytocreateit
bysmashingbeamsofprotonstogetherinsidetheLargeHadron
Collideratclosetothespeedoflightandanalysingthedebris.Bydoing
sotheywillessentiallyberecreatingaverysmallmodelofthestateof
theUniverseasitwasinthefirsttrillionthofasecondaftertheBigBang.
Someofthefragmentsreleasedbythecollisionshouldintheorybe
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HiggsBosons,althoughtheywillinstantlydeteriorateintoevensmaller,
morestablesubatomicparticles.Likeotherheavyparticles,theHiggs
decaysintolighterparticles,whichthendecayintoevenlighterones.
Theprocesscanfollowacertainnumberofpaths,whichdependonthe
particle'smass.Physicistscomparethedecaypathstheyobserveaftera
particlecollisiontopredicteddecaypathssimulatedwithcomputers.
Whenamatchisfound,itsuggeststhattheobservedparticleistheone
beingsearchedfor.
HowistheHiggsbosonrelatedtotheBigBang?
About13.7billionyearsago,theBigBanggavebirthtotheuniverseand
causedanoutburstofmasslessparticlesandradiationenergy.
Scientiststhinkthatfractionsofasecondlater,partoftheradiation
energycongealedintotheHiggsfield.Whentheuniversebegantocool,
particlesacquiredmassfromtheHiggsfield,sloweddownandbeganto
bunchuptoformcompositeparticlesand,eventually,atoms.Conditions
presentabillionthofasecondaftertheBigBangarerecreatedinthe
LargeHadronColliderparticleacceleratornearGeneva.

HowdidtheHiggsbosongetthenickname"theGodparticle"?
ANobellaureatephysicistfromFermilabcalledLeonLedermanwrotea
bookintheearly1990saboutthesearchfortheHiggsboson.His
publisherscoinedthenameasamarketabletitleforthebook,butit's
dislikedbymanyscientists.
HowdidtheHiggsbosoninfluencethenamingofourschool?

WhilethereferencetotheAncientGreekgoldcoinKoson,isimportant
toourschoolsname,itsmuchmore!Weareaschoolwhichprides
itselfine
xponentiallearning,anintensepassionforlearningas
demonstratedintheinnovativeproblembasedlearningassignments
youcompleteinyourclasses.Thecriticalthinkingandkineticenergy
requiredisrepresentedbytheletterK !Thiswascombinedwith
importanceofthediscoveroftheH iggsbosonparticle!TheKreplaces
theBinbosontogiveyouKoson!

Why?TheH iggsbosonisane lementaryparticleintheS
tandardModel
ofp
articlephysics.Itistheq iggsfield,a
uantumexcitationoftheH
fundamentalfieldofcrucialimportancetoparticlephysicstheoryfirst
suspectedtoexistinthe1960s.Unlikeotherknownfieldssuchasthe
electromagneticfield,ithasanonzeroconstantvalueinv acuum.The
questionoftheHiggsfield'sexistencebecamethelastunverifiedpartof
theStandardModelofparticlephysics,andforseveraldecadeswas
considered"thecentralprobleminparticlephysics".
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Thepresenceofthefield,nowconfirmedbyexperimentalinvestigation,
explainsw hysomefundamentalparticleshavemasswhen,basedon
thesymmetriescontrollingtheirinteractions,theyshouldbemassless.It
alsoresolvesseveralotherlongstandingpuzzles,suchasthereason
forthew
eakforce'sextremelyshortrange.
Conclusion:T hislongandcomplexmissiontosolvetheunknown,to
keepinnovatinguntilnewpossibilitiesandanswersarereached,
representsourschoolsmission!Hence,K oson!
ACTIVITY#1(25minutes):Createsketchor3DmodeloftheHiggsboson
withintheatom,toshowcaseitsimportanceinthecreationofouruniverse.
Thiscanbehanddrawnorcompletedinthe3Dmodelingprogramofyour
choice,suchasSketchUp,Blender,UnityorUnrealEngine.
ACTIVITY#2:20MINUTEINCLASSASSIGNMENT(SILENT
READ/WRITE):ReadtheBigHistoryarticlebelow.InaseparateGoogle
Doc,writeinresponse:
DefendapositiononwhetherourWorldHistorycourseshouldbe
taughtastheauthorsuggests.Yourdefenseofyourposition
shouldbeatleasttensentencesinlength.YOUMUSTCITE
EVIDENCEFROMTHETEXTTOSUPPORTARGUMENTS!B
ig
Historya
rticle
ACTIVITY#3:LIVESOCRATICDISCUSSION(20minutes)QUESTION:
WhenlearninghistoryandscienceaccordingtoBigHistorymodel,do
thepotentialpotentialbenefitsoutweighthepotentialpitfalls?Should
historyandsciencecoursesstressthetheimportanceoflearningabout
theHiggsbosonasitrelatestothebeginningsoftheuniverse?Should
ourhistorycoursebetaughtbasedonthismodel?
ACTIVITY#4:ASSESSMENT(20minutes):CompletetheThreshold1,6
and7TestsunderA
ssessment(seebelow)inclassorforhomework.

MATERIALSUSED:

BigHistorya
rticle
FORMOREONBIGHISTORY,GOTO:
WatchthisTedTalksvideo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqc9zX04DXsbyDavidChristianwho
arguesinfavorof"BigHistory."Whatarethepositivesandnegativesfor
learninghistorythisway?
Otherresources:
http://prezi.com/ztls4vuomvt2/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
&rc=ex0shareandhttps://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive#

ASSESSMENTOFSTUDENTLEARNING:

Forthefull30points:Youmusthaveincludeyourinitial10sentence
paragraphresponse(5pts),participateintheSocraticSeminar(5pts),
completeyourmodelorsketch(10pts)aswellascompletetheseBigHistory
Threshold1,6and7Tests(10pts)at
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/chapters/1#introand
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/chapters/4#intro.R eadthroughthe
informationonthesiteandtakeeachofthetwoquizzesuntilyouscorea100%
andearnbadges(yes,it'sgamified!)Includescreenshotsasproof.

HOMEWORK(optional):None,unlessyoudidntfinishtheseassignmentrequirements