1. An exciting Opportunity to…. Enhance your Physics studies Develop Key Communication Skills Make personal links with Research staff at a leading University Win prize money New Competition for 2008-9 CONCEPT VIDEOS/ANIMATIONS for the classroom Insights into Particle Physics - for students by students STFC What is involved? Groups of up to 4 A Level or GCSE students are invited, with support from their teachers, to prepare a - short, but interesting & stimulating, video clip or computer animation relating to particle physics - lasting up to 4 minutes - aimed at a particular & specified age group (your choice!) The entries will then be judged by a team from the University – Particle Physics experts and teachers - Prizes of £300 will be awarded for up to the best 5 entries submitted. Prize winners will be invited to an event at the University to collect their prizes – in June/July 2009 - Lunch and discussions with Particle Physics researchers & students Winning videos and animations will be uploaded onto the web and schools will be invited to use them to introduce, illustrate or summarise concepts in the classroom Please see enclosed information sheet for details of competition rules and procedures., IF YOUR SCHOOL IS INTERESTED IN TAKING PART……………………. PLEASE RETURN THE ENCLOSED FORM ASAP!!

2. Concorde (15 Km) Mt. Blanc (4.8 Km) In 2009, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the World’s most powerful particle accelerator, will be running experiments at CERN in Geneva. The biggest detectors ever built will be investigating the origin of mass and studying the fundamental particles that were present at the beginning of the Universe…….. The experiments bring together thousands of scientists from dozens of countries - including the Particle Physics group at the University of Birmingham. A world-wide computing Grid will be used to sort and analyse the vast amount of data collected in the experiments - selecting interesting events will be like looking for 1 person in a thousand World populations – one year’s data from the LHC would fill a stack of CDs 20km high! Possible ATLAS event ALICE Detector Particle Physics - What do we already know? What will be discovered next?? LHC Tunnel

3. Competition information & rules A competing team will consist of up to 4 students (AS or A2 or GCSE students or mixed). The video /animation must last no more than 4 minutes. The entry could include live demonstrations and / or discussions, drama, original computer animations or whatever you think works – the choice is wide open! It could be serious or humorous BUT MUST CONVEY ACCURATE PHYSICS INFORMATION. There will be a help website and an e-mail support system for any advice or questions. You will need to send in - a CD or USB memory stick with copies of your video / animation (Windows media or flash format) - details of the students who compiled the animation/starred in the video – their school year etc - details of the school / college & specify the age of the student audience the video is aimed at to reach us by May 1 st 2009

4. Your video / animation could be on one of the following topics: or come up with your own question!!

5. Judging Criteria All presentations will be judged on hitting the correct level for the specified audience and on the originality/innovation of the video / animation produced Clarity of the subject matter and evidence of research (30%) Quality of video / animation –we don’t expect professional quality but it should be clear/audible/easy to follow (20%) Originality/innovation (20%) Audience appeal – is it interesting and captivating? (30%) NB you should not copy & paste material wholesale from the web or any other source. Any photographs or other material used should be acknowledged on the entry details form.