Science students among first Kiwis to join hands-on physics experiment in Europe

Tauranga science students will head to Europe next month to join in physics education research and get hands-on with two particle experiments.

Twelve students from Mount Maunganui and Otumoetai colleges will be among the first Kiwi participants in the hands-on physics teaching facility S'Cool Lab Plus at the European organisation for nuclear research known as CERN.

The students, accompanied by two teachers, will leave for Europe on April 6 for a little more than two weeks.

Otumoetai College physics teacher Rebecca Harrop said the students will tour places including Paris, Munich, Geneva and Stuttgart, visiting museums and meet with scientists, as well as participate in educational research and hands-on experiments at CERN.

"We are the first group in New Zealand to be able to have this opportunity," she said.

Harrop said the trip meant the students would be able to look at physics not available in New Zealand, including the tokamak - a nuclear fusion reactor.

To participate in the hands-on experiments, the students had to study to ensure they were prepared for this part of the trip, Harrop said.

"Some of the learning will be valuable for their NCEA internal and external assessment, and other learning will be a rather large extension for them," she said.

Harrop attended a few workshops at the S'Cool Lab building as part of her trip to CERN last year.

"I was really keen to try and provide the opportunity for students to make their own cloud chamber and be involved in physics educational research," she said.

Otumoetai College student Aria Smart was particularly excited to see the modern science of a nuclear fusion reactor.

"That is present science, it is brand new, groundbreaking even," she said.

"We get to see that up close and it is really exciting. We don't get to see stuff like that in New Zealand because we are nuclear free."

Fellow student Sam Reeder was also excited to gain awareness of science overseas.

"I am looking forward to meeting lots of new scientists and seeing their backgrounds and how they got to where they are today and be inspired by them."