Hands-on Experiments on Atomic Structure and Particle Physics for Primary Teachers at CERN

The “Atomic Structure and Particle Physics” training lab was a part of CERN’s “Playing with Protons” program designed for Greek primary school teachers who specialize in physics and IT education. The lab’s main goal was to integrate particle physics, cutting-edge scientific research, and scientific methodology into primary school physics education through simple hands-on experiments on modern physics and engineering. This paper focuses on the Particle Physics lab at CERN, which was then transferred to a K-5 and K-6 physics class. Simple physics experiments were chosen to enable science teachers and their students to easily reproduce and examine some core ideas of particle physics in the school lab. According to results, the lab had a significant positive impact on the students’ performance, while also inspiring educators to foster a research culture among their pupils by exposing them to cutting-edge science and technology. Active participation in hands-on experiments allowed students to gain a deeper understanding of scientific principles. The lab was evaluated by 95 students, and their feedback indicated a high level of satisfaction with the program.