OCRA – an outreach program on cosmic rays for teachers and students

Abstract

The Outreach Cosmic Ray Activities (OCRA) project was created in 2018 within the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) to offer a platform for all outreach activities focusing on cosmic rays within the institute. OCRA now counts 22 of the institute’s divisions all over Italy as members. The project offers activities both for students and teachers. The one activity common to all local groups is the participation in the yearly International Cosmic Day, organized by DESY, inviting high school students to carry out hands-on measurements of the cosmic ray flux and learn about the related physics background. Two students from each division are then selected to participate in the annual OCRA science camp, a three-day full immersion into the life of a physicist. For both teachers and students, the OCRA website https://web.infn.it/OCRA/, offers a series of online laboratories designed both to be used by students individually but also to be offered in the classroom by teachers. A section dedicated to teachers provides ample material to help bring these laboratories to the classroom. The online materials were presented in a course for teachers in spring 2021. In addition to the national efforts, there are also local initiatives of the OCRA member groups: workshops and secondments, science competitions and the development of new detectors for outreach activities offer a multitude of possibilities for students to engage with our researchers and to explore the world of cosmic rays. This article provides an overview on all activities offered by OCRA with a particular focus on the 2022 science camp.

Educational outreach activities on cosmic rays: investigate the correlation between muon counts and atmospheric parameters

“…OCRA activities are growing every year, showing a high level of satisfaction among the participants [1]. In the PCTO activities presented here high-school students were able to work in close contact with INFN and University researchers, learn the activities involved in the life of a researcher and actively participate to a project including data analysis and interpretation of scientific results in the cosmic ray field.…”

“…The goal is to build a national framework which includes 24 INFN divisions and laboratories all over Italy for the INFN public engagement activities in the field of cosmic ray physics. The activities span from international projects as the International Cosmic Day (ICD), a worldwide yearly outreach event organized by DESY † , to local activities as the OCRA summer camp, local workshop and tutorships, online laboratories, European Researchers' Night and Pathways for Transversal Competences and Orientation (PCTO) activities for high school students [1].…”