Tamworth physics teacher Matthew Dodds visits CERN

Receiving his first postcard from a student a few years ago was great, but it was even better when he got the chance to visit CERN himself.

The Farrer Agricultural High School physics teacher was one of two Australian teachers selected to be part of a group of 44 from across the world, taking part in CERN's high school teacher program.

CERN uses the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to probe the fundamental structure of particles, like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is a particle accelerator.

"It was cool that one of my students had been there, but I'd never been there to see the world's biggest particle accelerator," Mr Dodds told the Leader.

"I was pretty stoked when I got the phone call."

Co-sponsored by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, the all-expenses trip began on June 28 this year and was filled with lectures from research scientists and visits to different parts of the accelerator, including 100 metres underground.

"We could tell we were close to it because I used a mobile phone magnetic field sensor, and as we got closer down the elevator and closer to the particle accelerator, the magnetic field sensor was increasing and increasing," he said.

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The LHC is the biggest experiment at CERN, where protons travel around a 27 kilometre ring at 99.99991 per cent the speed of light, and magnets are kept colder than outer space.

It led to the discovery of the 'Higgs boson' in 2012, which is crucial to exploring many outstanding mysteries in particle physics and cosmology.

The high school teacher program aims to update teachers' knowledge of particle physics, learn more about educational resources, and collaborate with other teachers.

Landing back in Tamworth on July 17, Mr Dodds wasted no time in telling his students they will be building a cloud chamber together, which is a device that can detect radiation, and a Lego model of particle detectors.

"It's not just so kids can understand the fact particles accelerate, it's really important we can detect when they collide," he said.

"Our current model of the atom shows it has a nucleus, and that it has electrons going around the nucleus, and in that nucleus are protons and neutrons.

"But now with the LHC, and other accelerators around the world, we're finding out that protons and neutrons themselves are made of smaller things, called quarks."

Students of physics develop an appreciation for the universe, Mr Dodds said.

"Physics, I always tell my students, relates to the fundamental workings of the universe - everything from, as big as galaxies and bigger than that, and all the way down to the atom, and subatomic particles, and understanding how things work," he said.

"Which separates it from biology, which is limited to our knowledge of things that work on this planet."

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