Kristini2 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 My 14-year old DD is very interested in particle physics. She's read every book we can find on the topic in our library system, and she knows more on the topic than anyone else I know. I don't know why it never dawned on my earlier, but recently I decided I need to seek out others who share this passion, but I am struggling. I don't know how to go about this as I don't know anyone in the field. How did you found others interested in your child's passions. I mean, the highlight of her spring break was getting to see Fermilab. How do I nurture this in her? Her other obsession is birding, and she's managed to find her own tribe in that field as there are plenty of people both locally and on the internet who enjoy birding. She's even found a few other local teens who love to bird, but there are a lot fewer people obsessed with particle physics. I know this isn't exclusively gifted related so I hope it's okay to post in this forum, it's just that I've met a number of gifted children who have strong passions for out there topics so I'm hoping someone here can help. TIA for any advice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Is there a local astronomy club? That's one of the first places I would look in your situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I don't know anything about particle physics but has she tried contacting any of the authors of the books she's read to ask a question or discuss something she's read? Do you have a university nearby where people study particle physics? Magazines related to it with advertisements for conferences or other places people meet up to discuss related topics? Maybe find a mentor who would enjoy helping a young person and might know of other young people she could get to know? Finding a "tribe" can be difficult if your kid isn't into one of your area's big teen activities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Let me guess, is she a fan of Randall Munroe and Brian Greene? :) One option if you don't find answers here is to look into Cogito (an online forum) where she might find fellow teen physics lovers. She is over 13 and should qualify if she has a CTY ID from their talent search, but I believe you might be able to nominate her even if she doesn't. How is she with math? I am asking just in case allowing her to self accelerate in physics/ some kind of research might open more doors. How to become a good theoretical physicist: Someone shared this website on another forum. She might have seen it already and it might be nice for her to visit if she hasn't. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Honestly, she probably won't find her tribe with other teens, but if she can get involved with adults who are pursuing the field professionally, she's likely to find her tribe there-even if they're a decade or so older than she is. I've had to come to terms with the fact that my DD's tribe is, for the most part, legally able to drink :). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 My ds didn't find any local teens with his interests, but summer camps were awesome. Astronomy Camp and SSP were 2 highlights of his high school yrs. He independent studied astronomy 3 out of his 4 yrs of high school (The Cosmos, The Cosmic Perspective, and a dark matter/black hole study). His sr of high school he didn't b/c he ended up taking 300 level physics classes at the local university instead. He purchased with his own $$ just about every TC astronomy/physics course produced. Ironically, he registered for an astronomy class at his university for the fall and looked at the book required for the course yesterday and realized that it was just a more recent ed of a book he completed in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Honestly, she probably won't find her tribe with other teens, but if she can get involved with adults who are pursuing the field professionally, she's likely to find her tribe there-even if they're a decade or so older than she is. I've had to come to terms with the fact that my DD's tribe is, for the most part, legally able to drink :). This often depends on location and how specific/narrow in scope the tribe needs to be. Dd has a tribe with plenty of members that can not only not drink, but they also can't drive. ;) They have varying scientific interests, but the shared passion for science is enough. They help broaden one another's views and encourage one another along the way. ETA: We moved so my daughter could find her tribe. Ironically, if particle physics had been a passion of hers, we might not have needed to. There was quite an extensive network/tribe that would have be been a great fit. It was rather narrow in scope though, so it didn't work for us. Great span of ages, though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I just found this on google but it looks awesome... http://www.jinaweb.org/outreach/PAN/ Free week long residential Physics of the Atomic Nucleus camp at Notre Dame and Michigan State... Looks like an excellent early/mid high school bridge to more elite programs like RSI, SSP, or HSHSP. Anyone have any experience with PAN? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaben Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I'd recommend reading Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel. The author describes being in very a similar position although I think he was about 15 in the narrative. What happened in his case was that he found an adult mentor (granted this was soviet russia) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I just found this on google but it looks awesome... http://www.jinaweb.org/outreach/PAN/ Free week long residential Physics of the Atomic Nucleus camp at Notre Dame and Michigan State... Looks like an excellent early/mid high school bridge to more elite programs like RSI, SSP, or HSHSP. Anyone have any experience with PAN? Our ds was accepted to PAN, but he didn't attend. (Fwiw, admissions is very competitive, so I doubt many early high school students are competitive.) He was accepted the same summer as SSP. He would only have been home for 3 days before having to leave. But, one of the other issues was that the university didn't provide transportation from the airport to the university. That might not be a big deal, but it is the only summer program for high school students that we have ever encountered that did not at least help out on that end. Their recommendation was to take a taxi. It did sound like an awesome opportunity though. I think it was just overshadowed by SSP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Honestly, she probably won't find her tribe with other teens, but if she can get involved with adults who are pursuing the field professionally, she's likely to find her tribe there-even if they're a decade or so older than she is. I've had to come to terms with the fact that my DD's tribe is, for the most part, legally able to drink :). Most of the people in my Dd's tribe do drink…in the pubs where she hangs out and plays music with them. :laugh: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristini2 Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 Thank you so much everyone!! So many great ideas!! I actually went to a women in engineering camp at UND when I was in high school, and it was a great experience! I think DD would love PAN if she could get in, and we have family not too far so getting her from the airport to campus wouldn't be a problem. I'll be checking out the recommended books and web sites. Plus, I think I'll encourage her to write and author or two about some of her questions instead of just asking me. She actually has a good group of friends who are all pretty into tech and/or science, I just feel like It would also be so good for her to also discuss particles with people who know more than she does. I wish I had posted here months ago when I started pondering all of this. So helpful! Thanks again! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 She actually has a good group of friends who are all pretty into tech and/or science, I just feel like It would also be so good for her to also discuss particles with people who know more than she does. Definitely look into astronomy clubs! Star parties are a great way to meet physics minded friends. Keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Does the Center for Talented Youth offer summer-session physics at one of their locations? It's probably too late to register for this year, and maybe CTY is more of a middle school thing (I can't remember!), but if you're seeking an age-appropriate nerd tribe, CTY would be a great place to start. Also, if Fermilab was her jam, reach out to any and all of the other DOE National Laboratories and ask if they have any kind of camp or enrichment or open house. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is near us and they seem to have a very strong outreach program. I feel certain there is some administrator somewhere in each of those buildings who is specifically tasked with "Sharing federally-funded research facility opportunities with young people." Also, reach out to the physics department of your nearest university campus and ask if they have any hints or if there might be a professor there who runs a "physics circle" for young people. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 JLab has some resources she might like: http://education.jlab.org/indexpages/teachers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Definitely look into astronomy clubs! Star parties are a great way to meet physics minded friends. Keep us posted! You should check and see if any local universities have Friday evening public viewings... I don't know how common those are but I've seen them at UWashington and UMN. At UMN[1], grad students give a 20 minute talk on a general astro/astrophysics topic before the viewing time. Out of the 12 topics in the Winter/Spring session 2 were strongly particle physics focused, "Dark Matter" and "Astroparticle Physics". So, even if she isn't as interested in other areas of physics, there could be some good resources there. [1]http://www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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