The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to recalibrate many aspects of our lives, and that includes the education of the little ones at home. Assigning tasks over the Internet and coordinating between parents and teachers has placed new challenges on the table, among which the search for material stands out. With that in mind, we arrived at none other than the CERN portal, where they offer a coloring book based on ATLAS, one of the experiments at the famous Large Hadron Collider.
A look at the ATLAS experiment
History tells us that ATLAS is a collaborative experiment based on a particle detector installed inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. This experiment has been designed to take advantage of the spectacular energy levels of the LHC and observe events that would be impossible to reproduce in other accelerators. ATLAS's fame is associated with the Higgs boson itself, as it was one of the two experiments involved in its discovery.
Now, I imagine this must seem very complicated to explain to a primary school child, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, the CERN experts themselves have taken it upon themselves to teach ATLAS as a project aimed at children aged 5 to 9, with the help of a coloring book. The book is available in three formats (A4, A3, and Booklet) and fifteen different languages, which of course includes Spanish.
The book introduces some characters, starting with physicist Bob and engineer Betty, followed by Sylvia and Hikaru, who are lost in a scene in the style of 'Where's Wally'. The central piece to color is obviously the ATLAS detector, and there is an entire page dedicated to the Higgs boson, but the rest of the particles that make up the Standard Model have a place there.
This book is not only useful for parents looking for fresh material to entertain their little ones, but also for any education professional who wishes to provide a basic introduction to particle physics among their students. Don't hesitate to download a copy and print it as many times as you need.
Official site and download: Click here
