Hands-On Activity: What’s in the Box?

This is the fifth in a series of five posts by Pearson Science on one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the year.

1. Higgs Boson Discovery | 2. Collaboration and Competition | 3. Teaching the Higgs Boson | 4. Hands-On Activity: Colliding Particles | 5. Hands-On Activity: What’s in the Box?

What’s in the Box?

Scientists have ways of determining the properties and structure of particles they cannot see directly, such as atoms. In this activity, you will try to determine the identity of an object that you cannot see.

Materials: shoe box containing “mystery object”

Procedure
1. Your teacher will give you a sealed box that contains an object. Without opening the box, move the box around to find out as much as you can about the object.
2. Make a list of your observations about the object. For example, does the object slide or roll? Is it heavy or light? Is it soft or hard? Is the object round or flat?
3. Think about familiar objects that might match the results you observed.

Think It Over
1. Describe the kind of material of which you think the object is made. Explain your reasoning.
2. Describe other properties of the object such as shape, texture, size, density, or any other characteristics you can infer.
3. Make a sketch showing what you think the object looks like.