[G-03] Geoscience education from elementary school to university students

[G03-08] Support for Junior and Senior High School Students’ Science Exploration Activities by the Cosmic Ray Researching Activity “TanQ”

*Haruhi Enomoto¹, Shoki Akiyama², Shintaro Endo², Ryosuke Kita², Rikako Kono², Ryuta Saito², Manaka Sasaki², Riko Hoashi², Risa Nakagawa², Chizuru Nose², Kyoka Maruta², Abe Hiroto², Mayuno Oosawa⁴, Mika Takanashi⁵, Kaduo Tanaka³ (1.Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2.Tohoku University, 3.Paul Scherrer Institute, 4.Waseda University, 5.The University of Electro-Communications)

Keywords:Cosmic ray, Sun, Junior high and high school students, outreach activities

The research on cosmic rays requires expensive and large equipment, but it is difficult for junior and senior high school students to access the equipment. Although junior and senior high school students are widely engaged in science research activities, there are few research activities on cosmic rays.The cosmic ray research activity “TanQ”[1] started in 2019 with the aim of increasing the curiosity of junior and senior high school students toward the universe through casual exploration of cosmic rays.

By developing and distributing inexpensive cosmic ray detectors that are relatively easy to handle, and by providing support to junior and senior high school students in their exploration activities, researchers and university students are making it possible for them to achieve results that can be presented at junior sessions of academic conferences.In this year’s JpGU, several junior and senior high school students are planning to present their research on cosmic rays in the junior session.

Despite the restrictions on extracurricular activities for junior and senior high school students due to the spread of the covid-19 infection, “TanQ” has been able to expand its activities across the country by providing support using online tools. Currently, more than 100 junior and senior high school students from 30 schools are conducting inquiry activities on various themes in teams, individuals, and club activities. In this presentation, we will introduce how to construct online collaborative research with junior and senior high school students, with some examples.


[1]https://accel-kitchen.com/tanq/