3D Printable Quark Puzzle: A Model to Build Your Own Particle Systems

There is an increasing emphasis on fundamental particles, including quarks, in the high school physics classroom. However, many teachers might not feel comfortable teaching particle physics because it is a highly abstract and complex topic, and there are few hands-on activities to help teachers bring it into the classroom. In 2010, Gettrust presented a two-dimensional quark puzzle, a physical manipulative that allowed students to discover the rules of the Standard Model of particle physics through inquiry. In the paper Gettrust states: “An ideal set of pieces representing quarks would consist of three-dimensional objects that fit nicely together into some basic shape, such as a sphere or some platonic solid, but only for quark combinations allowed by Standard Model rules.” Here we report on our development of such a set of 3D manipulatives. In 2010, a two-dimensional set of pieces was more accessible to teachers. However since then 3D printing has become widespread in schools throughout Europe, America, and Australia, and it is now practical to implement a three-dimensional puzzle into the classroom. In this article, we present a 3D printable quark puzzle and give suggestions to implement this activity to the classroom by: • presenting ready-to-go activities/worksheets for the students and instructions for teachers. • decreasing the number of pieces required from 36 to 12 by only considering quarks of the first generation, namely (anti-) up quarks and (anti-) down quarks (see Table I). • summarizing all key concepts, which are a prerequisite for our proposed activity. • highlighting students’ conceptions that teachers need to be aware of when implementing this activity. The activity can be used to develop students’ scientific reasoning skills. This gives teachers the opportunity to use this activity even if particle physics is not in the curriculum.