Alert! If you have not seen the games, we recommend that you play them first. The rest of the site will make more sense once you have.

Abstract: Fermilabyrinth is an online version of the Quarks to Quasars exhibits at the Leon M. Lederman Science Education Center. You may think particle physics is for university professors, but hundreds of middle school students visit the science center at Fermilab, use these exhibits and learn how science is done here. The games help to develop an understanding of the operations and experiments that take place in the Fermilab accelerator and detector halls and the scientific ideas they explore. Each game on the Fermilabyrinth website corresponds to an exhibit. Accompanying each game are related resources and classroom activities that allow hands-on interaction as well as options for embedded instruction. There are two approaches to classroom use:

• The Fermilabyrinth Project – Telling the story of Fermilab research through students' eyes.
• Virtual Field Trip – Interacting with the online "games" of the Lederman Science Center.

The content is in four main areas, corresponding to the four main rooms in the Lederman Science Center:

• Warp Speed - Tools: Accelerators
• Ghost Bustin' - Tools: Detectors
• Code Crackin' - Methods
• Law 'n Order - Ideas

Accompanying each area are links to games and to the relevant part of the story of Fermilab research. Students can learn more about particle physics and Fermilab by following the links in the Diggin' Deeper section. Each game contains information on the connection between Fermilab and the game. This often appears in the bubbles of cartoon characters introducing the game. The labyrinth consists of games in which students can earn "Einstein Bucks" based on their performance. These can be printed out either as verification of completion of an assignment or simply as tokens of personal pride. Before you begin using Fermilabyrinth, you should be certain you have adequate software. Read about how each game is played and scored. and short descriptions of each game. You can view the content of Fermilabyrinth without playing the games by looking at pdf files for all five sections:

• All of Fermilabyrinth
• Codecrackin' Only,
• Ghostbustin' Only,
• Law 'n Order Only,
• Warpspeed Only,
• Diggin' Deeper Only.

or by looking at pages on the web:

• All of Fermilabyrinth
• Codecrackin' Only,
• Ghostbustin' Only,
• Law 'n Order Only,
• Warpspeed Only,
• Diggin' Deeper Only.

Some of the games use sound but only Nature's Scale requires it. Be sure you have sound turned on. These games include Particle Countin', Nature's Scale, Four Forces, Particle Trappin', and Push, Push, Push the Particle.

Please email the program contact with your comments on the site.