Question: Are radioactive substances a good thing or not?
End Product: Class debate on the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear fuel
Ionising and non-ionising radiationObjectives - To know what alpha, beta and gamma are and how they can be used in everyday life for good and bad purposes
- To know how radioactive materials can be harmful to the environment
Timing - Up to 7 lessons
Radioactivity often conjures up images of nuclear war but it can actually be really useful stuff and if you have a smoke detector in your home you'll have some radioactive substance!!! (probably Americium). Have a look at your detector and look for the radioactivity symbol:
Radioactivity has lots of other good uses as well but it must be treated with respect as it can be pretty nasty stuff.
Go to http://www.riskit.org.uk/ to check out how good you are at assessing everyday risk, including those associated with radioactivity.
Go to www.howstuffworks.com and read about how a smoke detector works.
Use the radioactivity sections of the following sites to find out what is meant by ionising and non-ionising radiation. Give an example of each one.
http://www.moe.gov.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/physics-radioactivity/index.htm - this is a cool site!