Exploratorium
Radioactive Decay Model
Toss 100 pennies (or poker chips or any other two-different-sided objects) and remove all of those displaying tails. Line them up and repeat. The lines of pennies collected get smaller each time, successfully representing half-life.
Virginia Department of Education
Radioactive Decay and Half-Life
Explain the importance of radioactive half-life as your high school biologists demonstrate the concept by performing a series of steps designed to simulate radioactive decay. Pupils use pennies to perform an experiment and gather data....
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Nuclear Popcorn
Make your lesson on radioactive decay pop with this lab exercise. Using popcorn kernels spread over a tabletop, participants pick up all of those that point toward the back of the room, that is, those that represent decayed atoms. As the...
Curated OER
Radioactive Decay
Students explore what radioactive decay is and are able to relate it to the concept of half-life. They are given 100 green beads that represent radioactive atoms and 100 white beads that represent stable, non-radioactive daughter atoms....
Curated OER
Radioactive Decay Curve
Students gather and organize data. In this radioactive decay curve lesson, students gather data as they follow the provided procedures for rolling dice. Students chart their data and examine interval results.
Curated OER
Radioactive Decay
Students explore radioactive decay. Through various activities, students examine methods for permanent disposal of radioactive waste. After performing a random process experiment, students compare the results to radioactive decay. ...
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Curated OER
Radioactive Decay/Half Life
Learners demonstrate radioactive decay using candy corns. In this Physics instructional activity, students make predictions, collect data and form conclusions about patterns in radioactive decay.
Curated OER
Get a Half-Life!: Student Worksheet
In this math/science worksheet, students will work in pairs to conduct an experiment based on a decay function which is often used to model radioactive decay. Students will shake M & M's in a cup to rub off the M and then record...
Curated OER
Nuclear Chemistry Homework Problem Set
In this nuclear chemistry worksheet, students evaluate data from concentration experiments on radioactive iodine. They graph the data, determine radioactive decay and half life for the element.
Illustrative Mathematics
Accuracy of Carbon 14 Dating II
The scientific issue of carbon-14 dating and exponential decay gets a statistics-based treatment in this problem. The class starts with a basic investigation of carbon content, but then branches out to questions of accuracy and ranges of...
Curated OER
Worksheet #6, Exponents, Interest, and Radioactive Decay of Isotopes
In this calculus worksheet, learners sketch graphs of given exponential functions. They compute the principal needed to have a given ending balance when the interest is compounded at varying times. Students use a simple exponential model...
Curated OER
Radioactivity Experiments
Students study the difference between types of ionizing radiation and how elements are transmuted. They determine that radiation is normal and surrounds us. They calculate the amounts of alpha, beta and gamma radiation emitted from a...
Curated OER
Radioactive Half-Life
In this half-life learning exercise, students determine how much of the radioactive isotopes will remain after a certain amount of time. This learning exercise has 11 problems to solve.
Virginia Department of Education
Isotopes
Lead your class through the amazing world of isotopes as they investigate the various properties they contain and further understand their respective location on the periodic table. They explore half-lives and radioactivity as each...
Curated OER
Industrialization of the American Landscape
Students explore the Chernobyl incident and the resulting environmental health impacts. They explore three different isotopes that were released into the atmosphere. Through inquiry, students determine the difference between types of...
Curated OER
Radioactive Beans
Students investigate radioactive atoms. In this radioactive beans lesson, students experiment with split peas and beans to determine what happens when a radioactive atom decays.
Curated OER
Nuclear Reactions - Rutherford's Alpha Scattering Experiment
Neat! Show your physics class exactly how Ernest Rutherford fired alpha particles at a piece of gold foil and so determined that most of an atom is composed of empty space. Not just a slide show, but almost an animation, this...
Curated OER
Elements and Compounds
Middle schoolers explain how radioactive decay occurs. In this physical science lesson, students simulate radioactive half-life through an experiment. They graph their data and share their results in class.
Curated OER
Earth's Age: The Dating Game
Students conduct a simulation to determine radioactive decay and half-life. Using pennies, dice or sugar cubes as isotopes placed in shoe boxes simulating rocks, they hold five trials representing 1000 years each to find the theoretical...
Curated OER
Get a Half Life!
Eighth graders use M&M's to experiment with data. They use a graphing calculator to determine the best equation for their data; linear, quadratic or exponential. They analyze the data to find the half-life of their M&M's.
Curated OER
The Who's Who of Quantum Physics
This wonderful recap of powerful figures in scientific history includes pictures, important dates, and the information about their inventions or impact. Atomic structure and the photoelectric effect are introduced. The first slide gives...
Curated OER
Nuclear Chemistry
Students write and balance nuclear equations. In this chemistry instructional activity, students identify materials that block radiation using polymers. They collect and analyze data from the experiment.
Curated OER
Properties of Matter
Ninth graders explore the molecular structure of matter and how it can affect the physical characteristics of a specific material. They demonstrate that isotopes of an element have different masses. Students demonstrate that the rates of...