Atomic Energy
- Tell the meaning of the following: alpha particle,
atom, background radiation, beta particle, curie, fall-
out, half-life, ionization, isotope, neutron, neutron
activation, nuclear energy, nuclear reactor, particle
accelerator, radiation, radioactivity, Roentgen, and x
ray.
- Make three-dimensional models of the atoms of the three
isotopes of hydrogen. Show neutrons, protons, and
electrons. Use these models to explain the difference
between atomic weight and number.
- Make a drawing showing how nuclear fission happens.
Label all details. Draw a second picture showing how a
chain reaction could be started. Also show how it could
be stopped. Show what is meant by a "critical mass."
- Tell who five of the following people were. Explain
what each of the five discovered in the field of atomic
energy: Henri Becquerel, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie,
Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Otto Hahn, Ernest
Lawrence, Lise Meitner, William Roentgen, and Sir
Ernest Rutherford. Explain how any one person's
discovery was related to one other person's work.
- Draw and color the radiation hazard symbol. Explain
where it should and should not be used. Tell why and
how people must use radiation or radioactive materials
carefully.
- Do any THREE of the following:
- Build an electroscope. Show how it works. Put a
radiation source inside it. Explain any difference
seen.
- Make a simple Geiger counter. Tell the parts. Tell
which types of radiation the counter can spot. Tell
how many counts per minute of what radiation you
have found in your home.
- Build a model of a reactor. Show the fuel, the
control rods, the shielding, the moderator, and any
cooling material. Explain how a reactor could be
used to change nuclear into electrical energy or
make things radioactive.
- Use a Geiger counter and a radiation source. Show
how the counts per minute change as the source gets
closer. Put three different kinds of material
between the source and the detector. Explain any
differences in the counts per minute. Tell which
is the best to shield people from radiation and
why.
- Use fast-speed film and a radiation source. Show
the principles of autoradiography and radiography.
Explain what happened to the films. Tell how
someone could use this in medicine, research, or
industry.
- Using a Geiger counter (that you have built or
borrowed), find a radiation source that has been
hidden under a covering. Find it in a least three
other places under the cover. Explain how someone
could use this in medicine, research, agriculture,
or industry.
- Visit a place where X ray is used. Draw a floor
plan of the room in which it is used. Show where
the unit, the person who runs it, and the patient
would be when it is used. Describe the radiation
dangers from x ray.
- Make a cloud chamber. Show how it can be used to
see the tracks caused by radiation. Explain what is
happening.
- Visit a place where radioisotopes are being used.
Explain by drawing how and why it is used.
- Get samples of irradiated seeds. Plant them. Plant
a group of nonirradiated seeds of the same kind.
Grow both groups. List any differences. Discuss
what irradiation does to seeds.