Education & Communications

Education and Communication Committee

Information for High School Science Teachers and Students

 

CNS Ionising Radiation Workshop

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The CNS ECC developed the Ionizing Radiation workshop, entitled Be Aware of NORM (NORM = Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) for high school senior science teachers.  The Workshop includes aids for teachers on radioactive decay and fission.  It introduces:

This workshop has been presented:

  1. November 14, 2008 at the Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario (STAO) Annual Conference in Toronto ON, and concurrently at
  2. the Alberta Teachers’ Association Science Council Conference in Calgary AB;
  3. February 13, 2009 at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Science Professional Development day;
  4. May 22 & 23, 2009 at the Atlantic Canada Association of Science Educators (ACASE) / Association des Enseignantes and des Enseignants de Sciences de l'Atlantique (AEESA) Annual Conference in Moncton NB
  5. November 21, 2009 at the Alberta Teachers’ Association Science Council Annual Conference in Red Deer AB;
  6. December 3, 2009 at Northern Secondary School in Toronto to a small group of Toronto District School Board teachers who requested CNS Geiger Kits;
  7. December 4, 2009 at the York Region District School Board Science Seminar held at Newmarket High School.
  8. March 1, 2010 at the Rocky View School District Teachers Professional Development Day held at Burt Church High School, Airdrie AB.
  9. May 1, 2010 at the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers Annual Conference held at the University of Toronto.
  10. July 9, 2010 at the Atlantic Canada Association of Science Educators (ACASE) / Association des Enseignantes and des Enseignants de Sciences de l'Atlantique (AEESA) Annual Conference in Charlottetown, PEI. -- CANCELLED!

The most recent workshop notes and presentation files are available for download (right click and save as).  The recommended links for internet resources listed in the notes are available as a separate file that is revised more frequently.

Workshop notes (PDF)

Power Point Presentation (24 MB)  (revised 2010-05-23)

Short form Power Point Presentation (10.2 MB)for ACASE/AEESA (2010-05-25)

Recommended Links for Educators and Students (PDF) (revised 2010-07-10)

In creating this workshop, the CNS ECC collaborated with a retired teacher in Ontario and a working teacher in Alberta.  Renfrew County District School Board science teachers helped evaluate the CNS ECC approach.  Feedback from workshop presenters and attendees have resulted in many changes to this workshop. The full scope of this workshop requires 90 minutes.  Many presentation opportunities are constrained to less than 60 minutes.  This shorter time is not sufficient to cover the introductory material and provide sufficient time for the teachers to gain hands-on experience with the Geiger system.

An article on NORM (reproduced with permission), by B. White of the CNS ECC, was published in STAO's "Crucible" prior to the 2008 Workshop presentation.

The workshop references the brochures below.

CNS Educational Brochures
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The following CNS educational brochures are available for download:

Please check back here for the most recent version of these files and new ones. 

Comments or suggestions are most welcome!

Geiger Kit Donations

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Google Earth Map of Schools with Geiger Kits

The CNS has donated Geiger kits to Canadian high schools from Bedford, NS to Edmonton, AB as shown in the map above.  If you are a science teacher at a Canadian high school and wish to obtain a Geiger Kit for your school, please contact the CNS.  Your request will be added to our list, and will be addressed when resources are available.  In the interim, if your school is near one of those in the list of schools with Geiger kits, you may be able to borrow one from a colleague.  The highlighted schools are the most recent recipients.  The Geiger interfaces with a personal computer running most versions of Windows®.

Representative CNS Geiger Kit

The Geiger Kit includes an Aware Electronics RM-80 Geiger detector with a protective cover, cables and an adapter for a USB port (for computers that do not have a serial data port), software and support material on a CD, a container of NoSalt®, a sample of clumping cat litter, and plastic containers useful for monitoring the activity of samples.

A summary of the CNS ECC experience with Computer Interfaces for the Geiger Kits is available.

A Guide for Getting Started with your CNS Geiger Kit is available.

Nuclear-Science Experiments in the Classroom
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During the Annual Science for Educators Seminars formerly held at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories, science teachers were introduced to some of the material that is included in the Ionising Radiation Workshop.  Other activities included the use miniature cloud chambers, and the use of the Geiger detector to estimate the half-life of Ba-137 produced in a commercially available radioisotope generator.

To address the material needs for classroom use in addition to the Geiger Kit Donation program above, the CNS ECC can assist schools in the acquisition of: cloud chambers; flashlights; uranium-containing rock samples and other radiation sources; a Ba-137 radioisotope generator; smoke detectors.

Teachers will be expected to provide dry ice and alcohol for cloud chambers and an IBM-compatible computer for data acquisition from the Geiger detector.  Note:  the Ba-137 generator contains 37 kBq of Cs-137 in excess of the 10 kBq exemption quantity specified by the Canadian Nuclear Saftey Commission.  Owners of this source in Canada are required to hold a licence issued by the CNSC.

Download the 1998 handbook Nuclear Experiments in the Classroom (PDF) which describes each experiment in detail.   The handbook also provides contacts for obtaining the necessary equipment, as well as persons who can provide more information.

Download the PDF version of the shorter booklet: RADIATION ENCOUNTER!, used as supplementary material at a hands-on cloud-chamber demonstration held at the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto, Ont.) on 2002 January 26th.