Ionising Radiation
Quantum and Nuclear

Things you'll need to decide on as you plan: radiations that ionise

Teaching Guidance for 14-16 Supporting Physics Teaching

Bringing together two sets of constraints

Focusing on the learners:

Distinguishing–eliciting–connecting. How will you:

  • deal with perceptions of risk
  • draw out children's understandings of radioactive
  • connect ionising radiations with other radiations

Teacher Tip: These are all related to findings about children's ideas from research. The teaching activities will provide some suggestions. So will colleagues, near and far.

Focusing on the physics:

Representing–noticing–recording. How will you:

  • separate ionisation from contamination
  • separate penetrating power from activity
  • separate damage done from activity
  • connect ionising radiations with other radiations
  • explain half-life, connecting this to randomness events, and to safety

Teacher Tip: Connecting what is experienced with what is written and drawn is essential to making sense of the connections between the theoretical world of physics and the lived-in world of the children. Don't forget to exemplify this action.

Ionising Radiation
is used in analyses relating to Radioactive dating
can be analysed using the quantity Half-Life Decay Constant Activity
features in Medical Physics
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