Radioactivity iLab
Photocredits: Science Ahead
Radiation and Cancer: Cure or Cause?
STUDENT PAGE
iLab: Radioactivity iLab
In this lab, you can explore how radioactive radiation changes as a function of distance. This curriculum sets the Radioactivity iLab in the context of radiation as it's used for cancer treatment, and asks you to consider:
Is radiation harmful or helpful?
Pre-Lab Activities
In the Pre-Lab Activities, you will learn about cancer, radiation, and how radiation is used to treat cancer.Activity 1: Introduction & Pre-Assessment
Article 1: Ionizing Radiation and Breast Cancer Risk, Cornell University (HTML)
Article 2: Detailed Guide for Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy, American Cancer Society (HTML)
Activity 2: Class Lecture and Discussion on Cancer
Radiation Dose Chart - American Nuclear Society
Formats: (HTML) (PDF)
Activity 3: Class Lecture and Discussion on Radiation
National Cancer Institute Factsheet on Radiation Therapy (HTML)
Activity 4: Jigsaw Activity on Cancer Therapies, specifically Radioimmunotherapy
National Cancer Institute Factsheet on Radiation Therapy (HTML)
Full American Cancer Society Article on Radiation Exposure and Cancer
Formats: (HTML) (PDF)
Lab Activities
In the Lab Activities, you will conduct the Radioactivity iLab. With the real data you collect, you will perform analyses, discuss your results with classmates, and draw conclusions about how radiation changes as a function of distance.Activity 5: Class DIscussion on Risk for Cancer from Radiation Therapy/ Introduction to iLab
Full American Cancer Society Article on Radiation Exposure and Cancer
Formats: (HTML) (PDF)Radioactivity iLab Guide (PDF)
Troubleshooting the Radioactivity iLab - for students
Formats: (HTML) (PDF)
Radioactivity iLab Analysis Guide (Excel 2001-2004 - PDF) (Excel 2007-2008 - PDF) (OpenOffice - PDF)
Activity 6: Peer Review & Reflection
Activity 7: Second Run of iLab
Radioactivity iLab Guide (PDF)
Troubleshooting the Radioactivity iLab - for students
Formats: (HTML) (PDF)
Radioactivity iLab Analysis Guide (Excel 2001-2004 - PDF) (Excel 2007-2008 - PDF) (OpenOffice - PDF)
Post-Lab Activities
In the Post-Lab Activities, you will draw connections between the scientific data you collected and the real-world problem of radiation being harmful or helpful as it applies to cancer.Activity 8: Discovery of Phenomenon
Activity 9: Class Discussion on the Driving Question
Activity 10: Wrap-Up and Post-Assessment
This curriculum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Developed By
Beth Christiansen, PhD
AP Biology Teacher
Evanston Township High School
Evanston, Illinois
with the support of the Office of STEM Education Partnerships at Northwestern University
Contact
Links
Resources
FAQ
Technical Requirements
Troubleshooting the Radioactivity iLab
All Radioactivity iLab Curricula
The iLab Network is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant OCI-0753324. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.