Radioactivity iLab
Photocredits: Cell Phone Philippines, iGizmo, Arts and Opinion
Cell Phone Radiation: How Close is Too Close?
TEACHER PAGE
iLab: Radioactivity iLab
This lab explores how radioactive radiation changes as a function of distance. This curriculum sets the lab in the context of cell phone radiation, asking students to consider:
Am I frying my brain with my cell phone?
The curriculum consists of three major sections, each of which contains three activities: Pre-Lab Activities, Lab Activities, and Post-Lab Activities. Below are teacher and student materials for each activity. Note: All these materials are contained within the Radioactivity iLab Complete Teacher Guides (below).
Complete Teacher Guide
Cell Phone Radiation Curriculum Complete Teacher Guide (PDF)
Cell Phone Radiation Curriculum Complete Teacher Guide - for Online Courses (PDF)
Pre-Lab Activities
The Pre-Lab Activities introduce students to the concept of radiation intensity changing over distance, in the context of cell phone radiation and potential health risks.Activity 1: Introduction & Pre-Assessment
In order to assess students' knowledge of topics involved in this curriculum before beginning, administer the pre-assessment provided below. To collect students' performance on this assessment, email us at
ilab-info@sesp.northwestern.edu
Activity 2: Cell Phone Radiation Podcast
Activity 3: Radiation Discussion
Activity 3 Teacher Guide (PDF)
Optional: Radiation & Radioactivity PowerPoint Presentation (PPT)
Lab Activities
The Lab Activities challenge students to perform the Radioactivity iLab, collect data, perform analyses, discuss results with classmates, and draw conclusions about the phenomenon being studied.Activity 4: First Run of iLab
Troubleshooting the Radioactivity iLab - for teachers (PDF)
Optional: Radioactivity iLab Analysis Guide (Excel 2001-2004 - PDF) (Excel 2007-2008 - PDF) (OpenOffice - PDF)
Activity 5: Peer Review & Reflection
Activity 5 Teacher Guide (PDF)
Peer Review & Reflection - Student Guide
Formats: (PDF) (DOC)
Activity 6: Second Run of iLab
Troubleshooting the Radioactivity iLab - for teachers (PDF)
Optional: Radioactivity iLab Analysis Guide (Excel 2001-2004 - PDF) (Excel 2007-2008 - PDF) (OpenOffice - PDF)
Post-Lab Activities
The Post-Lab Activities encourage students to draw connections between the scientific data they collected, and the real-world problem of cell phone radiation.Activity 7: Inverse Square Law
Activity 8: Real-World Application
Activity 9: Wrap-Up & Post-Assessment
In order to assess students' learning over this curriculum, have students complete the post-test after completing all of the activities. To collect students' performance on this assessment, email us at
ilab-info@sesp.northwestern.edu
When you have completed teaching this curriculum, it would be greatly appreciated if you would complete a brief feedback survey. Click the link below to get to the online survey. Thank you!
This curriculum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Developed By
Julia Skolnik, MSEd
Kemi Jona, PhD
Office of STEM Education Partnerships
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
Contact
ilab-info@sesp.northwestern.edu
Links
Student Curriculum Page
Learning Goals
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.