Driving question : How to model radioactive decay?
In this activity students explore radioactive decay via a given decay model. Based on the model they determine the function, which describes the radioactive decay. Further they modify the model to describe a decay of a real radioactive isotope e.g. Barium 137m and compare how well the model fits the experimental results.
Topic: Radioactivity,
Concepts: Radioactive decay,
Grade level: High School (14-18 years),
Activity type: Modeling,
Sensors: Not applicable,
Interface requirements: Not applicable,
The Student Worksheet gives investigation instructions for students.
The Teacher Notes includes teacher commentaries such as didactical approach, exemplary questions, assignments and data analysis.
The Science Background describes the scientific principles that underlie the activity.
Coach Activity/Result file can be opened in the Coach 7 Program. This requires Coach 7 to be installed on your computer.
Download activity Radioactive decay (.cma7) Download result Radioactive decay - extended model of Ba137m (.cmr7) Download result Radioactive decay - model of Ba137m (.cmr7)
