Colorado School of Mines Teacher Enhancement Program

Do You Know Your 3 R's? Radiation, Radioactivity, and Radon

• Use Geiger counters and cloud chambers to 'see' ionizing radiation in our environment. 
• Explore basic concepts of radioactivity (nuclear emissions, half-life, decay series). 
• Take home the curriculum of 15 activities (plus resources appropriate for Grades 5-12 and beyond) 
• Borrow Teacher Resources kits to use (Geiger counter, cloud chamber, radioactive sources, plus more) 

Course Number: CT-9898-17D
Credit: 1.00 semester credit hours
Location: CSM campus & Denver Federal Center
Date: June 27-29
Time: June 27-28 (8:00am-5:00pm), June 29 (9:00am-12:00pm)

Fees Tuition Fee: $55.00

Check out the class schedule -

Tuesday, June 27th

8:00am Welcome; Introduction of 3R’s/A Brief look at the Curriculum

UNIT 1: WHAT IS RADIATION?

• 8:15am 1-1, Have You Ever Been Exposed to Radiation? 
• 8:30 1-2, Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum 
• 8:50 1-3, What Are the Sources of Ionizing Radiation? 
• 10:00 A Little History of Ionizing Radiation 
• 10:30 Break 
• 10:45 Info:α, β, & γ 
• 11:00 1-4, I Can See Clearly Now! 
• 11:45 Lunch 
• 12:45pm 1-5, Keep Your Distance! 
• 2:00 1-6, Shields Up! 
• 2:45 Break 

UNIT 2: WHAT IS RADIOACTIVITY?

• 3:00 ‘A is for Atom’ 
• 3:15 2-1, Do You Know Where Your Children Are? 
• 4:15 Follow-up: Decay Series 

Wednesday, June 28th

• 8:00am Decay Series Review 
• 8:15 2-2, Time After Time 
• 8:45 Info: Uranium chemistry 
• 9:00 2-3, Radioactivity in Earth 
• 9:15 2-4, Radioactivity in Water 
• 9:30 2-5, What is Your Personal Ionizing Radiation Dose? 
• 10:00 Follow-up: Units; Safety & Ionizing Radiation (Tom Lehrer, too) 
• 10:30 Break 

UNIT 3: WHAT IS RADON?

• 10:45 3-1, Life Goes On! 
• 11:00 Info: Radon and RDP; Equilibrium and Working Level 
• 11:30 Radon: The Invisible Killer 
• 11:45 Lunch 
• 12:45pm 3-2, Radon in Your Lungs 
• 1:30 Follow-up: Epidemiology 
• 2:00 Hexaflexagons 
• 2:30 Break 
• 2:45 Info: Radon Entry, Watras.... 
• 3:00 3-3, Radon: An “Uninvited” Guest 
• 3:30 Radon: The Invisible Killer 
• 3:45 3-4, Trivia Challenge 
• 4:00 Brainstorming use of curriculum and kits 
• 4:15 Course evaluations, Graduation 

Thursday, June 29th - 9:00am-12:00pm Field Trip - Denver Federal Center Nuclear Reactor

Register early since the class is limited to the first 15 participants. Contact Chris Nichols for course information or questions: cnichols@ecentral.com or 303-674-6477.