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A comprehensive teaching experiment plan tailored forthird-yearundergraduates has been developed. Initially, instructors synthesize(E)-2-(4-((4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-3-methylphenyl)­diazenyl)­phenoxy)-ethan-1-ol­(M-Azo-2)monomer as part of the preclass preparation. Subsequently, studentsperform an acylation reaction experiment to prepare an azobenzenederivative containing cross-linking points on both sides. This derivativeis then combined with poly­(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate in theabsence of external solvent under conditions conducive to radicalpolymerization, resulting in a thin film that exhibits light-wet dual-stimulationresponsiveness. This process enables students to comprehend both thechemical reactivity and photoisomerization propensity of azobenzeneto effectively bridge elements of organic chemistry and polymer chemistry.The experiment demonstrates three vivid and novel biomimetic phenomena:"color-changing flowers", "phototropic seedlings",and "mimosa", which display photochromic, light-induceddeformation, and humidity-responsive behavior of the film, respectively.This experiment enhances students' appreciation for the applicationpotential of biomimetic materials and fosters innovative scientificthinking.

A number of diverse arguments have been proposed by researchers of science education regarding the reason science should be taught in schools. These arguments inevitably play a crucial role in the curriculum designed by policymakers. The present study turns its attention to the democratic argument. It explores its validity through a special socio-scientific issue that citizens are likely to encounter in their everyday life, that of radiation emitted from cell phones. In particular, it tries to study the required knowledge of physics that will enable individuals to effectively deal with the emission of radiation from cell phones. Moreover, drawing from sharp conflicts that have arisen during the last years around the world between citizens and cell phone companies regarding the installation of cell towers within residential areas, it tries to record information about different places in the world where the cell phone controversy has made headline news.

It has been over thirty years since the nuclear reactor meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but why there is still an officially designated exclusion zone? The Chernobyl Disaster Task combines the learning of exponential functions with properties of radioactive substances to help students understand the ongoing effects of the meltdown. Mathematical modeling is "a process that uses mathematics to represent, analyze, make predictions or otherwise provide insight into real-world phenomena" (Garfunkel and Montgomery, 2019, p. 8). Mathematical modeling tasks provide multiple points of entry for students, many solution pathways, and the opportunity for students to express various ways of thinking as they use mathematical reasoning to justify their models. Integrated mathematics and science modeling tasks, like the Chernobyl Disaster Task, offer a way to make difficult-to-study, real-world phenomena accessible for a rich and authentic learning experience (Hjalmarson et al., 2020). Following a description of the task's implementation with high school students, this article will offer insights to support teachers in using this task with their students.

The field of geometrical optics features a broad knowledge base concerning conceptual learning difficulties and student conceptions. However, in contrast to other areas of physics, no widely used standard test instrument exists to assess middle school students' conceptual knowledge of geometrical optics. This is even more true for other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. For this reason, a concept test was developed for an intervention study to collect preconceptions about visible light as well as preconceptions about infrared radiation in the subject area of reflection and transmission. A pilot study with 108 middle school students preceded final revisions and implementation in the main study of 820 learners aged 12-16. The measurement model is presented for the developed concept test with the subscales 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in visible optics', 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in infrared optics' and 'applied knowledge on reflection and transmission in visible and infrared optics'. The results show that the concept test validly captures the development of preconceptions and knowledge regarding specific aspects of reflection and transmission of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 3 µm to 380 nm.

Although researchers have extensively studied student conceptions of radioactivity, the conceptions held by preservice teachers on this subject are largely absent from the literature. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of problem-centered interviews with preservice teachers (N=13) to establish which conceptions are held by preservice teachers and to examine these conceptions' structure in coordination classes. As has already been observed in students, some preservice teachers inadequately differentiate between radioactive matter and ionizing radiation and between fission and decay. We also observed that preservice teachers tend to describe the activation of materials due to ionizing radiation despite having previously denied an activation, thus showing that the conception of activation of materials can reemerge in particular framings. Within the interviews conducted, the concept of energy emerged as a central coordination class regarding radioactivity. This coordination class appeared across contexts and proved fruitful in explaining preservice teachers' conceptions about radioactivity. We will use the results from this study to develop a teaching-learning laboratory for preservice teachers in which they can actively study high school students' conceptions while reflecting on their own. In this way, these findings will contribute to improving the structure of nuclear physics courses at the university.

This paper presents a perspective of how the radiation and radioactivity themes have been discussed at the high school level in several locations around the world. In this context, scientific journals, academic journals, theses, dissertations, and media materials were analyzed. Recent research has shown that the concern with the discussion about radiation and radioactivity in basic education is a current and global issue. The discussion on the radiation and radioactivity themes in different contexts in this paper was presented in four parts: (i) The representations used to deal with the themes; (ii) how the high school curriculum deals with the topic; (iii) the common alternative conceptions; and (iv) intervention proposals to address the issues. Based on a literature review, to collaborate in the teaching of radiation and radioactivity topics, the main objective of this work is to understand the current scenario on these topics, identify some challenges to understand them, and present possible interventions to overcome them.

Infrared (IR) technologies have been universally acknowledged as a valuable pedagogical tool for exploring novel and abstract scientific subjects in science education. This study explores the roles of IR images played in middle school students' Evidence-based Reasoning (EBR) process in support of the understanding of the heat radiation process. Specifically, we implement image processing algorithms explicitly for the visual artifacts mentioned in students' descriptions of the radiation phenomenon to obtain the numeric representations of their corresponding features. Meanwhile, the quality of those descriptions is further coded with the guidance of the EBR framework for indicating students' understanding levels of the phenomenon. Finally, the associations between the numerical image features and the quality of descriptions are analyzed to examine the effectiveness of the IR visual artifacts in helping students understand the heat radiation process. The analytical results found that the image features are further positively correlated with the quality of the descriptions generated by students for the heat radiation. The results further suggest the IR images have the potential of driving students to think proactively and explore detailed procedural changes in learning the heat radiation process. Finally, our study calls for the integration of interdisciplinary instructional approaches in science education to reduce students' cognitive load and guide learning attention, for example, incorporating visualization and relevant processing approaches to present and analyze the otherwise invisible abstract process to help students make sense related knowledge more easily.

Teachers are responsible for children at school during peak ultraviolet (UV) times of the day. It is paramount that teachers have knowledge and understanding of UV to effectively protect themselves and their students. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of a short intervention on preservice teachers' sun protective behaviours, knowledge and perceived skill to teach sun safety. Participants (n =161; median age=20 years) attended a 45-minute preservice teacher sun safety intervention and completed pre- and post-test surveys. Post-intervention, most participants indicated they felt: (1) more informed about the dangers of UV and risks of developing skin cancer (93.3%); (2) more knowledgeable about the importance of sun protection (92%); and (3) more skilled to teach sun safety (87.4%). Our findings indicate that the targeted preservice teacher sun safety education intervention improved understandings of UV, effective sun-protective practices, and their perceived skills to teach sun safety.

Practical work as observation and experimentation are vital parts of science education. One way to accomplish this is by applying inquiry-based learning in laboratory activities. Inquiry enhances the development of scientific skills as well as the learning of the scientific concepts. In the present article, a laboratory activity was developed to evaluate the effect of ionizing waves emitted by different mobile phone types on viability of yeast cells. We got yeast cells as a cellular model, since yeast is a eukaryotic cell, as humans are, and many investigations are based on them. The procedure is simple and adaptable to school centers with low resources, using low-cost laboratory material. In the experimental part, we found a decrease in yeast cells' viability exposed to radiations compared to control cells. Also, different viabilities were found depending on the phone trademark used. Further studies should be done in this line.

Radiation is ever-present around us, yet there is still a lack of knowledge about radiation among the general population, especially when it comes to students. For this study, we measured the effectiveness of a lesson plan on radiation concepts that focused on ionising radiation and was supported by references and examples from the superhero genre. The lesson was delivered to student groups in Vienna-based high schools in Austria where all students (n=141) were in Grade 9 to 11. Prior to the lesson, students completed a pre-test to collect data on their knowledge base in relation to radiation and superheroes. During the lesson students were required to complete ID cards on both the electromagnetic spectrum and superhero characters. They were also invited to create and draw their own radiation-based superhero. After the lesson, students completed a post-test. We note that student knowledge on radiation concepts improved after the lesson. For example, students more accurately ordered radiation types according to energy and provided more correct answers to open-ended questions with correct explanation on the interaction of radiation with different medium. Most students welcomed the inclusion of superheroes in the classroom and were not distracted by their use in the classroom.

Every substance is associated to emission of electromagnetic radiation whose peaks are essentially influenced by temperature. Hot bodies (i.e., at T >700 °C) emit electromagnetic radiation in the field of visible light (incandescent light). The radiation emitted by cold bodies (i.e., at normal ambient conditions) in the visible light range is defined as luminescence. Luminescent light is emitted by exciting substances by means of electron fluxes (e.g., those generated in a cathode ray tube), using photon fluxes associated to electromagnetic radiations with wavelengths lower than ~390 nm (fluorescence), by mechanical stress (triboluminescence), by small temperature increase (thermoluminescence) or by biological processes (bioluminescence). The value of luminescence demonstrations in teaching is unique. Indeed, by illuminating specific minerals and other substances (such as chicken eggs, seashells, fossils, wood, scorpions, soda drinks) with non expensive ultraviolet (UV) lights, it is possible to introduce the audience to several scientific arguments. Among these, the most important are: a) the concept of radiation and electromagnetic spectrum, including the ?- and x-ray as well as the radio wave extremes; b) the discovery and the essence of natural radioactivity; c) the concept itself of visible light and the nature of the colours; d) the adaptability of the human eyes to the environment; e) the principles of the atomic structure as well as the basic concepts of energy quantization, including the photoelectric effect; f) the basic aspects of black-body radiation.

This study aimed to investigate Turkish pre-service teachers' awareness about electromagnetic radiation risks, which stem from diagnostic imaging at the hospitals and cell phone use in daily life. The study was based on survey research. A total of 138 education faculty students from the fields of Science Teaching [ST], Classroom Teaching [CT], and English Language Teaching [ELT] participated in the study. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire involving five cases. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were utilized in data analysis. The results showed that most of the participants agreed on the hazardousness of the cases. However, their risk awareness varied from case to case. Most ST and CT students were determined to possess acceptable responses in addition to partially acceptable responses. On the other hand, ELT students were determined to favor unacceptable responses. Besides, the participants held several misconceptions. To conclude, the participants' awareness levels were found to be significantly related to their educational field for all cases except the first case. Addressing such popular subjects in the elective courses for all undergraduate students during university education is expected to provide beneficial results.

This study aims to determine pre-service teachers' conceptual understanding of black-body radiation. Designed as a qualitative study, it employed a case study design, which is one of the descriptive research methods. The study group consists of 18 pre-service physics teachers enrolled as seniors. An opinion form and a concept map were used as data collection tools. In other words, results were intended to be comparatively examined by using two different qualitative data collection methods. Pre-service teachers' answers were analysed with the help of answer sculptures. At the end of the study, it was determined that while pre-service teachers generally have the correct conceptual structure, they still have some specific gaps in knowledge. It was seen that pre-service teachers have problems with understanding, especially the Wien law and electromagnetic radiation taking place in black-body radiation.

Background: Japan has recently begun introducing educational programmes on cancer as part of health and physical education (HPE) classes in schools. In support of this work, the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology has developed an educational video to enhance children's understanding of cancer and radiotherapy. Objectives: This study examined the perceived effectiveness of this video among teachers and clarified whether their specialisation played a role in their responses. Methods: An online survey was administered to junior and senior high school teachers without a history of cancer. Respondents' demographic characteristics, healthy lifestyle habits, anxiety about cancer treatment and knowledge about cancer and radiotherapy were surveyed pre- and post-video. We compared the data from science teachers, HPE teachers and teachers of other specialties. Subsequently, we performed a multiple logistic regression analysis to estimate significant factors that predicted post-watch correct-answer rates. Results: Science teachers were less anxious about radiotherapy and surgery than the other-specialty teachers. They were also the most knowledgeable about cancer and radiotherapy. Post-viewing correct-answer rates improved, except for questions about the work of medical physicists and damage to normal cells. The multiple regression analysis identified age ([beta] = 0.07), sex ([beta] = 0.08), anxiety about radiotherapy ([beta] = -0.09) and pre-video correct-answer rates ([beta] = 0.46) as significant factors predicting post-watch correct-answer rates. Conclusion: The video was beneficial in enhancing teachers' understanding of cancer and radiotherapy. Compared with HPE and other-specialty teachers, science teachers were superior in terms of cancer and radiotherapy comprehension. There may be value in exploring possibilities for cross-disciplinary instruction involving not only HPE but also science teachers in cancer education, especially radiotherapy education.

The excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, natural or artificial, is a public health concern. For this reason, it is important that, from an early age, children and teenagers gain awareness of this problem. By not being visible to the human eye, ultraviolet radiation is an abstract concept and difficult to understand, although its short-term effects may be visible. In this project, we proposed the use of the Arduino platform to measure and verify the effect of various sunblocks, making it possible to materialize the concept of UV radiation. Thus, it was the aim of this project to study the influence of the Arduino platform use, associated with an ultraviolet radiation sensor, in the understanding of this type of radiation and in the awareness to the artificial sources of UV radiation used in the daily life of many people. This project was carried out with a group of students from the ninth grade, from a school in Porto, Portugal. The methodology used allowed the students to develop interdisciplinary skills, namely in the areas of natural sciences, programming, and mathematics, providing them with useful lifelong tools.

The approaches of "problem-based learning" and "writing to learn" are known for facilitating the apprehension of concepts and better retaining of knowledge. In educational research, concept maps are sometimes used to assess the learners' level of knowledge. In this paper, the main aim is to investigate the validity of concept maps as an instrument for the assessment of learning. Therefore, six students were observed for more than a year and their learning process was documented in various ways. The concept maps were used in the form of a pre-post-test, and the different students' results were compared in a cross-case analysis using a master concept map. The results presented in this study indicate that the validity of concept maps compared to interviews and reports are questionable. It is possible to measure some parts of the learning process with concept maps, but conceptual learning seems to be hidden from the instrument. Therefore, concept maps might not be the most useful tool to measure conceptual change.

The aim of this study is to develop a scale that will determine whether there is a significant difference in the cognitive, affective and behavioral attitudes of healthcare staff towards radiation and its effects on the variables of the profession, gender, service year, institution and department they work. Using the radiation-emitting devices consciously by healthcare staff will fairly reduce unnecessary radiation for patients. In this context, creating a positive attitude among the healthcare staff about radiation will positively affect public health. In this study, a Likert-type scale consisting of 18 items was developed to measure the attitude of healthcare staff towards radiation. The scale prepared in line with the purpose of the study was shared on-line on the web page of the All Radiology Technicians and Technicians Association and scale data were collected from 115 volunteer participants working as healthcare staff. The validity, reliability, and factor analyses of the scale of the collected data were analyzed with the statistical program. The developed scale had four factors and the 1st factor was determined as "The Radiation Knowledge of the Practitioner"; the 2nd factor as "Radiation Sensitivity of the Practitioner"; the 3rd as "Practitioner's Sensitivity to the Patient" and the 4th as "Practitioner's Informing the Patient". It is observed that the four-factored structure of the scale explained 64.5% of the total variance and the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient applied for the reliability of the whole scale was found as 0.914.

The cosine theorem is used in solving triangulation problems and in physics when solving problems of addition of unidirectional oscillations. However, this theorem is used only for the analytical calculation of triangles or when solving problems of adding two oscillations. Here we propose a generalization of the cosine theorem for the case of calculating polygons of arbitrary shape and consider its application for calculating the results of adding an arbitrary number of unidirectional oscillations or coherent waves with an arbitrary phase distribution.

In this work, we present an experimental approximation to the study of the phenomenon of radioactivity in secondary schools, taking as an analogy the process of release of carbon dioxide in a carbonated beverage. In this way, we intend to facilitate the approach to the mathematical formalism and to the graphical description of this phenomenon, as well as to the understanding of its most important magnitudes: activity or decay rate, decay constant, half-life time, and mean lifetime.

Using a Geiger-Müller tube, sound-capturing software, and a simple computer program, students measured to reasonable precision the half-value layer of steel in absorbing high-energy gamma rays from a Radium Ore Revigator (pronounced re-vig-a-tor with the accent on "vig"), an early quack medical device. This article describes the process used for conducting online radiation exposure experiments as part of an in-class Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) project, with their instructor acting in a more subservient role carrying out actions requested by the students. The manner in which this student-centered approach can drive similar online radiation experiments without compromising student safety is discussed.

Radiation has become an important issue due to an increase in human-made radiation sources and a rapid improvement in technology. The aim of this study is to elicit the Turkish physics teachers' views of the 'radiation' subject in the current textbooks. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve teachers working in different high schools. The data were presented using tables with quotations. The findings showed that the teachers were mostly familiar with the 'radiation' subject in the textbooks. They stated that the curriculum insufficiently involved the 'radiation' subject. Further, they addressed that the textbooks minimally referred to the subject since the university entrance examination does not cover the radiation-related questions. Teachers also depicted that they had limited subject matter knowledge of radiation and found it difficult for teaching their students. Moreover, they thought that integrating more radiation subjects into the current textbooks would be beneficial for them and their students. The current study suggests that the scope of the 'radiation' subject in the textbooks should be extended. Furthermore, a new physics curriculum ought to be interactively developed by the help of the teachers.

The objective of this study was to measure the contribution of the left frontopolar cortex (FPC) to analogical reasoning. Our measure of analogical reasoning derives from performance on the radiation problem, a creative problem-solving task first used in Gestalt psychology (Duncker, 1945). Success on this task is as low as 10 % without the presentation of explicit cues that guide inference toward the solution (Gick & Holyoak, 1980). We assessed whether high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the left FPC would promote the analogical transfer of the radiation problem. We found that anodal stimulation primed analogical transfer and led to improved task performance compared to the cathode and sham control groups. Results from this study offer evidence favoring the hypothesis that stimulating the left FPC facilitates analogical problem-solving.

This paper presents the design and reports on the use of a simple and inexpensive cloud chamber kit that is compatible with active learning, experiential learning, and project-based learning strategies. The kit was developed for use in a first-year undergraduate nuclear science seminar class at a university in the US. Diffusion cloud chambers are commonly used in classroom demonstrations to teach students about cosmic rays and ionizing radiation. A variety of clever and novel cloud chambers found in the literature were built and tested as part of this work and are all suitable for instructor-led classroom demonstrations. However, each has drawbacks that limit its use in hands-on classroom activities as part of active learning, experiential learning, and project-based learning in the classroom. The purpose of this work was to develop a cloud chamber 'kit' that can be built in less than 10 min by students during class and guarantees student success in observing background radiation. The cloud chamber kit was found to be highly sensitive to background radiation, and several different types of high-energy particles, including muons or anti-muons, electrons or positrons, photoelectrons, and alpha particles, were detected and identified using the kits at a rate of over 20 tracks per minute measured indoors at sea level at latitude 42.3601° N. The simplicity of the cloud chamber kit presented here makes it compatible with a variety of best practices for active learning in the classroom and requires little preparation time outside of class.

The teaching of the phenomenon of radioactivity is considered a key ingredient in the path towards developing critical thinking skills in many secondary science education curricula. Despite being one of the basic concepts in general physics courses, the scientific teaching literature of the last 40 years reports a great deal of misconceptions and conceptual errors related to radioactivity that seemingly appear regardless of the educational level and context. This study reports the first cross-sectional diagnostic study in Spain to secondary education students and pre-service teachers. Data were collected in the year 2019 through a questionnaire adapted from a previously validated one to explore the main misconceptions, attitudes, and knowledge status on the topic on a sample of 191 secondary school students and 29 Physics-and-Chemistry trainee teachers in the Spanish region of Valencia. Open and closed questions were used to categorize the entity itself, its properties, and the main misconceptions related to radioactivity. The responses were analysed using conventional statistical methods. The results indicate an evolution from a widespread dissenting notion on the phenomenon, which is staunchly related to danger, hazard, and destruction in the lowest educational levels, towards a more rational, relative, and multidimensional perspective in the highest ones. On the other hand, the ideas, emotions, and attitudes of the inquired individuals are in good agreement with the main misconceptions reported in the literature.

Multistep synthesis is a key capstone experience in organic laboratory instruction. Here, a four-step synthesis of avobenzone, an active component in sunscreens, has been developed that can be completed in two 4 h laboratory periods. This synthesis incorporates green principles and includes an aldol condensation, electrophilic addition of bromine to an alkene, an E2 dehalogenation of a dibromide, and hydration of an alkyne. Highlights of this synthesis include the use of coupling constants to identify alkene configuration, NMR analysis to determine preferred tautomeric form, the use of microwave irradiation to reduce reaction times, a solvent-free synthesis of a chalcone, and a three-step reaction that can be completed in a single lab period.

A fast, operationally simple, and reproducible synthetic protocol for anthraquinone dyes (AQDs), suitable for upper-division undergraduate industrial and organic chemistry laboratory courses, has been developed. This experiment is composed of three stages; the first step deals with the synthesis of AQDs, followed by a purification step, and finally a chemical characterization of the pure dyes. This can be completed within 2-3 laboratory sessions (3 h each). Synthesis is performed via Ullmann coupling reaction starting from inexpensive commercially available materials, 1-amino-4-bromoanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid sodium salt (bromaminic acid), amine/aniline derivatives, phosphate buffer (pH 6-7), and a catalytic amount of elemental copper (Cu[superscript 0]) under microwave irradiation at 120 °C within a short reaction time (2-20 min). The crude blue dyes are purified by extraction with dichloromethane followed by column chromatography using reversed phase C-18 material. The clear difference in colors between starting material (orange and red), byproduct (dark red), and products (blue) allows for great ease in visual monitoring of the chromatographic separation. The target AQDs are fully characterized by spectroscopic methods.

This paper presents the case for how students can be helped to increase their scientific vocation by experimental work and the introduction of particle physics into pre-university studies. These two ideas are the two main lines of work of the ADMIRA initiative, which has been created by individuals belonging to different and complementary educational and research institutions. The initiative consists of a network of schools that share Minipix devices, a readout system for the Timepix detector designed at CERN in the framework of the Medipix2 Collaboration. The schools receive logistical and technical support from the local University (the University of Barcelona) and from CERN. The centres involved and the objectives, as well as the characteristics of the project are presented. The technical and didactic materials available are also shown. Finally, some initiative data has been analysed to show its rapid growth, and some students' research is presented showing the diversity of tasks that can be done with such detectors.

Although environmental radioactivity is all around us, the collective public imagination often associates a negative feeling to this natural phenomenon. To increase the familiarity with this phenomenon we have designed, implemented, and tested an interdisciplinary educational activity for pre-collegiate students in which nuclear engineering and computer science are ancillary to the comprehension of basic physics concepts. Teaching and training experiences are performed by using a 4" × 4" NaI(Tl) detector for in-situ and laboratory ?-ray spectroscopy measurements. Students are asked to directly assemble the experimental setup and to manage the data-taking with a dedicated Android app, which exploits a client-server system that is based on the Bluetooth communication protocol. The acquired ?-ray spectra and the experimental results are analyzed using a multiple-platform software environment and they are finally shared on an open access Web-GIS service. These all-round activities combining theoretical background, hands-on setup operations, data analysis, and critical synthesis of the results were demonstrated to be effective in increasing students' awareness in quantitatively investigating environmental radioactivity. Supporting information to the basic physics concepts provided in this article can be found at http://www.fe.infn.it/radioactivity/educational.

The purpose of this study is to determine the metaphors that the candidate teachers develop about the nuclear power plants in a socio-scientific issues-based environmental education class and the justification of these metaphors. The study was constructed on the basis of a qualitative research model and phenomenological (phenomenology) pattern was used. The study was conducted during an academic semester in the environmental education course. The researcher presented to the classroom teacher candidates the positive and negative effects of the socio-scientific situations on environment, human development, economy, and health. It was ensured that teacher candidates were able to relate these issues to the subjects of environmental education course, assess the difficulties and discuss them with large group studies. A study for building the metaphors was conducted in the activity carried out for nuclear power plants as the last activity of the implementation process. The research was conducted with 197 classroom teacher candidates and the data were collected through a metaphor questionnaire prepared in a semi-structured form and the content analysis method was used in data analysis.

Nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry is a branch of chemistry that has high experimental risks, has high research costs, and is subject to certain prejudices. However, it has an extremely important influence on the development of human life. It is particularly important to emphasize the general education of nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry without compromising the quality of the teaching. The introduction of the general education mode into nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry overcomes the shortcomings of narrow audiences. However, single theoretical courses are limited to a slide-based lecture. Although the audience for general education is wide, it is difficult to carry out related experiments because of safety responsibility and teaching funds. In this work, VR technology was first applied to the general education of nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry, and the audiences of the course were not limited to students who major in chemistry. The research results showed that not only did the VR platform effectively improve students' learning confidence, but also the effect of teacher-student interaction and the usability of VR equipment were recognized. This work may bring enlightenment to the popularization of nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry through new media technology.

As part of their third-year general chemistry program, students at the University of the Côte d'Azur are taught the basics of radioactivity. The view that third-year university students have of the periodic Table of the Elements is often reduced because it ignores the vast majority of isotopes. As part of this program, a practicum devoted to the observation of [alpha] and [beta] particles has been put in place and a table-top version of a cloud chamber of the Langsdorf type was designed, but in its simpler, static version. With a simple experiment and a source of natural uranium, concepts that normally belong to the distinct disciplines of thermodynamics, classical point physics, nuclear instability, and even chemistry are being addressed in a complementary manner. This article gives a full description of the various concepts that may be taught during the practicum, together with the basic equations. Numerical applications performed with observed data are proposed and discussed together with tabulated data. Through this practicum, students can actually observe radioactivity directly and come to understand that nuclides may be stable or unstable.

Concerns about the health effects of frequent exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted from mobile towers and handsets have been raised because of the gradual increase in usage of cell phones and frequent setting up of mobile towers. Present study is targeted to detrimental effects of EMF radiation on various biological systems mainly due to online teaching and learning process by suppressing the immune system. During COVID-19 pandemic the increased usage of internet due to online education and online office leads to more detrimental effects of EMF radiation. Further inculcation of soft computing techniques in EMF radiation has been presented. A literature review focusing on the usage of soft computing techniques in the domain of EMF radiation has been presented in the article. An online survey has been conducted targeting Indian academic stakeholders' (Specially Teachers, Students and Parents termed as population in paper) for analyzing the awareness towards the bio hazards of EMF exposure.

In this article, the authors discuss finding teaching the standard on the apparent brightness of the Sun (5-ESS1-1) to be a challenging and frustrating experience due to the abstract nature of the standard and generally low interest of their fifth-grade students. They had previously used hands-on learning activities involving flashlights to model the phenomenon, but the results were less than stellar. All of that changed when they decided to integrate math standards on graphing points in the coordinate plane (5.G.A.1 and 5.G.A.2) and added a claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER) response. The result was a lively analysis of data in a real-world context, thoughtful discussions about word choice when making observations, and engaging arguments from evidence.

While the use of ICT technologies in biology lessons is becoming more pronounced, it is not yet the case for those related to the use of advanced technologies. In this article, we focus on the use of an infrared camera for developing applications in biology. Infrared thermal imaging has become increasingly affordable, and it is now time for biology educators to take advantage of this development. We present some ideas for the use of thermal imaging for enhancing students' learning in biology using animals, humans and plants as subjects. The target student age group is middle school to high school level. Some fieldwork was involved in the studies while others can be carried out in a laboratory or classroom setting. There are unique advantages that render an infrared thermal imaging camera suitable and convenient for the studies in this article -- it is compact in size and portable, which makes it ideal for fieldwork as well as allows for non-contact measurements which enable data acquisition from a distance from physically inaccessible subjects. We also provide a discussion on the strengths and limitations of using infrared thermal imaging in biology education.

Writing and genre scholarship has become increasingly attuned to how various nontextual features of written genres contribute to the kinds of social actions that the genres perform and to the activities that they mediate. Even though scholars have proposed different ways to account for nontextual features of genres, such attempts often remain undertheorized. By bringing together Writing, Activity, and Genre Research, and Multimodal Interaction Analysis, the authors propose a conceptual framework for multimodal activity-based analysis of genres, or Multimodal Writing, Activity, and Genre (MWAG) analysis. Furthermore, by drawing on previous studies of the laboratory notebook (lab book) genre, the article discusses the rhetorical action the genre performs and its role in mediating knowledge construction activities in science. The authors provide an illustrative example of the MWAG analysis of an emergent scientist's lab book and discuss its contributions to his increasing participation in medical physics. The study contributes to the development of a theoretically informed analytical framework for integrative multimodal and rhetorical genre analysis, while illustrating how the proposed framework can lead to the insights into the sociorhetorical roles multimodal genres play in mediating such activities as knowledge construction and disciplinary enculturation.

Simple energy balance models of planetary systems are of fundamental importance to understanding equilibrium temperatures. Most textbooks that discuss energy balance take a further step and include the effects of an atmosphere on the surface temperature. It is noticeable, however, that in such discussions of planetary surface energy balance some fundamental physical characteristics of energy balance are incorrectly portrayed, but rarely commented upon. Here it is shown that zero-dimensional energy balance models with either one or two atmospheric layers will necessarily lead to results that lack correct physical content, although they may or may not give temperature results that are numerically approximately correct. Ignoring the role of convective heat transfer and having even rough magnitudes of both upward- and downward-welling long-wavelength radiation wrong means that fundamental physical processes are missing. Adding a third atmospheric layer to a simple model that also includes a stylised representation of convection can restore both reasonable numerical accuracy and the correct physical properties, while at the same time being simple enough for easy physical interpretation.

Infrared (IR), or radiation, thermometers are widely used in temperature measurements in many different sectors from health, food, automotive, agriculture, iron and steel to chemistry due to their fast measurement capabilities, reasonable prices, wide measurement ranges and ease of use. IR thermometers work based on black body radiation. In this experimental study, the accuracy of measurements made with IR clinical radiation thermometers and calibration systems were determined as a research subject. These became more important with the sudden expansion of the areas of use (schools, shopping malls, workplaces), especially during the epidemic COVID-19 period. The experiment gives students the chance to learn how to ensure the accuracy of the measurements of a measuring device used in daily life by doing their own experiments and it helps students understand how temperature measurements are carried out using the natural temperature-dependent emission of electromagnetic energy (thermal radiation).

Wi-Fi radiation is a type of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) that refers to the transfer of energy by radio waves. Nowadays, exposure to RF radiation is widespread including wireless internet connection (Wi-Fi) routers and cell phones. The proliferation of devices emitting RF radiation has entailed some public and media-generated controversy, although scientific evidence has not pointed to the existence of risk. Using the theoretical perspectives of science literacy, public engagement with science, and science media literacy, this work examines public engagement with science-related media reports in a context involving risk. A qualitative design was followed to address multiple viewpoints including an analysis of an authentic primetime TV program concerning the risks of Wi-Fi, its messages, and frames, solicited a public response to the coverage via interviews and decision-making simulation (n = 20), and unsolicited public response based on social media discussions (n = 315 comments). Our findings suggest that a lack of relevant scientific knowledge does not seem to be related to participants' general scientific literacy among people with higher education. Moreover, interviewees did not place much emphasis on having adequate knowledge in making their decision. These findings emphasize that we need to expand our understanding of the different ways that make scientific knowledge relevant when making decisions on scientific issues that relate directly to everyday life.

The use of radioactive isotopes in radioactive decay studies can be a problem due to the manipulation of radioisotopes, expensive equipment, and the difficulty of finding samples with a reasonable half-life (between 1 and 10 min). In this paper, we present a mock-up of a Geiger-Mu¨ller counter plus three fictitious radioisotopes. They form an experimental kit that teachers and professors can use in laboratories of schools and universities. Inside the Geiger electronic box, an Arduino board can recognize the isotope specimen sample the student inserts in the Geiger-Mu¨ller tube support. Once the measuring process starts, the Arduino simulates the particle counting as a function of time for that chosen isotope. The complete kit presented here costs approximately US$ 20.00, and it can be an alternative to other simulations for radioactive decay lessons.

As introductory chemistry courses expose students to many distinctive properties of matter, it is helpful to systematically evaluate and relate different measures such as mass, moles, and molarity, or specific heat capacity and heat capacity. Intensive and extensive designations help distinguish intrinsic and component properties of a system and are often introduced to students, but they are infrequently explored or exploited beyond introductory chapters. Intensive metrics used to address green chemistry principles include process mass efficiency, median lethal dose, and radiative forcing. These sustainability metrics build on fundamental measures introduced in general chemistry such as yield, concentration, and energy by collecting extensive components of a system with complementary intensive measures. As interdisciplinary sustainability metrics bridge scales and systems and connect chemical, environmental, and engineering concerns, they can be used to help further explain and employ concepts currently taught in a general chemistry course. This commentary serves to examine the extensive and intensive nature of measures found in a first-semester general chemistry course and classify them alongside relevant sustainability metrics. While general chemistry is not necessarily an outlet to fully explore these metrics, the introduction and exploration of these metrics, such as process mass efficiency in relation to yield, may better allow them to practice general chemistry learning objectives both inside and outside the classroom.

Here we demonstrate an inexpensive and straightforward electronic circuit that can be used to generate data in the form of counts, with the same statistical properties as those found in gamma-ray counting experiments. The circuit holds an avalanche Zener diode just below its Zener voltage, which allows for thermal electrons to traverse the in the Zener's PN junction, causing sporadic conduction events lasting ~10 ns. If counted in a manner similar to gamma-ray arrivals, we show the conduction events will follow identical statistical distributions as the gamma-rays.

Simulation of physics phenomena is an indispensable part of experimental studies. Undergraduate and postgraduate physics students are often introduced to the simulation of various phenomena as one of the most important pedagogical tools. In this document, we demonstrate the simulations of the two-body decay of a particle and equilibrium states in the radioactive series using C++ programming language. Introducing these exercises into the physics curriculum will help students gain exposure to the basic functionality of Monte-Carlo event generators by simulating particle production followed by its decay and the qualitative idea of the radioactivity equilibrium conditions.

Instructional design focuses on solving problems in a multitude of contexts. As such, designers are investigators, gathering evidence to optimally design solutions to learning problems within the identified context. The challenge described in this case study was the need to create an educational activity to promote interaction and collaboration among an interdisciplinary participant group comprised of physicians, radiobiologists, and radiation physicists. Based on the premise that interdisciplinary medical research collaboration requires a shared understanding of authentic problems from multiple perspectives, this design research case documents the design and implementation of an online case study incorporating collaborative inquiry in interdisciplinary teams with the intended outcome of building or strengthening interdisciplinary communication skills. Contextual factors--including the design team and design process--influencing the design of the activity are documented. Results indicate that using an interactive online case study as the basis for collaborative inquiry in small, interdisciplinary teams followed by a summative, large group discussion resulted in (1) evidence-based treatment decisions based on the data supplied in the case study and (2) participation of all disciplines in team interactions. Outcomes also indicated the building or strengthening of interdisciplinary communication skills and the understanding of the value and contribution of all three fields to radiation oncology treatment resulted in the participation of the online case study.

Alpha-particle sources are widely used in industrial and medical applications. Such applications include smoke detectors, static charge eliminators, and radiation therapy. This paper is concerned with the detection of alpha particles. A number of techniques are known for the detection of alpha particles. Those techniques include the Geiger-Müller tube, the ZnS scintillator, the air-filled ionization chamber, and the spark chamber. All the techniques that are currently known are based on the interaction of the ionizing radiation with matter. Charged particles, such as alpha particles, upon entering a medium (such as air), encounter many collisions with bound electrons and lose kinetic energy in the process. The atoms of the medium also become ionized, and a large number of free electrons are released inside the medium. The theory describing the interaction of ionizing radiation with matter is well known and includes formulas such as the Bethe-Bloch formula for the stopping power of matter and formulas for calculating the range of the ionizing radiation in matter. Essentially, all the known techniques for the detection of alpha particles are based on detecting the presence of free electrons inside the medium. This paper presents a new technique for the detection of alpha particles that does not depend on the theory of the interaction of alpha particles with matter. Instead, the technique is based on the direct detection of the positive charge that is carried by the alpha particles. Furthermore, it is the objective of this paper to demonstrate that the direct detection of the charge carried by alpha particles can be done with a tiny and inexpensive component: a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET).

An easy circuit for measuring the power of a solar panel in physics classroom by using the microcontroller Arduino will be introduced in this article. The measured data is transferred via Bluetooth to the smartphone app 'phyphox' where it is displayed graphically. The circuitry enables measuring the power of a solar panel in different situations of light intensity. Several model experiments for students will be described.

A solar eclipse provides a well-characterized reduction in solar radiation. Solar radiation is a driving factor in meteorological and climate models. Hence, solar eclipses provide a unique opportunity to do large-scale meteorological experiments by measuring the effects on temperature, pressure, and wind while the atmospheric conditions stay mostly constant as the solar radiation amount changes. An eclipse is also a good opportunity to see what happens to solar power generation. Balloon-borne sensors get you above the cloud layer, but as we shall see, they are not necessarily ideal for this type of measurement.

This paper aims to introduce the initiative "Escola Sirius para Professores do Ensino Médio" (ESPEM, Sirius School for High School Teachers) hosted by the "Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais" (CNPEM, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials) and supported by the Sociedade Brasileira de Física (SBF, Brazilian Physical Society). The program covers the principles and applications of synchrotron radiation with expositive lectures, discussions, and visits to the CNPEM facilities. By using semi structured interviews, a remote focal group and surveys to find out the impact of ESPEM, we observed that the teachers shared their experience and disseminate the acquired knowledge with their peers and students.

The role of peer and teacher mediation in discussions about two original scientific texts in the final year of high school in Brazil is explored in this study. A text by James C. Maxwell, deals with the characterisation of light as an electromagnetic phenomenon, and refers to the continuous manner of the distribution of energy by radiation in space. The other, by Ludwig Boltzmann, is about thermodynamics in its probabilistic conception and some of its consequences for the comprehension of the nature of heat. We analyse some of the students' interpretations using a version of discourse analysis, developed in Brazil following the French tradition of Michel Pêcheux. We highlight interactions that contribute to the reading of the texts and the mediations of both the teacher and peers that promote the establishment of relevant meanings about physics concepts. The appropriation of their statements about the content is observed in this communicative approach. We contribute to the investigation of physics teaching using strategies informed by a humane scientific and cultural educational perspective in high schools.

With the advancements in broad-spectrum sunscreens and the recent bans on benzene-based sunscreens due to their environmental toxicity, there has been a push toward broad-spectrum sunscreens containing in organic active ingredients. In this study, a procedure was developed to analyze the particle size and size distribution of inorganic active ingredients, titanium dioxide (TiO2) and/or zinc oxide(ZnO), of sunscreens with sun protection factor (SPF) values ranging from 15 to 50 using dynamic light scattering (DLS). These inorganic components are often engineered as nanoparticles in order to reduce visibility on the skin and retain UV scattering. Research suggests that the use of smaller nanoparticles to increase the efficacy of the inorganic filters may also be toxic to humans if it becomes permeable to the skin. This methodology allowed undergraduate students to workhands-on with particle sizing and compare sunscreen samples to nanopowder and dispersion standards using the effect of the hydrodynamic diameter. Students found that, due to agglomeration, the particle sizes for the nanopowder standards could exceed the manufacture's labeled size when dispersed in solution, which they then compared with their sunscreen data. The results also showed that some sunscreens had two distinct layers at the end of sample preparation, which could be correlated to the matrix components within the sunscreens. This study is intended for undergraduate analytical students and can be altered using the potential variations and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to create a more challenging upper-level lab and allow for instrumentation comparisons.