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.…

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…

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…

This paper reports the development and application of a low-cost multifunctional webcam spectrophotometer for the conduct of molecular absorption and fluorometric measurements. The equipment, which costs approximately US$20 to be fabricated, consists of a webcam, a diffraction grating, and a slit, all positioned inside an MDF box. Spectral…

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…

In Vietnam, nuclear physics is a fundamental part of the national curriculum for physics. However, due to a lack of experimental apparatus (detectors, radioactive sources, etc) at most of the schools, the majority of students do not have opportunities to experience the phenomena behind the concepts. Moreover, safety is another major concern when…

Energy consumption in the world is increasing more and more due to the huge energy request coming from emerging countries such as China, India, etc. To face the challenge of sustainability, a solution may be the use of solar energy, since it is the most abundant renewable energy source on Earth. The electromagnetic energy coming from the Sun can…

We present ideas about concepts underlying climate change, held by students in years 9 and 10. Misconceptions about climate change are common among students, and may be due to misconceptions about underlying concepts. To investigate this, we developed the Climate Change Concept Inventory (CCCI), and trialed it with 229 students; corroborating…

This research aimed to investigate the misconceptions on nuclear physics topics. Misconceptions are defined as ideas whose meaning departs from what is commonly accepted by scientific consensus. A total of 34 high school students of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Sao Paulo (IFSP), Brazil, answered a questionnaire on…

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using Radioactivity Remote Laboratory Activities (RRLAs) in enhancing Form Four (equivalent to Grade 10) students' understanding of radioactivity and motivation to learn science. For this purpose, in this study, a repeated measures one-way ANOVA design was utilized in which 54 Form Four…

Most didactic lab experiments deal with the influence of temperature, concentration, pressure, surface area, and catalysts on chemical kinetics; however, few of them explore the influence of light radiation and the presence of inhibitor agents on reaction rates. In order to investigate the effects of the radiation source and the presence of…

This inquiry-based lesson gets students moving to simulate chemical reactions in a way that allows them to visualize, understand, and retain information about chemical reactions in the stratosphere. Students then look at scientific data and conduct research to understand trends in the data and the impact of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These…

Teaching blackbody radiation within the framework of astrophysics can motivate students to learn and obtain a more profound and qualitative understanding of the subject. In this paper we present a teaching module that intertwines teaching blackbody radiation via the continuous spectrum of hot objects, especially the stars. The module's approach…

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…

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,…