March 3, 2004

NC State Holds Nuclear Science Workshop for High School Teachers

Teachers perform a radiation detection experiment during last year’s workshop. (Photo: Lisa Marshall)

No longer do high school students study just classical chemistry and physics. Now the prescribed curriculum in North Carolina includes nuclear science.

Too complex for high school? Not with a little help, said Lisa Marshall, director of outreach programs for the Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. “We’re working to give teachers experience that goes beyond textbooks, and to give them more hands-on material that can be used in the classroom setting,” she said.

The Science Teachers’ Workshop on Nuclear Science Applications is proving increasingly popular with teachers who want to increase their knowledge of and comfort level with nuclear engineering. The daylong workshop, which will be held on Friday, March 5, combines lectures about radiation sources, nuclear reactions and biological effects. Teachers tour the nation’s first university-based nuclear reactor, established at NC State in 1950, and tour the PULSTAR research reactor that went critical in 1972.

Teachers also will learn how to use a Geiger-Mueller counter to perform a simple radiation detection experiment. Each teacher will receive continuing education credit, a certificate of attendance and materials — Geiger counters, a radioactive source safe for classroom use and a teacher handbook — provided by the American Nuclear Society.

Beyond helping teachers learn to teach a nuclear science unit, the workshop has a more esoteric benefit. According to Marshall, “When teachers are comfortable and familiar with the nuclear engineering material, they pass their enthusiasm on to students by encouraging them to consider nuclear engineering as a career.”

For information about the Teachers’ Workshop, contact Marshall at 919-515-5876 or lisa.marshall@ncsu.edu

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Participating schools: Middle Creek High School, Tuscola High School, Roanoke Rapids High School, Parkwood High School, Harnett Central High School, North Carolina School of Science and Math, Southern Nash High School, Sun Valley High School, Cary High School, New Hanover County High School.

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