Ionising Radiation Laboratory
University of Utrecht
Faculty of Science
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics
Education & Julius Institute
The Netherlands
The Ionising Radiation Laboratory (Dutch acronym: ISP) offers students in Dutch schools for secondary education the possibility of doing experiments with radioactive substances and X-ray sources related to topics in the examination programs such as half life, absorption, back scattering, Bragg reflection, Wilson chamber etcetera. For that purpose, the ISP owns three mobile laboratory facilities with over twenty experiments. These experiments can be installed in a standard school laboratory for one day (or longer, if necessary). In addition, the ISP owns two comparable ‘fixed’ laboratories with a regional function, located in the cities of Utrecht and Goes.
The ISP is an initiative of the Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Utrecht, currently supported by the Julius Institute responsible for all education in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
The information about the ISP on the Dutch part of this website is summarised below. In case of further questions (and difficulties with reading Dutch), you can contact us in one of the following ways.
| Telephone | 030 253 1178 / 4258 |
| Fax | 030 253 7494 |
| Postal address | POB 80.000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| Visiting address | Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands - Buys Ballot Laboratory, room 301 and 303 / Minnaert-building, lab 026 / 030 |
| Staff members | Kees van Koeveringe Rob van Rijn Ad Beune Koos Kortland (coordinator) |
Rationale
The reasons for offering the ISP as a centralised facility for secondary schools are twofold. First of all, schools generally do not have the financial means to invest in the rather expensive radioactive and X-ray sources and measuring devices, and in the necessary permits and prescribed safety precautions. Secondly, without such a facility the teaching of the topic of ionising radiation would be of a mainly theoretical nature, while the students’ hands on experiences could positively influence their motivation and conceptual development concerning this socially relevant topic.
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| A mobile ISP laboratory on arrival at one of the more than 300 Dutch schools visited throughout the year. | The experiments from the mobile ISP laboratory installed in a standard school laboratory. | Two out of the roughly 16,000 students a year doing the ISP experiments at their own school. |
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| The Minnaert Building of the University of Utrecht, where one of the two 'fixed' laboratories is located. | The ISP laboratory in the Minnaert Building. | One of the classes at work in the ISP school laboratory. |
Target population
The target population of the ISP consists of students in their final year of secondary education with physics as one of their school subjects. If our capacity permits, also students in their pre-final year and students of teacher education departments at colleges and universities as well as other vocational training institutes can use the ISP facilities.
Experiments
The ISP experiments are divided into three groups: five experiments about radioactive decay (dealing with the concept of half-life of radioactive substances), eight experiments about absorption of ionising radiation (dealing with concepts such as range, half-value thickness and attenuation coefficient) and a miscellaneous group of ten experiments (among which the X-ray device, Bragg reflection, statistical nature of radiation, back scattering, the Wilson chamber, the GM counter and gamma spectroscopy).
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| Gamma spectroscopy | Bragg reflection | Range of α particles in air |
Laboratory session
During a standard laboratory session of about two hours, students perform three to five experiments – at least one out of each group. During such a session they are coached by the ISP staff member and their own teacher or the school’s laboratory technician.
Depending on the distance between Utrecht and the school it is possible to have two to three standard laboratory sessions during a day for sixty to ninety students.
Teaching materials
The theory, aim and equipment set-up for each experiment and its practical applications are described in the booklet ISP Experiments with Radioactive Sources and X-Ray Devices. The students can use this booklet for preparing themselves for the laboratory session, e.g. for choosing the experiments they would like to perform. During the laboratory session their work is guided by a worksheet indicating ways of data collection and processing. These worksheets are of a rather closed character, with detailed instructions for the students. Part of the experiments are also suitable for a more open approach, in which the students themselves formulate the research question and accessory hypothesis, draw up their own plan of work for data collection and processing, and write a report. In this more open approach the students are guided by a more process-oriented worksheet.
On some of the worksheets students are advised to consult additional background information on the ISP website. These information sheets are part of the equipment set-up during a laboratory session.
All teaching materials are written in Dutch. Most of the worksheets are also available in English for use at Dutch international or bilingual schools.
The information booklet, the worksheets (either for the closed or the more open approach) and (a selection of) the information sheets can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking on the links below.
The information sheets selected are necessary for answering some of the questions on the worksheets of the closed approach or for the data processing instructions on the worksheets of the more open approach.
| Information Booklet | |
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| ISP Experiments with Radioactive Sources and X-Ray Devices | |
| Worksheets [closed] | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Range of Alpha Particles in Air |
| 2A | Radioactive Decay of Radon-220 [with ammeter] |
| 2B | Radioactive Decay of Radon-220 [with plotter] |
| 3 | Statistical Variation |
| 4 | Back Scattering of Beta Particles |
| 5 | Absorption of Beta Particles in Aluminium and Perspex |
| 6 | Geiger-Müller Tube |
| 7 | Energy of Beta Particles |
| 8 | Radiation Intensity and Distance |
| 9 | Wilson Chamber |
| 10 | Mini Generator: The Barium Cow |
| 11 | Detection of Lead |
| 12 | Absorption of Gamma Radiation by Lead |
| 13 | Qualitative Identification of Radioactive Sources |
| 14 | X-Ray Device |
| 15 | Ionisation of Air by X-Rays |
| 16 | Bragg Reflection |
| 17 | Gamma Spectrometry |
| 17 | Gamma Spectrometry [Minnaert building, University of Utrecht] |
| 18 | Modulus of Elasticity of Rubber |
| 19 | Range of Alpha Particles and Air Pressure |
| 20 | Radioactive Decay of Protactinium-234 |
| 21 | Age of Radioactive Sources |
| 22 | Coefficients of Absorption of Aluminium for Gamma Radiation |
| 23 | Computer Tomography |
| Information Sheets | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Range of Alpha Particles in Air |
| 5 | Absorption of Beta Particles in Aluminium and Perspex |
| 6 | Geiger-Müller Tube |
Financing
The ISP is financed to a large extent by the Dutch Ministry of Education and Sciences, supplemented with incidental contributions from the University of Utrecht. In addition, the schools pay a fee of € 6,- for each participating student with a minimum of € 180,- for a school visit by one of the mobile laboratories.