Teaching activities at Bródno Children’s University

We held ourfirst educational activity of 2011 in the series ‘Encounters with Atomic Energy’ on 5 March at the Bródno Children’s University.

Continuing our educational activities, we do not forget about the youngest science enthusiasts. This time, the lecture was also attended by parents. The topic of the lecture, combined with demonstrations, was the basics of nuclear physics. The presenter, Monika Szymańska, a volunteer from the Foundation, together with the participants tried to answer the question, posed in a rather perverse way: “Radiation is something that all people are afraid of except specialists – or rightly so?” The lecture began with a discussion of the different types of electricity sources, including conventional as well as renewable ones, ending with an introduction to a source that is new to Poland – the nuclear power plant. This introduction was followed by a discussion of the phenomenon of ionising radiation, types and properties, and the principles of radiological protection. The audience learned about the occurrence of natural radiation on Earth and the use of artificial sources in medicine and science. The lecture concluded with a demonstration of the measurement, using a Geiger-Miller counter, of natural background radiation and radiation e.g. in dietary salt, in which the children took an active part. The presenter demonstrated and explained the principle of this meter, which was then used to measure the participants themselves, from the soles of their shoes to the top of their heads. Watches, briefcases and school bags were also measured, which proved the presence of radiation, but only at the natural background level. The most persistent stayed several minutes after the end of the lecture to check the radioactivity of … speakers and a computer with their own hands under the supervision of a volunteer! speakers and a computer! 😉

At the end of the lecture, our little listeners unanimously agreed, which made us very happy, that we should not be afraid of ionising radiation!