In the school year 2020/2021, the ATOMOWE FORUM Foundation in cooperation with Radonova in partnership with the Ministry of Climate and Environment implemented the educational project >>School Radon Map of Poland<<.
Team: Zuzanna Podgórska, Łukasz Koszuk, Iwona Słonecka, Dariusz Aksamit
On the following tabs on the right, interactive maps of Poland present the results of radon measurements in the participating schools.
Designations:
– CRn_avg – average radon concentration in school buildings
– CRn_max – maximum radon concentration measured in schools
– CRn_ground – radon concentration measured at ground floor level in school buildings.
All results are given in units [Bq/m^3].
When you hover over a point, details of the measurement will appear: the name of the school and its location and the result of the measurement.
The maps were made using the Python libraries: pandas, geopandas, bokeh.
We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the results of the project, the methods of measurement and data analysis, as well as the educational and teaching materials made available below. A poster version of the School Radon Map of Poland is also available.
The School Radon Map of Poland is an educational project, implemented in the 2020/2021 school year, aimed primarily at science circles (physics, chemistry) of secondary schools. The aim of the project was to raise awareness of the occurrence of natural sources of ionising radiation, in particular the impact of radon on health, and to familiarise students, particularly those interested in science, with issues relating to radiation dosimetry and radiological protection in the broadest sense. Forty-nine schools took part in the project.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas, which is produced by the radioactive transformation of radium (a decay product of uranium found in the earth’s crust). Radon is found in the air, soil and water. It is not a stable element. It decays by emitting ionising radiation, specifically alpha radiation, which has a relatively low penetration and range of effects. The largest part of our “natural radiation dose” comes precisely from radon and its radioactive decay products, which we breathe in with the air. This is why radon monitoring in everyday rooms is becoming so important and increasingly popular.
The project consisted of two main parts, described in the following tabs. The first, of course, was the measurement of radon in schools. Each school received four radon trace detectors, which they laid out in the building according to instructions we had prepared. The second part was the comparison benchmark, a special task that involved analysing microscopic images of the CR-39 plates of the radon detectors according to the instructions provided. We present the results of both parts on the following tabs.
During the project, we also organised three webinars – the first dedicated only to the teachers who volunteered to take part in the project, the second to the students – the project participants – explaining the problems of the topic, as well as the principles of measuring radon indoors, and the third to everyone (students and teachers) discussing the results of measurements collected from all over Poland.
The project was carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Climate and Environment and with the substantive support of the Radonova company, which provided the detectors for the measurements and performed the reading of these detectors in a specialised, accredited laboratory. On this basis, we have created a School Radon Map of Poland, which we present on this page. We also plan to prepare and publish a popular science article about the project and its results in the near future.
Thank you to all schools for participating in the project!
List of schools that participated in the project (by province):
- dolnośląskie:
- C. K. Norwid High School, Jelenia Góra
- S. Żeromskiego I Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Jelenia Góra
- Zespół Szkół Integracyjnych (Integration School Complex), Legnica
- Bolesław Krzywousty Secondary School No. VIII, Wrocław
- General Secondary School No. V, Wrocław
- kujawsko-pomorskie:
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im Filomatów Ziemi Michalowskiej, Brodnica
- Complex of Mechanical and Electrical Schools, Inowrocław
- II General Secondary School, Świecie
- Zespół Szkół Mechanicznych, Elektrycznych i Elektronicznych (Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Schools Complex), Toruń
- lubelskie:
- Stefan Czarniecki I Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Chełm
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Józefa Ignacego Kraszewskiego, Biała Podlaska
- Zespół Szkół Energetycznych (Energy Schools Complex), Lublin
- Tadeusz Kościuszko I Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Włodawa
- łódzkie:
- Zespół Szkół Politechnicznych im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej, Łódź
- Stanisław Staszic Secondary Schools Complex No. 1, Radomsko
- lubuskie:
- Zespół Szkół Technicznych i Ogólnokształcących, Gorzów Wielkopolski
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Edwarda Dembowskiego, Zielona Góra
- European Union Eco-School Complex, Zielona Góra
- małopolskie:
- IV Prywatne Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Królów Polskich, Kraków
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Eugeniusza Romera, Rabka-Zdrój
- mazowieckie:
- CLVII Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Warsaw
- General Józef Sowiński Secondary School and Primary School Academy of Good Education, Warsaw
- Ogólnokształcące Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr 40, Warszawa
- XXV Marzena Okońska Community Secondary School, Warszawa
- VII Juliusz Słowacki Secondary School of General Education, Warszawa
- opolskie:
- II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. M. Kopernika, Kędzierzyn Koźle
- podkarpackie:
- Zespół Szkół Nr 2 im. E. Kwiatkowskiego, Dębica
- Zespół Szkół im. ks. Stanisława Staszica Technikum Budowlane i Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Jeżowe
- Non-public High School, Mielec
- podlaskie:
- 2 Społeczne Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Białystok
- Akademickie Medyczne Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Bialystok
- Leśna Szkoła Puszczyk, Białystok
- pomerania:
- X Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Gdynia
- Complex of Technical Schools, Kartuzy
- Mechanical and Informatic School Complex, Lębork
- Polish Firefighters Primary School, Nowa Wieś Lęborska
- Sopot Autonomous Schools, Sopot
- General and Technical Secondary Schools Complex, Ustka
- silesian:
- Zespół Szkół, Czerwionka-Leszczyny
- Akademickie Liceum Ogólnokształcące Politechniki Śląskiej, Gliwice
- Bolesław Chrobry 1st General Secondary School, Pszczyna
- III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Jana Pawła II, Ruda Śląska
- świętokrzyskie:
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. T. Kościuszki, Busko Zdrój
- Katolickie Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. św. Stanisława Kostki, Kielce
- wielkopolskie:
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im Bolesława Chrobrego, Gniezno
- III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im A. Mickiewicza, Kalisz
- II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. K. K. Baczyńskiego, Konin
- Romek Strzałkowski Public Secondary School, Poznań
Each school involved in the project received 4 radon trace detectors from us, which they set up indoors according to the instructions sent. The measurement should last for 30 days (minimum). The project participants sent the detectors back to us shortly after the measurement was completed, and these were then sent to a specialised laboratory of the Radonova mould in Sweden, where they were read according to an accredited procedure. The project participants developed and completed a form on the measurement conditions. Among other things, the following had to be provided: the start and end date of the exposure, data on the location and characteristics of the building, the year of construction of the building, the type of windows, details of where the detectors were laid out, the distance from the windows, etc. All the information collected is extremely important for a detailed analysis of the measurement results. They are made available below together with the measurement results.
The results were also plotted on a map of Poland, thus obtaining a map of radon concentrations in the air on the basis of about 200 measurement points. In this way, we created a School Radon Map of Poland! It is available in interactive form on this project website, as well as in poster form. We particularly encourage the project participants to analyse the measurement data in detail in the context of the questions that had to be answered in the survey.
School Radon Map of Poland
For teachers and students
For the teachers and their students who participated in the project, we have prepared a special lesson scenario entitled. “Data Analysis. Radon Map”. We encourage you to prepare your own radon map from the measurement results we provide above. All you need to do is to use the popular Excel programme. We publish detailed instructions for performing the data analysis and preparing the map below.
Benchmarking is a method of seeking to model solutions in order to achieve the best results by learning from others and benefiting from their experience. Benchmarking is organised in many fields of science and technology. Similarly, as in our case, a benchmark may involve solving a specific task using any or all of the methods and tools indicated by the author of the benchmark. By participating in such benchmarks, we often catch our own mistakes that we would not have noticed on our own, and only see them when we compare the results with other participants. This is important; by doing so, we improve the quality of our work, our research, and by correcting errors, we can be sure that our results are correct.
Participants in the School Radon Map of Poland project had the opportunity to take part in a benchmarking exercise entitled. “Assessing radon concentrations”. The idea behind the task was to familiarise students with the technique of analysing microscopic images of CR-39 radon detector plates, methods of data analysis. Below we present the content of the benchmark with all the appendices, as well as the results that were collected in the presentation. We also include the results submitted by all participants in the format set by the content of the benchmark (personal information has been removed from all files, each group is assigned a number and identification of the results with a specific group of students is only possible for the benchmark participants).
All the materials we publish are freely available to the public, and we encourage their use in physics lessons or extra-curricular activities.
Content of the benchmark
Results
A list of the groups of students who took part in the benchmark, together with their assigned number, is available at:
https://en.forumatomowe.org/szkolna-radonowa-mapa-polski-benchmark-lista-grup/
The access password is known only to the benchmark participants.
All teaching and learning materials prepared for the project are available below. For all those interested, we recommend the two popular science brochures “Radon and its sources. A young explorer’s guide” and “Detection of ionising radiation. A young explorer’s guide’. Both booklets, together with the lesson scenario “Radon Detection” with supplementary materials, can be useful to physics teachers for lessons related to natural sources of ionising radiation. We encourage their use.
For all those interested
For teachers
PARTNERS:
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