Curated OER
How Does Radiation Affect You?
Young scholars identify the use and misuse of radiation. They examine human activities that add to the exposure of radiation. They also discover how it can be useful in saving lives.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Half Life
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] In this module, students will explore the radioactive decay process in terms of balanced nuclear equations to discover the concept of half-life.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Radioactive Half Life
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] The half-life of a radioisotope, rates of radioactive decay and variation in half-lives in different radioisotopes.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Penny Half Life Lab
Students will use pennies to model the half-life of radioactive atoms.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Radioactive Half Life
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Explains radioactive half-life and radioactive dating, and demonstrates how to solve problems with each.
Other
Cal State: Half Life a Useful Concept
A visual description of the concept of half life. Complete with an interactive graph.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Mcat: Physical Processes: Atomic Nucleus: Decay Graphs and Half Lives Article
Explains how scientists can tell when radiation has been leaked, how to read a decay graph, what we mean by a half-life, and what carbon dating is.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Radiation / Half Life
The students will evaluate their personal radiation dose. They will develop an understanding of the term radiation and how it relates to everyday life. The will simulate how radioactive material decays and apply the term half-life....
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Half Life Lab
This lab is designed to allow students to look at the amount of radiation that is detected at different times from a radioactive source with a very short half-life. This video will help with the lab:...
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Radioactive Decay:half Life
An experiment that will help students in determining the half-life of a radioactive element.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: A Matter of Half Life and Death
Based off of the hit television show NUMB3RS, this lesson introduces students to the topic of exponential decay and half-life. The lesson is built around Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, and it's declining radioactivity over the course...
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Half Life Lab
This activity explains how students use a CBL2 and TI-83 or TI-84 calculator to collect and calculate the half-life of a barium isotope. Students can use an isogenerator to milk out a meta stable isotope of Barium with a short half-life....
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Half Life From Graph
Determine the half-life of an isotope based on the graph of the amount of the isotope left as a function of time.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Half Life From Data
Determine the half-life of an isotope based on the activity data of the isotope as a function of time.
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Practice Problems: Decay Constant and Half Life From Table
Determine the decay constant and half-life of an isotope based on the activity data of the isotope as a function of time.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physical Science: Half Life and Radioactive Dating
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Explains radioactive dating, how it works, and how carbon-14 is used to date the remains of living things.
Science Struck
Science Struck: Half Life in Nuclear Chemistry
Explains what is meant by the half-life of a radioactive element and how it is calculated.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Radioactive Dating Game
Learn about different types of radiometric dating, such as carbon dating. Understand how decay and half life work to enable radiometric dating. Play a game that tests your ability to match the percentage of the dating element that...
BBC
Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: Radioactive Emissions
This lesson focuses on radioactive emissions including radioactive decay, half-life, using half-life, how to calculate net decline, a table showing how the count rate of an isotope might change over time, and a link to a test.
Science Struck
Science Struck: List of Radioactive Elements
Learn about radioactivity, the different types of radioactive decay, isotopes, and half-life of a radioactive element. Includes a long chart listing radioactive elements, atomic number and mass number, decay type, and length of half-life.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Radioactive Review
This lesson consists of half-life problems for the students to work out.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Radioactive Decay Model
A simple experiment where pennies are thrown, then half are removed, to simulate how radioactive decay works.
University of Michigan
University of Michigan: Radioactivity in Nature
An interesting essay about the prevalence of radioactivity in nature, with chart showing where it is found and information about half lives.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Alpha Decay
Watch alpha particles escape from a polonium nucleus, causing radioactive alpha decay. See how random decay times relate to the half life. Java required.