Year 9 Science

This term the year 9 Science students have been learning about atoms. They have learnt about atomic structure and are currently learning about natural radioactivity. Students have also been practising using models to represent scientific processes. As part of their assessment for this topic, students used M&M’s to model radioactive decay. The M&M’s represented a radioactive isotope, and students participated in a simulation to model half-life. Each student had a bowl of 64 M&M’s. Students emptied the bowl and counted how many of their M&M’s landed M side up – this represented an atom that had decayed and was now stable. Students continued the simulation until all of their ‘atoms’ were stable. Students will now analyse and evaluate their data to form their practical report.

Michael Branford - Science teacher