South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
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Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Hazardous Waste (Grades 7-8)

Master Teacher

Marjorie Smith

ITV SERIES

The EXXON Energy Cube, Lesson 8: Supplemental Energy Sources

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to define technology and relate the definition to the production of electricity using nuclear energy will understand how the use of nuclear energy creates radioactive waste

list the technologies involved and relate the use of these technologies to their effect on society in general, and their daffy lives in particular

MATERIALS

hot plate
tea kettle or pot of water
newspapers to catch spills
pinwheel
empty film canisters
large cardboard box for each group
sand, soil, or similar material
job assignment cards
transparencies
picture of a nuclear power plant
bundle of straws

VOCABULARY

Atom: the smallest part of an element that has all the qualities of that element

Contamination: the act of making some substance impure, radioactive, or unclean

Energy: the ability to do work

Fission: to divide or split apart; the process of dividing or splitting into parts

Fuel assemblies: structures that contain about 240 fuel rods of uranium pellets. Fuel for a nuclear power plant is loaded in the reactor core in fuel assemblies.

Fuel pellets: cylinders into which nuclear fuel is formed for use in a reactor. A fuel pellet is about the size of your fingertip.

Fuel rods: 12- to 14-foot-long rods that hold the fuel pellets.

Geiger counter: an electronic instrument for detecting and measuring radiation and radioactive substances

Generate: to produce or make

Hazardous: dangerous or risky

High-level waste: nuclear power plant waste that is very radioactive

NRC: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a group responsible for passing and enforcing regulations concerning the environment

Power plants: plants that produce electricity

Radiation: fast particles and electromagnetic waves emitted from the center of an atom during radioactive disintegration

Spent fuel: uranium that has been used and then removed from the reactor

Spent fuel casks: shipping containers for spent fuel assemblies

Turbine: a wheel with many blades that are spun by steam. A turbine converts heat into mechanical energy

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Have the tea kettle or pot of water boiling somewhere in the room without discussing why. This should serve to peak their interest.

Ask students to brainstorm about all the ways they used electricity this past week. Give students about three minutes to write these down.

Allow students to share some of these and focus briefly on the fact that they, along with millions of Americans, carry on similar activities without a thought as to where electricity all comes from.

Define technology and have students to look at the technologies they have already listed.

Ask students to compare/contrast their daffy activities with those of their ancestors 100 years ago. Discuss how were they alike and how they were different. (how they washed their hair, what kind of lighting was used, if many people worked at night, what they did for entertainment, etc.)

Using the picture of the nuclear power plant, explain that the energy we make use of very likely came from a nuclear power plant. Discuss how the splitting of the atom releases large amounts of radioactive energy.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING

To give students a specific responsibility while viewing the video, explain that four students, at a time in the future, are asking a very sophisticated computer for information about nuclear energy. Pass out Activity Sheet 1 so that students can read over the items. Ask students to take note of the steps in the process, and try to identify what part of the process produces the radioactive waste.

VIEWING ACTIVITIES

View Lesson 8: Supplemental Energy Sources from The Exxon Energy Cube. The segment begins with Luis, one of the students, selecting a data base of information about nuclear energy, and ends with the students returning to "Data Central." This segment lasts about three minutes.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

Have students put their worksheets aside. Ask students to trace the process in a nuclear power plant. Use the hot plate, boiling water, and pinwheel to illustrate the process. The hot plate provides the heat like the uranium; the resultant steam turns the pinwheel of turbine. If necessary, go back to that segment of the video and freeze the frame until students understand that the fuel rods of Uranium 235 are used to generate heat,

the heat boils the water, the steam turns the turbine, the turbine turns the generator, and the generator generates electricity

Question, discuss, and/or explain to students how fissioning of atoms creates heat and radioactivity. Using a drawing of a nuclear reactor, have students identify the fuel assembly and the control rods containing the uranium. (Point out these technologies as they apply.)

Ask students where they think the radioactive waste is. Have each materials manager collect the remaining materials from a central location. Have students design a waste management facility that addresses NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) standards, DHEC (Department of Health and Environmental Control) standards, and community concerns. Standards will be given with other materials.

Groups must draw a diagram of the facility, use the materials to make a scale model, and be prepared to present the plan to the city council. After all presentations have been made, the council (actually the class) must vote on the best plan.

Assign Activity Sheet 1 as a homework activity.

EXTENSIONS

1. Instead of assigning each group the task of designing a hazardous waste management facility, the class can be divided into four groups, each with an individual assignment as follows:

Group 1 - the NRC: the group responsible for setting the standards for the local facility; Group 2 - GSX plant: the group responsible for drafting an acceptable proposal of facility management; Group 3 -concerned citizens: the group who outlines to the city council the advantages and disadvantages of having a local waste management facility; and Group 4 -the nuclear power plant managers: the group that produces the waste and has exhausted its space for safe containment of radioactive waste.

Working individually, have students list the advantages and disadvantages of using nuclear power to generate electricity. (See Activity Sheet 2.)

Students can be divided into three groups to study alpha, beta, and gamma rays, their effects on human population, and ways to contain them.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment can be made by using a checklist to see if the designed facility meets health and safety standards. Some attention should be given to the arrangement of the proposal layout of the facility on paper and actual site model.

Written assessment can be made by evaluating responses to Activity Sheet 1.

Additional assessment can be achieved by evaluating student responses in listing the advantages and disadvantages of having a local hazardous waste management facility.