Exploring Careers: Nuclear Engineering (Grades 7-12)

Graphic: Ji Sun An

National Engineers Week, February 20-26

Engineering is the art of applying scientific and mathematical principles, experience, judgment, and common sense to create or develop new products that benefit people and solve problems. Engineers search for better, less expensive ways to use the forces and materials of nature to meet tough challenges as people encounter them. There are many fields of work within engineering; one of the smaller branches is nuclear engineering.

You flick a switch in your house, and the lights go on. It seems like magic, but somewhere in your state or region there is a power plant that provides that electricity for a fee. And chances are that some of those power plants are fueled by nuclear energy, which means that nuclear engineers would have been involved in the design and development of the plant--and are involved with the control and maintenance of it. The generation of electricity is just one area in which nuclear engineers work. Others specialize in the use of nuclear technology for medical diagnosis. Still others are busy working on a nuclear-powered spacecraft that will travel to Mars!

Connections

At a recent NSTA Regional Convention, I took part in a session, presented by some people from the American Nuclear Society, that made my entire trip worthwhile. I spent an hour doing hands-on, inquiry-based activities using an old-fashioned, bright yellow Geiger counter, and left triumphantly carrying one of my own, along with a packet of activities to do with students. When I returned home, I bought a lantern mantle and a certain red-orange dessert plate I knew would produce a reading on the Geiger counter,* and I tried the activities I did at the workshop again. They all worked, and I was firmly hooked.

Nuclear radiation--alpha, beta, and gamma rays--had seemed out of my students' reach before, being too abstract for middle school students. But now, finally, I had a way to teach them in tangible and accessible ways. As we worked through some of the activities, my students were amazed and electrified and suddenly far better informed on the topic of radiation. Questions started pouring out of them, and we searched for web sites that had more information. The American Nuclear Society site listed below would be a great place for you to start. Learn how to get a bright yellow Geiger counter of your own (the Geiger counters are free from the ANS at the workshops), and get your students hooked on nuclear engineering!

*In the past, some pottery companies used uranium oxide to make a red glaze for their plates.

Web Resources

1. American Nuclear Society
   
   http://www.ans.org/
   The ANS is a professional organization that seeks to unify professional activities within the diverse fields of nuclear science and technology. It is a not-for-profit, international, scientific and educational organization, with a newsletter for teachers and a web site with information, current news, career information, and links to other web sites related to the nuclear sciences. Click on "Public Information" for the teacher resources and go to the teacher workshop schedule--perhaps there will be one near you soon! As noted above, the Geiger counters are free from the ANS at the workshops, along with an excellent teaching guide.
   
   
2. Career Profiles: Nuclear Engineer
   
   http://www.graduatingengineer.com/careerprofiles/nuclear-eng.html
   A brief introduction about nuclear engineering is followed by short biographies of several engineers working in the field. The format has the flavor of an interview, and the engineers each explain what they do, what surprised them about their jobs, and what advice they have for those thinking about entering the field.
   
   
3. Engineering: Your Future
   
   http://www.asee.org/precollege/default.cfm
   This part of the American Society for Engineering Education's web site was useful for the students I had who were involved in the Future City competition this year. In the Engineering Disciplines section, the information about the multiple disciplines within the engineering field is excellent: A short paragraph for each of about 20 different and very distinct branches of engineering is followed by links to relevant web sites. Another neat section called Assess Yourself helps students evaluate whether engineering might be a career that matches their interests and skills.
   
   
4. How Stuff Works: How Nuclear Power Works
   
   http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm
   (An ENC Digital Dozen selection, ENC#013629) Marshall Brain created this site to share his delight in engineering with a wider audience. If you want to know how anything mechanical (and other stuff too) works, you'll (almost always) find it on this site. Nuclear power plants are explained in detail, complete with graphics to make the explanation more understandable. You can also read about the properties and behavior of atoms and about carbon dating. Check this site out, and order the free classroom newsletters while you are at it!
   
   
5. The Junior Engineering Technical Society
   
   http://www.jets.org/
   (ENC#014523) Want your students to learn about different types of engineers and what they do when they go to work? Check out this site, or have your students check it out. See how engineers use math and science to solve technological problems. Have your students look at some sample questions from a survey to evaluate their current level of preparation in basic skills for engineering. How good are they in applied mathematics, science, and reasoning? This site is a great place to learn more. Also, find out about the National Engineering Design Challenge, a competition where students work in teams to devise a product that helps to solve a social need.
   
   

Ready-to-Go Activities

1. The ABC 's of Nuclear Science
   
   http://www.lbl.gov/nsd/education/ABC/index.html
   The poster, geared to high school level courses, has an activities guide with investigations students can do using readily available materials. Visit here and learn about radioactivity--alpha, beta, and gamma decay. Here you'll find out the difference between fission and fusion, learn about the structure of the atomic nucleus, discover how elements on the Earth were produced, and more!
   
   
2. A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering
   
   http://www.engineeringsights.org/
   Visit a nuclear power plant in Idaho or Maryland. Take a virtual tour of sites across the United States where nuclear engineers have been at work. Search by category for "Power Plant" and visit one of the four nuclear sites that are listed on the next screen--for example, the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Maryland. Use a map in your classroom to help students locate these sites. How were nuclear engineers involved there? Determine the nature of your own source of electricity.
   
   

Classroom Resources from the ENC Collection

1. SimCity 3000
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1999 Grade(s): 7 - Post-Sec. Cost: $49.95 ENC#: 016504
   Talk about an engaging and challenging software program! Students design their own cities using this software, starting with building the terrain, adding surface water or elevation as they like, and moving into zoning, adding water pumping stations and power plants, and laying water pipes and power lines. Sim citizens move in, and out, as the students try to design a viable city, deal with natural disasters and fluctuating tax revenues, and interact with demanding "advisers" who complain and make suggestions when consulted. Nuclear fusion plants are available, but students must balance the costs and health hazards as they make their decisions about placing a nuclear power plant in their city. The software is used by teachers who enter their seventh and eighth grade students in the national Future City competition; go to http://www.futurecity.org/ for more on that opportunity.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
2. Hot rods: a problem-based unit
   Date: 1997 Grade(s): 6 - 8 Cost: $44.95 ENC#: 014778
   This curriculum unit was originally developed for grades 6 through 8 as part of the William and Mary series of Problem Based Science Units. However, even though it was developed for those grades, some of the standards it addresses are for high school (grades 9-12). The book introduces students to the effects of nuclear power waste in the context of a real-world problem. Although the unit was developed for high-ability students, teachers can make some modifications to structure the activity for use with upper-level (ninth grade) middle school students and with students at higher grade levels. The students take on the role of a small-town mayor confronted with the issue of whether to expand the waste disposal pools at the local nuclear power plant.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   

Teacher Resources from the ENC Collection

1. Nukes in space: the nuclearization and weaponization of the heavens
   Date: 1995 Grade(s): 7 - 12 Cost: $175.00 ENC#: 004870
   Developed for grades 7 to 12, this video was part of the Environmental Studies series. It is a little dated now that the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) has been replaced with a ground-based interceptor system. The video presents interviews with experts both advocating and speaking against the use of nuclear technology in space, interspersed with video clips, some riveting. As a snapshot in time, a historical overview, and a lively debate, this is an interesting video and worth sharing with students even though it is several years old.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
2. 100 most popular scientists for young adults: biographical sketches and professional paths
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1999 Grade(s): 7 - Post-Sec. Cost: $59.00 ENC#: 017279
   The biographical sketches in this book, which is suitable for middle and high school students, presents the career histories of 100 successful contemporary scientists. The book also includes words of advice from many of the scientists to middle and high school students, which makes for interesting and pertinent reading.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
3. Probable tomorrows: how science and technology will transform our lives in the next twenty years
   Featured in ENC Focus  
   Date: 1997 Grade(s): 10 - Post-Sec. Cost: $24.95 ENC#: 016370
   I plan to purchase this thought-provoking book to use with my middle school students who are participating in the Future City competition. While it is a speculative account of the way that near future advances in products, services, and everyday conveniences might change the way we live and work, it would help my students move past what they know to what might be. The reading level is advanced; this is not a book to pick up and read through in one sitting. The historical perspective in the preface is well worth reading, as is the appendix with its list of predicted events.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   
4. Stephen Biesty's incredible everything
   Date: 1997 Grade(s): 5 - 12 Cost: Out of Print ENC#: 012363
   This picture book, written for all ages, contains detailed cross sections and exploded diagrams to explain the manufacturing process for 37 familiar items, from a matchstick and a diamond ring to a nuclear power plant and a suspension bridge. The explanation of the nuclear power plant is as clear and explanatory as any I have seen and has great pictures.
   (For more details see ENC Record)
   
   
   

Search Strategies

Find more materials by searching Curriculum Resources on ENC Online using these terms: Career awareness, Engineer, Nuclear energy, Nuclear engineering, or Nuclear power.

Connections to Standards

Realizing that there are many ways to use this Classroom Calendar entry, we chose these standards because they relate to the entry, in full or in part. If you want to explore the standards further, please use the link(s) provided.

Connections to NSES
Content Standard B: Physical Science: Transfer of energy (5-8)
Content Standard E: Science and Technology: Understanding about science and technology (5-8)
Content Standard E: Science and Technology: Understanding about science and technology (9-12)
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in society (5-8)
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges (9-12)
Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor (9-12)
Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Historical perspectives (9-12)
Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor (5-8)
Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Nature of science (5-8)
Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science: History of science (5-8)