ESA Education presents a new radiation teaching resource for secondary schools

A new teaching resource for physics and chemistry students aged between 14 and 18 years old is now available for download. It will allow students to observe alpha and beta radiation from a radioactive source, through building and observing a cloud chamber. A cloud chamber is a particle detection box in which charged particles produce trails of condensation that allow their paths to be tracked. The resource will be put into an interesting space context by encouraging students to think about the negative effects of space radiation on spacecraft, and on the ways in which radiation could be put to use by ESA in powering their spacecraft.