Lesson Plan: Nuclear Fission Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the process of nuclear fission and how nuclear fission reactors work.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- understand that some nuclei can decay by splitting into two large fragments,
- understand that nuclear fission can happen spontaneously, which is a process called spontaneous nuclear fission,
- understand that nuclear fission can be induced by a neutron striking the nucleus, which is a process called induced nuclear fission,
- understand that when nuclei of fissile elements split, they release several neutrons and these neutrons may go on to split other nuclei by induced fission, creating a chain reaction,
- recall that uranium and plutonium are elements with fissile isotopes,
- solve nuclear equations involving nuclear fission,
- understand the basic construction of a nuclear fission reactor,
- recall what a moderator is,
- recall that water can be used as a moderator in nuclear reactors,
- recall what the control rods do in a nuclear reactor,
- recall that boron is often used for control rods in a nuclear reactor,
- recall what the coolant does in a nuclear reactor,
- recall that water can be used as the coolant (as well as the moderator).
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the basic structure of atoms,
- the idea that atomic nuclei are made up of protons and neutrons,
- the idea that atoms of different elements have different numbers of protons and neutrons in their nuclei.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the nuclear shell model,
- the liquid-drop model of the nucleus,
- interaction cross sections,
- the de Broglie wavelength (of thermal neutrons),
- anything from quantum mechanics,
- the cluster decay,
- likely decay products of nuclear fission,
- the effects of decay products on nuclear reactors,
- nuclear waste and nuclear waste management/containment,
- reactor types,
- the advantages and disadvantages of different reactor designs, moderator materials, coolant materials, and/or control rod materials,
- nuclear disasters.