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Oak Park/River Forest High School is in an older, well established community. As part of their chemistry unit on Radioactivity, the students were assigned to determine if Radon poses a possible health problem in their community, as opposed to a new community. They were assigned this problem at the same time as students in a nearby newer community High School. Both classes have a basic knowledge of radioactivity.
The students are divided up into heterogeneous groups of four and asked to plan how they will solve this problem. They brainstorm for about twenty minutes and compose a rough draft of the research that they will do. The teacher comes by occasionally to answer questions, ask questions and provide ideas.
The class meets as a whole to compare ideas and pinpoint important goals: 1. To run some type of test for Radon and its decay products 2. To decide how to determine what type of test. 3. To decide which homes and how many to run the tests in. 4. To determine where the test should be conducted in the home and for how long. 5. To gather data on the health effects of radon and its decay products. 6. To contact their "sister" school groups through e-mail and inform them of the type of test they will be doing so the results will be compatible.
The groups meet and decide which student in each group will be responsible for determining the type of test, researching radon, contacting their "sister" group or composing a web page so their research can be shared with others.
Class time for the next two days is spent using the internet to determine the types of test available, gathering information and contacting the sister school through e-mail, to just get acquainted. Students that chose the same tasks from each of their initial groups work together. House inspectors are also contacted to supply the students with enough information to choose the test that is economically feasible. One group has a local house inspector come and talk to the class so they could listen to a different perspective.
After the third day, the students meet in their original groups and share their results. They are now ready to begin their tests Each group works on their own random sampling of homes but all groups agree to use the same test so data can be compared. The students are enthusiastic to test their own home. Each group has prepared an information sheet and questionnaire for every home that receives a radon tester. The information sheet describes Radon, its effects, possible tests available and how to analyze the results of the specific test used in their home. The questionnaire asks for information about the home being tested, such as age, possible insulation work done on the home, previous radon testing done and other information that the resident thinks is pertinent. Each of the six groups agree to run the same number of tests in their area homes. The "sister" school agrees. The test chosen takes three days.
Each group also contacts someone in the medical field, either through the internet or in person, to determine their opinion on radon tests and effects of radon and its decay products on humans. Periodicals are also reviewed for old research that might already have been done in the area.
House test results include the "counts" per home on the lowest level of each home, as well as characteristics of the house(age,construction,etc.) Once the tests results are tallied, the results are shared with the "sister" school and comparisons are made.
As the project proceeds, the students continue to create an informative web page that will include the data from their research. They also be creating an informative article for the local paper.
The students will be assessed on their cooperative group work, the creation of a web page describing their project and the article that they will submit to the local paper. The students will also assess each other's web pages and articles using a rubric that they will compose. At the conclusion of the project, the students decided to ask to be put on the agenda of the next Town Council meeting so that they can present their research. They are excited with their results and want to share them.