Published by Australian Academy of Science
Activities | Prospect or suspect – uranium mining in Australia

1. Graphing the amounts of uranium in different substances

2. Uranium, nuclear energy and radioactivity: library research

3. The advantages and disadvantages of enriching uranium within Australia

4. The three mines policy: arguments for and against

5. Factors to consider before opening a new mine

6. The implications of nuclear-free zones within Australia

7. Exporting uranium: a debate

8. Exploring uranium mining issues: a role-play

Other Activities

• Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
  • Nuclear science in society – students explore aspects of nuclear science and technology.

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  • Nuclear power – students assess alternative sources of energy, how uranium is used to create energy and different points of view about nuclear energy.

• Science upd8, UK
  • Nuclear power: The great debate – students examine the arguments and come to their own conclusions about the benefits and dangers of going nuclear.

• Science NetLinks (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
  • Frosty the snowman meets his demise: An analogy to carbon dating – students use a simple graph to extrapolate data to its starting point.
  • Radioactive decay: A sweet simulation of a half-life – demonstrates that the rates of decay of unstable nuclei can be measured, that the exact time that a certain nucleus will decay cannot be predicted, and that it takes a very large number of nuclei to find the rate of decay.