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Activity 1 | Prospect or suspect – uranium mining in Australia

Graphing the amounts of uranium in different substances

Traces of uranium occur almost everywhere. For example, there is about 1 gram of uranium per tonne of sea water, 4 grams per tonne of granite and up to 400 grams per tonne of coal. The rocks that are mined for uranium in Australia contain at least 7 kilograms of uranium per tonne.

  • Draw a histogram to show the amounts of uranium in sea water, granite, coal, and rocks for uranium mining.

Teachers notes

Some students may need help with choosing a suitable scale on the vertical axis. You could introduce the idea of interrupting or breaking a scale to accommodate the range from 1 gram to 7 kilograms.

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Posted February 1997.

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