Canadian Nuclear Society Société Nucléaire Canadienne 480 University Avenue, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1V2 Telephone: (416) 977-7620 Fax: (416) 977-8131 E-mail/Courriel: [email protected] CM76CCa
Education & Communication Committee Report on STAO Conference
Executive Summary:
The sponsoring of a CNS Booth at STAO 2006 proved to be a successful initiative for reaching high school science teachers. The STAO Conference draws a small sample of science teachers from across Ontario with the majority attending from the metro Toronto area and environs.
The preparation and delivery of selected “science curriculum units” to teachers via workshop sessions would be a significant enhancement, but would require the assistance of experienced teachers to be effective. These units would have enduring value as they could be presented subsequently at professional development day events across Ontario and could be adapted for other provinces.
Opportunities to work with Scientists in School to develop units for elementary school would be the most effective means to reach younger students.
1. STAO 2006
The STAO Conference was held November 16-18 at the DoubleTree International Plaza Hotel in Toronto (Dixon Road). Over 200 attendees stopped by the booth based on material picked up, and of these, 154 registered for the draw prizes (1 entry form is missing). A database has been constructed from the registrants’ responses.
The CNS booth was staffed by Bryan White and the volunteers listed below:
Name Affiliation Conference Days Ginni Cheema Candesco Corporation Thursday Constantin Ontario Power Generation, Saturday Banica Canadian Nuclear Society Tracy Gagne Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Thursday, part of Women in Nuclear, Friday, Saturday Power Workers’ Union Evan Houldin Candesco Corporation Friday morning Peter Lang Canadian Nuclear Society Thursday, Friday Bob Walker Ontario Power Generation, Thursday, part of Power Workers’ Union Friday Julie West Candesco Corporation Friday afternoon CM76CCa
Thursday (left to right): Tracy Gagne, Bob Walker, Peter Lang, Ginni Cheema
CNS Booth Draw Prize Winners
Grand Prize: Aware Electronics Geiger system, & a copy of Canada Enters the Nuclear Age
Shoba Thomas Lester B. Pearson Secondary School Burlington, ON
CNS Sweatshirt
Chantal Bertin L’Escale Ecole Secondaire Catholique Rockland, ON Joe Lozon Woburn Collegiate Institute North York, ON William Dunlop Assumption College Brantford, ON Carol Riddle A.N. Myer Secondary School Niagara Falls, ON Cecil Chappell Humberview Secondary School Bolton, ON Lisa Tocco Western Secondary School Amherstburg, ON
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Canada Enters the Nuclear Age
Matt Devereux University of Western Ontario London, ON Chuck Cohen STAO Past President Toronto, ON Don Bieronski Preston High Secondary School Cambridge, ON Alison Cornthwaite Sudbury Secondary School Sudbury, ON Jake Plantinga Hamilton District Christian High Ancaster, ON School Jennifer Nazzarelli Firgrove Public School Toronto, ON
The ECC now has a STAO membership for one year as a consequence of having sponsored an exhibit booth. This includes an invitation to submit an article to “Crucible”, the STAO publication.
2. Special Project Cost
Preliminary expense information follows:
Item Budget Actual Comment (Estimated) STAN (Ottawa, F. Boyd) $150 $150.00 Fred to confirm STAO Booth $1860 $1476.60 STAO Program ad $900 $963.00 Display / Promotional $1000 $1364.44 Vincent perforation? Travel, Hotel, Banquet $890 $1093.31 * Contingency $200 $0 Total $5000 $5047.35
Note: additional promotional items from CNS included mouse pads and copies of CNS Bulletin; AECL provided simulated fuel pellets, key chains; PWU provided more simulated fuel pellets, CNW fridge magnets, CNW paper pads and TradeUP brochures.
* - includes personal vehicle mileage and parking expenses for Banica and Lang.
3. CNS Draw Registration Form Data
3.1 Teachers
Of the 154 attendees who registered at the booth, 136 were teachers in schools currently teaching science. The distribution of the teachers by type of schools is illustrated in the pie chart below. Pre-Service teachers are students at teachers’ colleges.
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Note that there were 71,274 elementary teachers and 40,961 secondary teachers in the Ontario public and catholic schools in 2003-04.
The teachers represented 110 schools.
Note that there were 4,010 elementary and 870 secondary schools in Ontario in 2003-04.
85% of the non-pre-service teachers were from high schools. There are some “senior elementary” or “mid-schools” that include grades 7-9 that were assigned as “elementary” in this data.
STAO 2006 CNS Draw registration data
Pre-Service Others Private Schools8% 3% 7%
Catholic Schools Public Schools 19% 63%
Non-Pre-Service Teacher Registrants
Elementary 12% Middle School 4%
High School 84%
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3.2 Registrant Addresses
The majority of those registering were from the Greater Toronto Area and environs. Teachers did attend from as far as Amherstburg, Arnprior, Kenora, Moose Factory, Sudbury and Montréal. The graph below illustrates the distribution.
First Letter of Postal Code
K P - -N J N o -M o r o rt th n h w t e e ré a s a s t l t ( (1 (4 1 0 % % % ) ) L ) -9 0 5
(4 N 1 -S % o u ) th w e s t (2 0 % ) M -T o ro n to
(2 4 % )
3.3 Teachers’ Comments
Of those who registered with the booth, 40 wrote brief comments. Their comments are appended to this report. They include 2 requests for more information en français, and 7 requests for guest speakers.
3.4 Overall Impressions
• Elementary teachers seemed to be particularly interested in having in-school presentations by others.
• There was a definite interest in picking up nuclear industry information including the “plastic uranium pellet”, the CNA “Handbook”, and the AECL posters (made available by the DRSA booth).
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• The large display at the back of the booth was not very effective due to the limited space available.
• Both Visions of Science and Deep River Science Academy had significant responses from teachers and other exhibitors.
• The Geiger system demonstration with “NoSalt” ® (KCl – 4.8 kBq of K40) was very well received – everyone wanted to win the system.
• Those staffing the booth very much enjoyed the experience and would be willing to do it again.
3.5 Effectiveness
The booth at the STAO Conference provided an opportunity to:
• Introduce a small sample of science teachers to the existence of the Canadian Nuclear Society and solicit their suggestions for assistance;
• Distribute nuclear industry resource material to a subset of science teachers;
• “test market” an idea such as introducing the Geiger detector with the “NoSalt” ® K-40 source and smoke detector Am-241 source as examples of natural and “man made” radioactive materials that could be used in the classroom.
If the 125 high school + middle school teachers are identified as the target audience, the cost per teacher who registered was approximately $40, plus the cost of the donated material distributed.
An alternative approach is to have an exhibit booth and sponsor a “commercial workshop”. In this case, the workshop would present a developed “science curriculum unit” to a number of teachers (typically 30, 40, 60 or 90 depending on room size) at a cost of $250 in addition to the booth rental (necessary to get the workshop).
The workshop might be run once on each of two days ($250 each occurrence).
With the experience and exposure gained running the workshop(s) at the STAO Conference, it is expected that there would be follow-on opportunities to present the workshop at Professional Development days over a wider area than is represented by the teachers attending the specific conference.
This activity could then be repeated subsequently to address other units in the curriculum.
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4. Proposed Plans for 2007
The science teachers’ association conference was found to be an effective forum for having an exchange of information with science teachers. Following a discussion with Chuck Cohen, STAO past-president and other teachers, the following are recommended.
1. The new curriculum is becoming available – the proposed new elementary curriculum has been posted and the secondary will follow in early 2007.
The CNS ECC will examine the curriculum information and select specific units for proposed development investment.
2. The best return on investment to improve science education in elementary schools would be to work with Scientists in School to develop workshop content, procure equipment, and help train presenters. The new elementary curriculum is not yet “frozen”. It is optional in the fall of 2007 and will be mandatory in 2008. SiS are interested in working with the CNS in principle, but have not yet started to review their program relative to the new curriculum. This development could become a 2007 Special Project.
While SiS does not reach all elementary schools in Ontario, they have an operating program that expects to reach 430,000 students in 2006.
Note: there is presently an opportunity for “comparison of energy technologies” in the elementary curriculum. The nuclear industry has an opportunity improve the accessibility of available information for the teachers – but expecting them to request it from a website will not be very effective. A better opportunity might be to work through the “Energy Council of Canada” or other group that will not be challenged as having a bias to make kits available to each school. (See the Seeds Foundation below.)
3. The CNS ECC should examine the high school curriculum when it is available and select a topic or “unit” that would be a suitable opportunity for development. Former teachers (volunteers or contracted) would be required to work up the material for this unit. The teacher resource material would be posted on the CNS web site. (Dr. Tom Stiff formerly with YesICan!, now at Laurentian U. Orillia Campus who led the workshop at McMaster in 2004 as an example.)
A “commercial workshop” would be proposed for the 2007 STAO Conference to train on the developed material. This costs $250 per instance plus the cost of a booth at a minimum of $900. It might be possible to run the workshop once on each of two days.
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4. The best of all worlds would be to have a Geiger system available for every high school. The CNS does not have sufficient resources to meet this need (870 x $600 = $522000). It is proposed that we provide some as draw prizes at the workshops, and make some available for distribution by Branches in response to requests.
It may be possible to purchase a sufficient quantity to obtain a price break and then be able to offer them to schools for purchase at a subsidized price. This would present a significant opportunity for assistance from the nuclear industry. It would be advisable to contract the assembly, packaging and distribution of such a “kit”.
5. To extend the reach of this initiative, it would be worthwhile supporting the participation of Branch members from outside Ontario in the booth and workshop at STAO 2007. They would then be able to evaluate the content and experience relative to the curriculum in their schools.
Motion: That the ECC budget for 2007 be increased to $10k to support education outreach initiatives.
6. As a consequence of being an Exhibitor at STAO 2006, the CNS ECC is now a member of STAO for one year. We will receive supporting information and have the opportunity to submit articles for publication in “Crucible”. The ECC plans to following up on this opportunity.
5. Other exhibit booths
There were many other exhibitors at the conference. These include the education business firms one would expect, government departments, NRC, Forestry interests, Pollution Probe, but no other technical societies that I recognized.
The closest was the Water Environment Association of Ontario, “the pre- eminent organization of technical and professional individuals dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Ontario's water environment.”
A non-profit foundation www.seedsfoundation.ca was also an exhibitor. They have a web-based “energy literacy series.” They solicited CNS assistance with the nuclear content on www.seedsenergy.ca. Their illustration of a CANDU ® reactor was pointed out as being in need of some changes. I have followed up with a long list of suggested improvements on the misleading or bizarre things I found on their website.
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6. Things to do again or differently
6.1 Volunteers
I was concerned that we would have too many volunteers at our booth. For the most part, this was not a problem. There were occasions when one person was unavailable for some time and the backup was a boon. Three people were a minimum continuous complement. B. White was hoarse by the end of the 1st day.
Volunteer expenses had not been included in the budget but were accommodated to a limited extent. This should have received greater consideration and should have included provision for lunches.
6.2 Booth Space
The “double-wide” booth was tight with three exhibits using 3 tables. It would be ideal with one exhibit and two tables.
6.3 Booth Display
The “carpet” pop-up display system is versatile but was not a good choice for this event. We would have been better off with the new roll-up banner and some means to display the material available.
The teachers were moving too quickly to take the time to read a large display board.
Hand-out material would have been more accessible if presented in a literature rack or stand. Some material could be pre-assembled into kits.
A computer projector was not needed. It would be required for a workshop setting.
6.4 Geiger Data
The real-time display with the Geiger detector worked very well, was easy to explain, and the teachers seemed to comprehend it in a few minutes.
The software was configured as follows:
• “Calibration” was set to display “Counts per minute”.
• The audible “click” was enabled.
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• The graphing program added a bar proportional to the counts per minute to a time series graph every minute. The graph auto-scaled.
• The alarm threshold was set to 100 counts per minute. The bars turned from blue to red when the threshold was met or exceeded.
• The audible “alarm” sound was disabled.
• An ASCII file logged the date / time code value and the count rate for each minute.
A screen capture that emulates the display at the STAO Conference follows. It illustrates • a series of background measurements, • a few minutes with the metal base of the “NoSalt” container atop the Geiger detector (primarily a gamma measurement), • a background count, • a few minutes with the Geiger detector atop an open plastic container with ~ 15 mL of KCl in the bottom (beta plus gamma) • a transition to background • several minutes with a smoke detector Am-241 source in its enclosure on the detector (60 keV gamma).
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The time series for Friday illustrates that there were demonstrations made with sources throughout the day with quiet periods around 11:00 and15:30. If the “NoSalt” ® container was placed on the detector for a full minute, one would usually detect 300 counts per minute. (This was mostly gamma, 11% of decays as the beta are self-shielded by the salt and the metal base to the canister.) About 15 mL of KCl in the bottom of a plastic container of similar diameter to the detector would result in a count rate of ~150 CPM for the beta + gamma. Placing a smoke detector chamber in close proximity to the detector would provide a count rate of ~ 100 to 150 CPM due to the 60 keV gamma leaking from the Am- 241 source.
STAO Friday November 17
350 e t
u 300 n i 250 m
r 200 e p 150 s t
n 100 u
o 50 C 0 7:12 8:24 9:36 10:48 12:00 13:12 14:24 15:36 16:48 18:00 Time
Over the 2.5 days, there were 469 minutes when the count rate exceeded 80 CPM due to demonstrations with the sources. The computer hung at 11:49 on Saturday morning and had to be restarted – this took 4 minutes.
Bryan White December 2006
Page 11 of 19 CM76CCa Appendix A CNS Booth at STAO 2006-- comments received from teachers
K4K 1K6 1033 Gr 9-12 Chantal Bertin L'Escale Ecole Secondaire Catholique Rockland ON
Suggestions offer presentation in class
K8V 5P7 1146 Gr 1-8 Melissa Mikel Goodwin Learning Centre Trenton ON
Suggestions guest speakers to talk about nuclear energy
K8V 5P7 1160 Gr 1-8 Maria Wakimoto Goodwin Learning Centre Trenton ON
Suggestions help us be more informed
K9J 7A1 1144 Gr 1-8 Gr 9-12 Bonnie Anderson [email protected] Wilmot Creek Outdoor Education / KPRD School Board Peterborough ON
Suggestions education package
L2J 1M7 1089 Gr 9-12 Kelly Parlatore [email protected] A.N. Myers Secondary School Niagara Falls ON
Suggestions provide Canadian content
L3K 2E7 1013 Gr 9-12 Neely Chase [email protected] Lakeshore Catholic High School Port Colborne ON
Suggestions online resources Page 1 of 7
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L4C 6M1 1097 Gr 9-12 Shahebina Sumji [email protected] Langstaff Secondary School Richmond Hill ON
Suggestions provide information on nuclear chemistry
L4J 8G3 1088 Gr 9-12 Holly Groome [email protected] Westmount Collegiate Institute Thornhill ON
Suggestions providing classroom material and speakers to help students better understand nuclear energy
L4N 1A9 1019 Gr 9-12 John Kinnear [email protected] Barrie Central Collegiate Institute Barrie ON
Suggestions are there any sites / sources for information (historical) on radioisotopes?
L4N 9M5 1137 Gr 9-12 Kristen Alderson [email protected] Bear Creek Secondary School Barrie ON
Suggestions guest speaker
L5M 1G3 1001 Gr 9-12 Richard Towler [email protected] Streetsville Secondary School Mississauga ON
Suggestions usable resources tied to the curriculum
L5N 2P8 1061 Gr 9-12 Surinder Kumar [email protected] West Credit Secondary School Mississauga ON
Suggestions education resources
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L6J 3L6 1091 Gr 9-12 Kathryn O'Connell [email protected] Oakville Trafalgar High School Oakville ON
Suggestions any teacher resource material is always helpful
L7C 0Z5 1150 Gr 9-12 John Hallett [email protected] Mayfield Secondary School Caledon ON
Suggestions student web sites; learning activities with minimal equipment
L7C 0Z5 1027 Gr 9-12 Sofia Sotiriou [email protected] Mayfield Secondary School Caledon ON
Suggestions engage students
L7L 1T3 1057 Gr 9-12 Wendy Malloch [email protected] Nelson High School Burlington ON
Suggestions general information about nuclear energy production
L8J 1H9 1008 Gr 9-12 Dawn Regamey [email protected] Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Hamilton ON Suggestions information on nuclear advances, environmental impact, disposal, energy production
L9G 3K9 1067 Gr 9-12 Jake Plantinga [email protected] Hamilton District Christian High School Ancaster ON
Suggestions general information
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M1C 3E7 1128 Gr 1-8 Raymond Martynowski Joseph Howe Senior Public School Toronto ON
Suggestions guest speaker would be great -- we're close to the Pickering Plant and the kids have lots of questions
M1M 2Z4 1140 Gr 1-8 Francis Jeffers Visions of Science Toronto ON
Suggestions need posters for science clubs and volunteer presentations by CNS volunteers to the science clubs
M1P 2P7 1034 Gr 9-12 Rana Demia [email protected] Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute Toronto ON
Suggestions a resource about the advantages and disadvantages of different energy resources
M1P 2S7 1009 Gr 9-12 Karen Doherty [email protected] David and Mary Thomson Scarborough ON
Suggestions student-friendly handouts, suggestions for field trips, suggestion for useful videos
M1P 2S7 1024 Gr 9-12 Pat Mabson [email protected] David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute Scarborough ON
Suggestions guest speaker for physics & chemistry classes -- gr 11 & 12
M1P 3S4 1030 Gr 1-8 Catherine Robbens [email protected] Edgewood Public School Scarborough ON
Suggestions grade-specific ideas
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M2L 2V3 1046 Gr 9-12 Sabrina Amato [email protected] École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé Toronto ON
Suggestions provide more resources in French
M2N 3C8 1043 Gr 9-12 Donna Marie Baratta [email protected] Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts North York ON
Suggestions up to date information on new technology
M2N 3R7 1049 Gr 9-12 Clyde Ramlochan [email protected] Earl Haig Secondary School Toronto ON
Suggestions providing teaching resources e.g. lesson plan / work sheets
M5P 3H4 1100 Gr 9-12 Alex Frescura [email protected] St Michael's College School Toronto ON
Suggestions dispelling myths – BW note his web site has nice links for science topics, but none for nuclear science & technology.
M5R 3B5 1050 Gr 9-12 Jeff Enfield [email protected] Royal St. George's College Toronto ON
Suggestions CANDU tours
M5S 2R7 1038 Gr 9-12 Jenny Pitt [email protected] University of Toronto Schools Toronto ON
Suggestions develop more curriculum materials like "NoSalt" and give me a Geiger counter.
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M9V 3S3 1094 Gr 9-12 Surinder Sandhu [email protected] West Humber Collegiate Institute Toronto ON
Suggestions presenting to my students
N0H 2T0 1157 Gr 1-8 Gr 9-12 Ross Haley [email protected] ? Wiarton ON
Suggestions "on the road workshops"; did hydro program out of Bruce Nuclear
N1R 4G6 1032 Gr 9-12 Terry Kaup [email protected] Glenview Park Secondary School Cambridge ON
Suggestions resources for workplace 11 and 3U Chemistry, samples & booklets
N3H 4R7 1168 Gr 9-12 Denis Jacques [email protected] École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée Cambridge ON
Suggestions provide French educational material
N4K 1X2 1158 Gr 9-12 Brad Lacey [email protected] St. Mary's High School Owen Sound ON
Suggestions latest information updates
N4S 7W8 1054 Gr 1-8 Hans Strikwerda [email protected] John Knox Christian School Woodstock ON
Suggestions age appropriate information
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N5Y 2K3 1004 Gr 9-12 Janelle Damen [email protected] Sir George Ross Secondary School London ON
Suggestions statistics, visuals, hands-on activities
N6A 5B7 1044 Matt Devereux [email protected] University of Western Ontario London ON
Suggestions send literature
N6H 1W2 1083 Gr 9-12 Jessica Buscher [email protected] St. Thoma Aquinas Catholic Secondary School London ON
Suggestions an empty fuel bundle to show the class or a speaker 519-641-1223 ext 1229
P9N 2T7 1079 Gr 9-12 Gerald Lukianchuk [email protected] Beaver Brae Secondary School Kenora ON
Suggestions CD with pictures, graphs, educational stuff
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