MIT Nuclear Research Reactor Lectures and Tours Presented

MIT Nuclear Research Reactor: Lectures and Tours Presented by: Taylor T Tracy

2 Welcome We’re revamping the lecture and tour format for the 5 th to 12 th grade demographic to create an experience that is more engaging. Since kids going on tours of the facility are not there on their own accord, we want to stimulate their curiosity in what we have to offer at the facility as far as knowledge about nuclear science, engineering, and research goes. We need help in ways to create a lecture and tour experience that gets kids thinking, asking insightful questions, and being present in the information they’re being presented.

3 The main idea for our new lecture and tour format is to find an entertaining angle to further the educational content and help it be retained.

Central Ideas The guiding principles for the new lecture and tour format

5 Three Core Takeaways of Nuclear Science, Engineering, and Research The new basis for our lectures and tours Safe Smart Significant Redundant measures and design processes serve to ensure safety during nuclear reactor operations Nuclear power is the smartest option in terms of cost, risks, sustainability, and waste The diverse applications of nuclear science gives it a place in people’s everyday lives The material covered in both the lecture and tour will continuously tie into these three points – you may think of this as a thesis or overarching framework to guide the progress of the lecture and tour. These points are all touched upon in the content of the current tour format, but the current format lacks a clear form in which the content is presented that solidifies the points. We want these points to be driven home and retained, with the content of the tour acting as the evidence for each point. these in mind when designing your projects! Please keep

Driving our Message What needs to be done in order to be understood ü Talk with kids, not at them: During the lecture, having a conversational tone will be key. This will help boost the engagement level when relaying the material to the students and will make them feel like they’re part of a discussion (and not at a boring lecture). Activities or demonstrations would be incredibly helpful to have during the lecture to increase engagement. ü Encourage questions: We want to be clear and concise yet provide an environment for learning through students asking follow-up questions. These questions should be out of curiosity rather than being asked out of confusion and not understanding the material that’s being presented to them. We need to make sure we’re conveying the material clearly in order for this to happen. ü Answer questions effectively: We don’t want to overload students with information but want to make sure we stay factually correct in our explanations. This means finding a way to communicate the science in a digestible way; less jargon than is currently presented and fully explained terminology with more than just a definition serving as the explanation. Think: analogies and metaphors. 6

7 Please keep in mind that this is not a formal classroom setting! The lectures and tours are held at our facility and are given by reactor personnel, not professional teachers.

Ideas to Increase Engagement Some ideas that have been floating around 01 Gamification Creating a game of some sort to increase 04 02 Demonstrations Ways to demonstrate fission and other 03 Story/Analogy Having a long-running analogy or story student engagement while letting them elements of nuclear science and throughout the tour to relate key points back see principles of nuclear science at work. engineering that are discussed. to and put things into perspective. Core Diagram Having kids try to draw fuel elements in a 05 Animations Animated figures describing some of the 06 “Neutron” Model Creating a water chamber with aerators blank core diagram in an attempt to be more difficult to understand concepts, such and fake shim blades to show neutron flux more hands-on in their learning process. as fission or irradiating silicon. levels. 8

Goals What we hope to accomplish with your help

“ The tour was so interesting I went home and tried to learn more. I gained interest in nuclear energy and a first hand experience was amazing. Kevin ”

Obstacles What we’re up against

Obstacles and Limitations Because nothing can be too easy ü Space: There isn’t any room on the reactor floor to perform large or medium-scale demonstrations and there a lot of delicate instruments in the general vicinity. Since our tour groups can include up to 20 people, any demonstrations need to be able to be seen by the whole group at once. The lack of space also prohibits the group from spreading out too much. ü Time: We want to try to keep the lecture and tour to about an hour each. Many groups cannot dedicate even that amount of time and can only go on the tour. Activities that are done during either the lecture and tour must be kept relatively short since there’s so much information to cover to begin with. ü Money: We can’t afford any fancy new equipment such as tablets or LCD displays to install around the facility in order to display animations or other information that would aid the learning process. Any learning tools should come from what we already have on hand or can be inexpensively put together. ü Abstract Concepts There a lot of points on the tour where abstract concepts are brought up or things are discussed that aren’t actually viewable to the tour group, an example would be silicon ingots on the conveyor belt going underneath the reactor core. We somehow need to portray what cannot be seen so that it’s easily understood by students. 12

13 Thank You

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