The use of nuclear energy for the generation of electricity started in the 1950s and was viewed, at the time, as a source of virtually free power. Development flourished and some countries adopted the nuclear option as their principal source for producing electrical energy. However, a series of nuclear incidents and concern about the treatment of…

The teaching of socioscientific issues (SSI) holds promise for advancing functional scientific literacy, promoting critical thinking, and providing an interesting context for learning required science content, but few teachers actually employ this teaching method in K-12 classrooms. One common reason cited by teachers is their concern about the…

Scientific developments such as cloning and nuclear energy have generated many controversial issues pertain to many political, social, environmental, ethical and cultural values in different societies around the globe. These controversies delimited and encircled the potential of including and teaching some important aspects of science in schools…

We present a new teaching and outreach activity based around the construction of a three-dimensional chart of isotopes using LEGO® bricks. The activity, "binding blocks", demonstrates nuclear and astrophysical processes through a seven-meter chart of all nuclear isotopes, built from over 26000 LEGO® bricks. It integrates A-Level and GCSE…

The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge of pre-service science teachers in Turkey regarding the different types of renewable energy sources, the methods used for obtaining energy from these sources, and the areas of use for these energy sources. Within the context of the study, the drawing-writing technique was used in order…

"Controversial Issues in Social Studies Education in Turkey: The Contemporary Debates" consists of different research. Each chapter analyzes a controversial topic that is significant to understand the social and political dynamics of Turkish society and culture. One of the purposes of this volume is to analyze and discuss how various…

A macroscopic system involving permanent magnets is used as an analogue to nucleons in a nucleus to illustrate the significance of the pairing interaction. This illustrates that the view of the total nuclear energy based only on the nucleon occupancy of the energy levels can yield erroneous results and it is only when the pairing interaction is…

Nuclear science is an important topic in terms of its application to power generation, medical diagnostics and treatment, and national defense. Unfortunately, the subatomic domain is far removed from daily experience, and few learning aids are available to teachers. What follows describes a low-tech, hands-on method to teach important concepts in…

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyse the role of epistemological beliefs and reading beliefs in the comprehension of multiple texts which presented conflicting positions about a controversial topic (nuclear energy). More specifically, we investigated the influence of the multidimensional configuration of epistemological and reading…

In 1956, the Swedish Parliament decided to invest in a national nuclear energy program. The decision rested on the conviction that it would be in the interest of the nation to use the assets of natural uranium, the advanced reactor technology, and the expertise on nuclear physics that the country had at its disposal. Since the decision concerned…

Classroom emotional climates (ECs) are interrelated with students' engagement with university courses. Despite growing interest in emotions and EC research, little is known about the ways in which social interactions and different subject matter mediate ECs in preservice science teacher education classes. In this study we investigated the EC…

During the Second World War, the Luftwaffe ran a maximum security prisoner of war (POW) camp called "Stalag Luft III," which imprisoned captured Allied air force servicemen. The story of the 1944 escape from Stalag Luft III is one of the most famous stories of the Second World War as described in the firsthand written account and…

This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, the atomic unit (au) system is introduced and the scales of time, space (length), and speed, as well as those of mass and energy, in the atomic world are discussed. In the second part, the utility of atomic units in quantum mechanical and spectroscopic calculations is illustrated with…

Nuclear masses and binding energies are some of the first nuclear properties met in high school physics, and can be used to introduce radioactive decays, fusion, and fission. With relatively little extension, they can also illustrate fundamental concepts in nuclear physics, such as shell structure and pairing, and to discuss how the elements…

There is a potential crisis looming related to the world's need for energy. On the one hand, energy demands are growing every day, and could double by 2050. On the other hand, burning of traditional fossil fuels to generate electricity is contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases. Would it be advisable to increase the number of nuclear…