Radon measurement laboratories. An educational experience based on school and university cooperation

There is a growing interest in engaging students and the general public about the meaning and objectives of doing science. When it is possible students can learn by actively engaging in the practices of science, conducting investigations, sharing ideas with their peers, teachers and scientists, learning to work with measuring apparatuses, to acquire and process data and use models so as to interpret phenomena. This is a process that requires a gradual collective growth. Schools and universities can both benefit from this cooperation. This paper presents activities of a project focusing on the radon survey in high schools. The ENVIRAD (environmental radioactivity) educational project involved about 2500 students and some tens of teachers in measurements while using solid state nuclear track detectors. This experience began about 15 years ago and is still carried out by various national projects managed by the same research group. The measurements and data analysis have been done in school laboratories and in the university radioactivity laboratory. Several hundred students were also involved in the transduction and signal processing. In some cases, pupils have also been involved in citizen awareness and the dissemination of this experience has kicked off a follow-up project explicitly addressed to citizens. The project has led to the opportunity to learn science through a real physics experiment. The students' enthusiasm allowed the collection of a relevant amount of data which benefitted both the regional survey on radon and the improvement of nuclear physics teaching at school. Through the project activities it was possible to recognize the interdisciplinary connections among different scientific disciplines connected to radioactivity.