Program - Brookhaven National Laboratory

involves a long and challenging process that some students find difficult to complete. This work is supported
by NSF DUE grant 0942699. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.
PF 5 5:00 PM
Educational Outreach Efforts at the NNDC
Norman E. Holden
National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory
The National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory is well known for
its work in storage and retrieval of neutron and non-neutron nuclear data and the dissemination of the
Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) and the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) as well
as providing information on its web site and distributing the Nuclear Wallet Cards. In the last few years,
NNDC has become involved in an outreach effort to the global scientific educational community. NNDC
is involved in an international project to develop a Periodic Table of the Isotopes for the Educational
Community in an effort to help illustrate the importance of isotopes in understanding the world around
us. This effort should help teachers to better understand the concept of nuclides and isotopes and to aid
them in introducing these concepts to students from the high school to the graduate school level. The print
version of this project uses the framework of the Periodic Table of the Elements, which many teachers and
students might recognize. The Table provides the usual information for each element plus a color-coded pie
chart displaying all of the stable and radioactive isotopes that occur in terrestrial samples of that element
found in nature. The isotopic abundance of each of these isotopes is depicted by the relative size of the
pie slice associated with that isotope. The mass number of each isotope appears around the outside of
the chart. Each mass number is shown in black for the stable isotopes and in red for radioactive ones.
Auxiliary data available for each element includes a table of numeric information listing the isotopes with
their atomic masses and isotopic abundances for those isotopes shown on each element’s pie chart. In
addition, all of the presently known isotopes for that element are displayed in one of three half-life ranges.
To illustrate the importance of isotopes in our everyday life, there are descriptions of selected applications
of stable and/or radioactive isotopes of each element provided in one or more of seven possible topic areas
(industry, medicine, forensic science, earth and planetary science, etc.) There is a student’s introduction
available and a teacher’s guide. An interactive, electronic version of this Table is presently in development.
Future plans involve developing interactive digital learning objects (DLO) and teacher lesson plans to
encourage those teachers who may know little about isotopes to introduce this subject to their students.
PF 6 5:15 PM
Harmonization of Curricula in Nuclear Education: Could One Fit for All?
Artur Canella Avelar
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais UFMG
In many cases, professional activities in the nuclear arena may differ as much as driving a car differs from
riding a bike or piloting a plane. Accordingly, the development of a common academic background for
different scientists - physicists, engineers, chemists, biologists, physicians, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists
and agronomists - enrolled in nuclear studies has been a challenge for academic boards of graduate
programs. Taking a look at some institutes in Brazil [1] and abroad, we can identify nuclear graduate
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