[YAPA] New opportunity for teaching half lifes for real in your classroom

[mike c]

Hi All Physical Science Teachers,

    You can write and have sent to you a (very weakly) radioactive  
Ytterbium  source
that sits in our radiator here, ready at a moment's notice. Here's how 
this works. Send me
(mike at YSU) a $10 deposit for the sample and I will send you the 
radioactive Ytterbium
by mail. By measuring the activity on an ordinary geiger counter once 
every other day
(takes about 10 minutes) for about  two weeks you and your students will 
have data
you can graph and use to determine the halflife of radioactive 
Ytterbium. Then return the
sample to me for your deposit back (and so we reuse the Ytterbium). Very 
hands on,
pretty simple. The source is so weak that there are no health effects, 
no license
requirements etc. If you need more info on this feel free to contact 
Mike C offline at
mcrescim at cc.ysu.edu or call 330 941 7109