What Is A "Dirty" Bomb? Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 6th to 10th grade physical science

Overview:
Student will learn what identifies a bomb as a "dirty" bomb. Identify threats and responses specific to "dirty" bombs. Appreciate the government and medical preparedness for dealing with "dirty" bombs. Survey members of the community for their understanding of "dirty" bombs.

This lesson is a guided Internet Reading activity based upon a Newshour with Jim Lehrer report at:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june02/dirtybomb_6-10.html.

Estimated Time:
Two or more 60-minute periods (one for Internet reading; one for each Extension activity)

Background:
Since September 11, 2001, there has been much said in the news about terrorists using "dirty" bombs with radioactive materials. There have also been many reports about storage and clean-up of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. Just what is a "dirty" bomb, and how does nuclear power plant waste relate to that?

Materials needed:
Internet access
Reading Guide Questions

Teaching Strategy:
Have students read the article about "Dirty Bomb Arrest" at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june02/dirtybomb_6-10.html and answer the questions from the Reading Guide as they go.

Have students get into small groups to discuss their answers, and then have the whole group get together to report out what they have learned.

Students can then read Radiation Questions and Answers from the Center for Disease Control. Then ask students to consider what people in their community know about dirty bombs.

Have students return to small groups to design a survey of five questions for use with at least one person from their home or their community. The survey should ask adults whether they think terrorism is an issue in the community, and whether they know what to do in case of an emergency like a dirty bomb. These survey results can be used for further discussion or submitted as homework.

Assessments:
Reading Guide responses, Discussion participation.

Extension Activities:
Activity 1: Ask students to think of water balloon fights. You fill balloons with water, and depending on where you throw them, they can cause a fair amount of damage. Homeland security officials are concerned that nuclear waste could be used to fill a balloon or some more powerful explosive device. This device could be detonated so that the dangerous radioactive material is scattered in some target area or business or city. The explosive devise does not even have to be very destructive itself for the "dirty" nuclear waste material to be scattered over a wide area. Many people are concerned that the clean up could be difficult, dangerous, costly, and very disruptive to businesses, peoples' lives, and our government's daily activities.

To demonstrate how material is dispersed in the environment, put three teaspoons of corn starch into an empty 9" balloon. Spoon the cornstarch in directly or use a conical paper funnel. Use a pump to inflate the balloon or be careful not to inhale the cornstarch if you inflate it with your own air, and tie off. Shake up the balloon to distribute the cornstarch over the inside surface of the balloon. Hold the balloon over a dark surface that can be cleaned, and pop the balloon. How does the cornstarch move in the air? Is some of it carried far and away? It is a good thing that cornstarch easily cleans up! Now try this: Weigh the balloon before adding cornstarch. Weigh the balloon after adding cornstarch. Weigh a dark groundsheet or paper catch sheet. Weigh the groundsheet after "exploding" your "dirty bomb". Did you catch all of the "dirty material"? Where did it go? In nature, where do think this material would end up after days, weeks, months, years?
+Research and write about clean-up efforts necessary, and if there government groups or funds whose job it is to ensure that this clean-up is done properly and thoroughly.

Activity 2: Mix 5g iron filings and 1L sand. Use a magnet to separate out the iron, and place it all on a balance. Could you recover the full 5g? What percent remained in the sand? If this had been 5000 grams of cesium released into the environment, use a proportion to estimate how much would have remained after your clean up efforts. Do you think this amount is acceptable to leave in the environment? Why or why not? Try again to get the remaining iron filings. Is there a lot more work now to get a lot less material? How would this frustration factor work on a large scale for materials released into the environment? Do cesium or barium have any qualities like magnetism to make them easy to clean up? Just because we know these elements are there using a Geiger Counter, does not make it easier to find and collect the little individual parts of the substances.
Repeat this activity, only this time add enough water to the sand/filings mixture to simulate the saturation of the ground after natural rainfall. How does this effect the cleanup efforts and recovery success?

Activity 3: Research and write responses to these questions: What legislation exists regarding the safe removal and disposal of hazardous wastes? What kind of laws are there in your state or county that deal with these concerns? What has been the historical significance of "dirty" sites like Three Mile Island after the nuclear accident there? What did the Soviet Union have to do to contain the radiation and keep it from the environment at Chernobyl? Did it work? What environmental or health problems are associate with these accidents? How are "dirty bombs" like medical or energy plant accidental contaminations (materials, cleanup, regulations)? How are they different (intentions, irresponsibility, etc)?

Expected Answers to Reading Guide for "Dirty Bomb Arrest":

1. Easy to make, few casualies, government most ready to respond.

2. Cancer clinics, industrial research labs, Princeton University (et al)

3. Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60

4. Cleanup to EPA standards, mass evacuation of city areas

5. Often, yes.

6. Suitcase, truckbomb, sprayed

7. Not yet.

8. 250 and 4

9. About one-quarter of a million.

10. Airports, seaports, customs officials, government officials

11. Spain

12. 588

13. Tomatoes

14. Several months

15. Gamma

16. Alpha

17. Gamma

18. Asphalt and rooftops

19. Panic, heart attacks, the explosive devise itself

20. Cleanup standards in a case of widespread contamination at a low level.

Correlation to Curriculum Standards:

Health

NPH-H.9-12.3 REDUCING HEALTH RISKS

Demonstrate ways to avoid and reduce threatening situations.

NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH

Evaluate the impact of technology on personal, family, and community health.

Analyze how information from the community influences health.

Evaluate the effect of media and other factors on personal, family, and community health.

Analyze how the environment influences the health of the community.

Science

Some distinctive physical properties of minerals include magnetism, radioactivity, odor, clarity, flourescence, and crystal arrangement.

The environmental hazards caused by human activities.

Nuclear reactions involve much greater energy than chemical reactions. Radiation from nuclear reactions can have harmful or useful physiological effects.

English/Language Arts

Making notes of responses received from Interviews and Surveys.

Gathering information from Interviews.

Social Studies

Human changes to the physical environment can have environmental consequences.

Identifying environmental issues and problems in the state.

Author Steve Crandall is a teacher of secondary mathematics and science since 1979, National Board Certified in Early Adolsecence/Mathematics. An amateur entomoligist and astronomer, he has presented lessons at state and national conferences for mathematics and science and middle school teachers.

To find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman at lclapman@newshour.org