The Half Life of Pennies Lab
- April 25, 2020
- 2 minutes read - 256 words
Overview
This is a simple lab to demonstrate how half-lives work. Students use 100 pennies to represent the decay of Carbon-14. After each half-life, roughly half the pennies should “decay.”
Materials
100 pennies, Ziploc bags
Resources
Pacing
Suggested Pacing
Day 1 - introduce and work on lab
Day 2 - review graph and questions
Pacing w/ Teacher Notes
Day 1 - After splitting students up into groups of 4, I go over the instructions with the class. I ask them to write down “heads” next to the “number of coins removed” and “tails” next to the “number of coins remaining.”
Each group will be given a bag with 100 pennies to represent Carbon-14 or any radioactive element. Each round, students shake the pennies and count the amount of “heads” and “tails” to record in their data tables. Once they finish, they may create a graph and answer the rest of the questions.
Day 2 - After the students finish working on the lab and answering the questions, I review the answers on the board. Each group is randomly assigned a question and we go over it together. I have them peer grade it, as a way to see what they missed, but I typically give them credit based on completion.
At the end, I share this video on how to date dead things and clarify any other questions they may have.
Credits: My colleagues for sharing this resource. Cover image by Acton Crawford on Unsplash.
