P2 Radiation and life Module summary
What is radiation, and what are some of its effects?
Why radiation and life?
The term ‘radiation’ can generate unnecessary public alarm, so it is useful to understand how some types of radiation can pose health risks while others are benign. Radiation from the Sun, for example, is vital to life on Earth.
Human activities are changing the atmosphere and so causing climate change. Present concerns about reducing carbon emissions arise from understanding the role of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s radiation balance.
A model of radiation (Science explanation)
Students are introduced to a general model of radiation travelling from the source to a receiver. They learn about a family of radiations described as the electromagnetic spectrum. The energy carried by a photon determines its effect on a living cell.
Frontier science (Science explanation)
The science of mobile phones and of global warming is ongoing, the latter because of the difficulty of modelling complex, inter-related systems such as the atmosphere and oceans. Watch the news media and science journals for new developments.
Correlation and cause (Idea about Science)
The module builds on ideas of correlation and cause introduced in C1 Air quality. They learn how to evaluate reported health studies.
Risk (Idea about Science)
The module introduces ideas about risk. The vocabulary of risk that students should develop is deliberately restricted. However, researchers and the news media use a wider vocabulary. It may be helpful for teachers to be aware of these additional terms: incidence, mortality, life-time risk, risk factor, relative risk, absolute risk.
Skills assessment
Possible topics for a Case Study include the use of sun beds and mobile phones, or the debate about global warming.
Links
See the OCR website for the GCSE Science specification to which this module relates.
Module P2 is on pages 30-34: this gives you the Science Explanations and the relevant Ideas about Science.
Read more about Ideas about Science in Appendix F pages 85-91.
For this module you want Idea about Science 2 ‘Correlation and cause’ and 5 ‘Risk’.
You will find it especially useful to read the overview on page 85.
OUP resources
The module summary given above, and the module map you can download below, are taken from the GCSE Science Teachers’ and technicians’ pack published by OUP. We are grateful to OUP for permission to provide these materials here.
Module map
Each module includes a map showing how the ideas about science and science explanations develop in the module story, and in related modules. Links between modules in GCSE Science and GSCE Additional Science are included.
Download the OUP
P2 Radiation and life module map (78 KB).
