Teaching module on nuclear fusion certified

3 November 2008
Thursday 30th of October a teaching module on nuclear fusion for secondary school pupils was certified by the Dutch Ministry of Education. This assures that the module will now become part of a new subject on the Dutch curriculum, called "Nature, Life and Technology" (NLT). The module was developed by Erik Min (chief editor) and Amy Shumack from Rijnhuizen in close collaboration with secondary school physics teachers Lieke Heimel and Peter van Soest.

In the module, students are challenged to design a fusion energy plant that could power a city like New York. In seven design steps they come to a final design. The pros and cons of nuclear fusion and the challenges that lie ahead are all discussed. The overall aim is to give the pupils an idea not only of the current state of research into nuclear fusion, but a broader view on the energy problem in general.

It will take some more weeks for the module to come available for schools, but this will probably happen before Christmas Holidays. At the NLT-website there is already an "unedited version" available (in Dutch, without pictures). Plans exist to make an English translation of the module, for the benefit of bilingual education in the Netherlands and for use by the European Fusion Community through EFDA.

Background on the subject NLT
betavak-nlt.nl/Landelijk/overnlt/

The module "kernfusie" (nuclear fusion) on the NLT website
betavak-nlt.nl/les/modules_v/gecertificeerd/golf3/00037/