In this lesson, students will simulate radioactive dating at an archeological site.

• Students will discover that radioactive isotopes decay exponentially.
• Students will discover that each radioactive isotope has a specific half-life.
• Students will develop mathematical model for the radioactive decay of C-14 and U-238.
• Students will estimate the age of various objects using radioactive dating with common radioactive isotopes, such as C-14 in dating living organisms and U-238 in dating geological formations and fossils.

• radioactive decay
• radioactive isotope
• half-life
• radioactive dating
• exponential

Adapted from a PhET^TM simulation, this lesson involves students using TI-Nspire technology to simulate radioactive dating at an archeological site.

As a result students will:

• use the simulation to measure the percent of remaining isotopes for Carbon-14 and Uranium-238 during radioactive decay process
• develop mathematical models for the radioactive decay and use these to estimate the age of organic and inorganic materials