Italian radiolab project: radon indoor measurements a way to educate to nuclear issue

Since 2005 in Italy two programs were promoted from Ministry of Education and University and National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) for scientific dissemination in the field of environmental radioactivity, devoted to High School students that are involved in particular in indoor radon measurements. The idea of this project started from the consideration that the subjective perception (sensation) of the risk doesn’t correspond very often to the objective and real risk of human activity. In particular, this is true for the radioactivity theme that is often misleading because of the lack of accurate information. A way to approach this subject, to make the public more trusting of nuclear issues related also to energy and medical applications is to discuss about radioactivity and ionizing radiation. Starting from an experimental approach the students can receive basic but correct information on radioactivity subject. They are involved as a real research project participating to all the experimental phases, from detectors preparation, data acquisition, analysis and presentation to the public. The focus of the project is the ‘‘laboratory’’, intended as a method to ‘‘know’’ through the ‘‘know how’’, a new way to teach and to learn. The laboratory is not only a physical place, where the students are directly involved in experimental activities, but also a method to learn and to acquire skills in physics. The different aspects and some of the many results derive from this kind of project, carried forward for 10 years, will be presented.