ANS Navigating Nuclear Programs Helps Students Understand Nuclear Technology

NAC International is proud to support the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Navigating Nuclear, a fact-based K-12 nuclear science and technology curriculum designed to provide educators with free resources that explore the benefits and misconceptions surrounding nuclear science. ANS teamed up with the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy and Discovery Education to create the program. 

Since its founding in 2018, the program has reached more than 1.5 million students, strengthening the education of nuclear science in the United States. These students could attend a virtual field trip to Idaho National Laboratory and Palo Verde Generating Station. This is an exciting opportunity for the students as many people are not able to experience this.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the virtual field trip of Idaho National Laboratory was the second most popular virtual field trip in Discovery Education’s COVID-19 package for distance learning. This is a sign that the next generation of students could keep nuclear energy as a leading source of clean energy for the future.

NAC International viewed this program as a huge opportunity to strengthen the understanding of nuclear energy and nuclear technology applications. It is important for the next generation of students to understand the need for a clean energy future with nuclear energy at the forefront.

From February to March 2021, video views increased by nearly 50 percent with the Nuclear Reimagined Virtual Field Trip being the most visited on the Navigating Nuclear Website. These students are excited to learn and are eager to learn. We can see this as ANS had more than 80,000 engagements across all social media posts including the announcement of the upcoming Virtual Field Trip.

Navigating Nuclear provides educators with the tools to dig deeper into the role of nuclear science in fields like power generation, medicine, space exploration, food preservation, molecular science, and more. This site offers elementary, middle, and high school students with resources including STEM project starters, digital lesson plans, nuclear industry career profiles, and an exciting Virtual Field Trip!

The Navigating Nuclear program has free resources available for any K-12 student – find more information here: https://www.navigatingnuclear.com/