Stack these bricks together to show the activity i.e. Students throw 60 2×2 LEGO bricks into a tray and remove all of the bricks that land studs-up (these represent parent nuclei which have decayed). Once again count the ones that have ‘decayed’ and repeat until all of the M&Ms have gone. Use the data to plot a half-life curve. Skittles) and tip them into a tray. Record the number of M&Ms which have landed face-up (these represent parent nuclei which have decayed). Remove these ‘decayed’ nuclei and tip the remaining M&Ms into a second tray. Students start with 100 M&Ms (other sweets can be used so long as there are two distinct sides e.g. LEGO and M&Ms can be used to model this random decay while also negating the need for students to handle radioactive materials. Half-life is random and it is impossible to know which individual parent nucleus will be the next to decay. The half-life of a radioactive substance is the time it takes for the number of parent nuclei in a sample to halve, or for the count rate from the original substance to fall to half its initial level.
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