Help with school project.. how to explain radium/radioactivity (yr 3)

[unicorn]

DD has chosen to do Marie Curie, and we are aiming at making the project both historical and scientific.
Has anyone got any tips on how she can explain the atom etc, as it appears rather complex!!!

Also any good ideas about how to make the presentation to the class more interesting

(I thought about getting her to dress up and 'become' Marie Curie...anyone know if you can you get costume/science props anywhere?)

thanks

well I would do it very visually and give an idea of scale. its something like nucleus of atom = football at one end of a pitch, electron is at other end IYKWIM.

At what level do you need to explain radioactivity?

dunno, i explain things to kids as they ARE, I don't like to give them false leads, but one approach might be to just have a pic of the nucleus (proton + neuton) at centre, then one (for hydrogen) or two (for helium) electrons quite a way away. which is TRUE but-not the whole story at all

But radioactivity-there are 3 types, to start with. Actually there are more but...

basically some combination of things leave the atom. It could be 2 protons + 2 neutrons (alpha), an electron (beta) OR it could just be electromagnetic radiation (like light) which occurs because the electron moves closer to the nucleus, thus decreasing the energy the atom needs to maintain the electron at that orbit.

i think its quite straightforward to explain visually, really.

oh you need mb i think