The Sweet Science of Decay: Making Half-Life Tangible with M&Ms
Teaching abstract concepts in science is one of the educator's greatest challenges. We ask students to visualize the invisible, to trust models of things they can never see. Nowhere is this more true than in nuclear chemistry, where the mysterious processes of radioactive decay and half-life often become a frustrating exercise in rote graph-reading and formula application. Students may learn to calculate a half-life, but do they truly understand the random, statistical nature of the process? For years, I grappled with this disconnect, until I found a solution that was hiding in plain sight—or, more accurately, in a colorful candy shell. The M&M Half-Life Activity transformed my teaching, turning confusion into engagement and abstraction into delicious, tangible understanding.
