Radioactive Dice

For a half life investigation, I 3D printed a set of 100 of these "radioactive" dice for each of the lab stations in my room. The primary benefit over standard 6-sided dice is since each die only has one non-black side, it is very easy to determine when each one has "decayed". It also allowed me to make each set a different color so that I could easily reunite any dice that were found on the floor without having to count each set to figure out which one is missing. While it seems like a lot, having a sample size of 100 ensures that there is enough for the data to make a nice graph. It also makes for an easy leap to percentages for students that need this extra support.

To make completing and storing the kits a little easier, I also designed and printed a big version of the die that is the perfect size to fit four 5x5 layers of the dice. Putting them away in this fashion is a quick and easy way to count up the 100 dice and determine if any are missing. It also just looks more official this way :)

To print in color, make sure the radioactive symbol is facing down on the build plate and print the first few layers in the color of your choice. Depending on the size of your build plate, you may be able to fit a full 100 cubes at a time. I prefer printing this on a smooth holographic build plate for a nice finish on the colored side.

Full lab materials and discussion of the design can be found at https://passionatelycurioussci.weebly.com/blog/radioactive-dice-half-life-lab