The radiolab project for the measurement of environmental radioactivity in the classroom: the experience in the Sardinia region

The Radiolab project, supported by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, aims at spreading among high school students the knowledge of ionizing radiations and environmental radioactivity. These arguments are rarely addressed in high school physics programs and the students end up with biases due to the lack of knowledge, causing them to almost always associate radiation with danger and fear. The aim of the project is to help fill this gap by actively engaging the students in experimental activities related to the measurement of radiations and environmental radioactivity, especially the concentration of radon gas. The project involves high schools of the whole national territory, but we focus on its impact in the Sardinian region, where around one thousand students have been engaged over a period of ten years.