Physics pupils win prize for their radioactive rap

A GROUP of pupils won an award today for a rap video that explains radioactivity. The Geiger-Müller Groove was created by girls from Sydenham High School as part of their physics class.

Textbooks explains alpha, beta, and gamma radiation via diagrams showing how they travel through objects. The girls take a different approach, with lines such as: "Alpha radiation not much of a fighter, alpha's so weak it can't penetrate paper," and: "You must excuse my grammar when I'm talking about gamma."

The rap by Natania Dunher, 16, with the chorus: "Alpha, beta, gamma, tappa, tappa, tappa", has had thousands of hits online. It will be broadcast on TV in a bid to make science more accessible. Miss Dunher said: "The rap came to me in the middle of the night. It took about two hours to write. We've been surprised by how much people love the video."

Katie Leeper, 17, who directed and edited the video, said: "We were inspired by scientists at CERN in Geneva [The giant experiment which aims to discover new particles by smashing atoms into each other at huge speeds]. They created a music video explaining their work." The girls won £600 of Amazon vouchers for their school at the Planet Scicast awards at the Royal Institution, organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, and the Institute of Physics.