Pioneer - Rebel - Genius. Radioactive is the incredible, true-story of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world starring Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley.
From the 1870s through to modern day, RADIOACTIVE is a journey through Marie Curie’s (Rosamund Pike) enduring legacies – her passionate partnerships, scientific breakthroughs, and the consequences that follow.
In late 19th century Paris, Marie met fellow scientist Pierre Curie (Sam Riley). The pair went on to marry, raised two daughters and changed the face of science forever by their discovery of radioactivity. In 1903, the pair jointly won the Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery, making Marie the first woman to win the esteemed prize. After the death of her beloved Pierre, Marie’s commitment to science remained unwavering and her work went on to win her a second Nobel Prize.
This is a bold, visionary depiction of her extraordinary life, and an exploration of the transformative effects of how Curie's work has impacted the defining moments of the 20th Century.
To inform and inspire future generations of students, and to honor the scientific work of Marie Curie, Amazon Studios and Blueshift Education have developed a set of lessons for upper middle and high school educators to incorporate clips of Radioactive within the classroom. These inquiry based lessons support units on the history of science, the process of scientific discovery, as a tool for strengthening critical media literacy, and for thoughtful reflection and connection to the legacy of her work today. Each lesson includes classroom appropriate curated short film clips, primary and secondary source material, and inquiry based activities for students to delve deep into these lesson topics.
MARIE CURIE: THE IMAGE AND THE REALITY. Students will learn about the early years of Marie Curie and her journey as a scientist, as a partner with Pierre Curie, and as a mother at the turn of the 20th century. Through their discovery students will apply a critical media literacy lens to Radioactive and compare this depiction with select primary and secondary source materials on Marie Curie.
In this lesson students will learn about the power of observation and the need for creativity in sparking scientific inquiry. Students will look closely at Marie and Pierre Curie’s process for discovering the phenomenon of radioactivity, their identification of radium and polonium, and develop their own scientific investigations, and models for explaining radioactivity.
From nuclear energy and the atomic bomb, to medical applications of radiation, students will reflect on the legacy of Marie Curie’s discovery of radium and share their views in a Socratic Seminar.
