Man you went to a way cooler high school than me. I definitely was not taught anything that would help me understand how a nuclear reactor work.
having a lab assignment detecting beta-emission from 40-K (potassium-40 salt) is of course unthinkable nowadays. or idk, assembling a interferometer out of a HeNe laser for example. Whoa, no! Kids can get hurt!
Not even basic thermodynamics?