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(A lesson for High School Physics)
Before Reading (jump
to: During
Reading, After
Reading)
I. Motivation
ìHave any of you ever thought of the fact that some of the most
brilliant people in history were wrong? You know more about certain topics
in their area of expertise than they did! This entire classroom is filled
with people who know Aristotle was wrong on a lot of things. Today we are
going to read about how certain ideas in science, especially in physics,
have changed throughout the years. Great minds of the world often disagree
and weíre going to take a look at that.î
II. Prior Knowledge
ìCan anyone
here give me any examples of people who proved commonly held beliefs in
physics wrong?î (Listen to examplesÖ.expect to hear Columbus and the world
being flat, Galileo and the effect of gravity) ìAnother example would be
Copernicus proving that the earth is not the center of universe. Now, many
of these men werenít even trying to prove ideas wrong. Others were wrong
themselves. Columbus ran in to North America by mistake in his quest to
prove the world was round. So, not only are smart people wrong, but the
smarter people trying to prove THEM wrong, can also be wrong.î
III. Purpose
ìToday, we are going
to read about changes in how people think in science. You have three
websites that I want you to ìskimî read. All I want you to do is to get a
general idea of the contributions to science made by each individual.
Later, you will choose one to read more closely and be well-informed on
that one individual. We will also be doing an activity to help us
understand the wide range of contributions and difference in thinking
(both right and wrong) by some brilliant people of history. Each website
is in biography form and I want you to look for the contributions they
made.î
(Allow students about 5-7 minutes to skim the biographies)
IV. Strategy Instructions
ìNow
that you have had a chance to skim each biography, we are going to use a
reading strategy called RAFT. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and
Topic. Hopefully, this activity will help you to reflect on the reading
and contemplate the significance of each scientistís contribution.
ìThe
first thing I want you to do is to pick on of the scientists, and
thoroughly read through his biography. Next, you are going to write your
RAFT. The role you will be assuming is that of the scientist. Your
audience is the science public, and your format is a journal entry. The
topic of is of your choice. What I want you to do is to write a journal
entry, aimed at other scientists of the time, explaining what new
discovery youíve made or theory youíve come up with. Explain how these new
ideas will change the science worldís way of thinking. Donít worry about
whether the scientist was right or wrong.
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/RAFTsample.doc
ìLetís look at an example RAFT. Notice how the author
clearly defines his R, A, F, and T.î
ìFor another example, letís
pretend my scientist was Ben Franklin. Thatís my role. I am writing a
journal entry for other scientists. Thereís my format and audience. MY
topic is going to be discovering the electric power of lightning. I would
then journal about how we could use lightning in further
experiments.
ìAlright, now pick a scientist and read his
biography.
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