|
Lesson Plans for The Story of Science
 |
Johns Hopkins University has developed Teacher and Student Quest Guides for Aristotle Leads the Way. Click here to view a sample. You'll find classroom activities, homework suggestions, multidisciplinary links, and directed reading. |
 |
Johns Hopkins University has developed Teacher and Student Quest Guides for Newton at the Center. Click here to view a sample. You'll find classroom activities, homework suggestions, multidisciplinary links, and directed reading. |
 |
The National Science Teachers Association has developed The Story of Science Classroom Companion for Einstein Adds a New Dimension. Click here to view a sample.
You'll find classroom activities, homework suggestions,
multidisciplinary links, and directed reading. You'll find teaching
tips, lists of key vocabulary words, activities, writing prompts,
additonal online and print resources, and more. |
 Teacher Tips
Name: Kathi Kearney
School information: Noble VI School, Berwick ,ME (Noble VI is a single-grade, 6 th grade center)
 Click here to download Kathi Kearney's teaching tip.
Email Kathy Kearney
(Your email is not required, only provide it if you don’t mind other teachers emailing you a question)
Are you submitting a:
-Teaching Tip
Which book is the Lesson Plan/Teaching Tip for?
Aristotle Leads the Way
What section/topic in the text is your lesson/tip about?
Chapter 16, “Euclid in His Elements”
Type in any comments/Teaching Tips here:
I teach gifted 6 th grade students, and last year in the History
of Science class I had a number of advanced math students, including
several who were completing high school Algebra I or Algebra II. After
reading and discussing the chapter and some of Euclid ’s
contributions, I decided that it would be good for all the students to
actually try reading some of Euclid ’s “Elements”
themselves. While searching online for a good reading copy (in
translation), I came across a website that not only has the text of
“Elements” but includes a variety of very interesting
manipulatable java applets to explore “Elements” in more
detail:
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.html
I explained to the students that I didn’t expect them to
understand everything, as they had not had even a high school level
course in Geometry and most students did not try tackling
“Elements” until college level (if at all), and that I knew
the reading level would be very high, but that I wanted them to just
try reading and exploring a little bit of the site so that they could
become familiar with how “Elements” had originally been
written (of course, this was an English translation). I asked them to
try out the java applets that accompany this particular online version
to illustrate Euclid ’s postulates, common notions, and
propositions.
We used the computer lab so that each student had individual
access to the site (although the Algebra I and Algebra II students
preferred to work in pairs).
Not only were students very engaged by this activity but they
asked to spend a second class session continuing to read and explore
“Elements” on this website!
It was amazing to watch students access and be excited about
reading and exploring Euclid ’s ancient words, combined with
their use of the distinct 21 st -century manipulatable java applets to
illustrate his work!
|
|
|
|
Q: Do you see your series replacing traditional textbooks or being used in conjunction with these textbooks?
Q: What age group constitutes your target audience? What ages are you writing for most?
Q: I've always used a traditional textbook, why should I switch?
Q: Are there any errors in the books?
Q: Do you see your series replacing traditional textbooks or being used in conjunction with these textbooks?
A: I wrote them as a new kind of text; an anti-textbook - to replace
those ponderous tomes that no one reads willingly, but they can also be
used as a supplement. The ten small volumes gives this series great
flexibility.
Q: What age group constitutes your target audience? What ages are you writing for most?
A: Good writing is never age-specific. I seem to get a lot of
mail from readers and some has come from eight-year-olds (bright) and
I've had more than one letter from an octogenarian. Storytelling has a
broad appeal. A History of US is being used in many elementary and
middle schools and in a few college courses. The Story of Science
is used in middle and high schools as well as in a few colleges.
Teachers often deal with 20-30 students in a classroom, each of whom
may be at a different reading level. I'm told these are high-interest
books that keep kids reading. It's the teaching materials and the
expectations that vary with ages.
Q: I've always used a traditional textbook, why should I switch?
A: The standard textbook has failed our students. Almost no one reads
them willingly. They're usually massive and backbreaking in format, and
dull in content. I wrote A History of US to attempt to break that
non-reading book mold. Think of the standard textbook as a reference
book. It can be useful on the teacher's desk, but it has kept our
children from reading. In this Information Age we need to encourage
literacy, question-asking, and critical thinking. Textbooks don't do
that.
Q: Are there any errors in the books?
A. Graciously, several readers have alerted me to errors or
discrepancies in The Story of Science , Book 1. I invite readers to
contact me if they see something they believe to be an error and
sincerely thank those who have contacted me. If you are reading or
teaching with the first printing of Aristotle Leads the Way you need to
know that on page 83, the correct area of the square is 1 (not 2). On
page 180 the 30-60-90 triangle is incorrectly labeled. The hypotenuse
should be 2. And, on page 221, each person ends up with 262 monetary
units of animals (not 168, which is the total of animals). These errors
have been corrected in the second printing.
|
|
