d3.1.x lise meitner: the battle for ultimate truth · 2019. 3. 1. · d3.1 creations demonstrators...

D3.1 CREATIONS Demonstrators

CREATIONS has received funding from the European Commission

HORIZON2020 Programme

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D3.1.x Lise Meitner: The battle for ultimate truth

Project

Reference:

H2020-SEAC-2014-2015/H2020-

SEAC-2014-1 , 665917

Author:

Hermione Ruck

Keene

Code: D 3.1.x Contributors:

Dr Kerry

Chappell

Dr Lindsay

Hetherington

Rae Hoole

Heather Wren

Version &

Date:

Approved by:




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Table of Contents

1 Introduction / Demonstrator Identity................................................................................. 3

1.1 Subject Domain ...................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Type of Activity ...................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Duration ................................................................................................................ 3

1.4 Setting (formal / informal learning) .......................................................................... 3

1.5 Effective Learning Environment................................................................................ 3

2 Rational of the Activity / Educational Approach .................................................................. 4

2.1 Challenge............................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Added Value .......................................................................................................... 4

3 Learning Objectives ......................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Domain specific objectives ....................................................................................... 6

3.2 General skills objectives .......................................................................................... 6

4 Demonstrator characteristics and Needs of Students .......................................................... 7

4.1 Aim of the demonstrator ......................................................................................... 7

4.2 Student needs addressed ........................................................................................ 7

5 Learning Activities & Effective Learning Environments ........................................................ 8

6 Additional Information ................................................................................................... 15

7 Assessment ................................................................................................................... 19

8 Possible Extension ......................................................................................................... 20

9 References .................................................................................................................... 21




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1 Introduction / Demonstrator Identity

1.1 Subject Domain

Nuclear fission in Physics, Standard form in Mathematics

1.2 Type of Activity

Local activity

Educational Activities based on Creativity- enriched Inquiry Based Approaches (school based).

1.3 Duration

1 day Masterclass with preparatory Skype with CERN

1.4 Setting (formal / informal learning)

Informal learning

1.5 Effective Learning Environment

• Arts-based

• Dialogic Space / argumentation

• Communication of scientific ideas to audience




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2 Rationale of the Activity / Educational Approach

2.1 Challenge

Pupils are regularly challenged to relate the discovery process in Science to more abstract scientific contexts

they are required to learn. In particular, elements that are perceived as ‘dry’ and requiring practice need to

be brought to life and grounded to make them more accessible to a wide range of pupils.

In this masterclass, a relatively unknown historical figure (in this case Lise Meitner, overlooked for the Nobel

prize for her work on nuclear fission with Otto Hahn, perhaps due to her gender and Jewish heritage), their

background and work in science are brought to life by a creative learning company (Links to a Life,

http://www.linkstoalife.com/ who would be happy to work with those interested to develop similar days with

the work of other historical figures in science) during the central part of the day. The rest of the day consists

of facilitated workshops relating the curriculum scientific content, facilitated by teachers and /or science

educators. Please note that the Lise Meitner Day was created and developed by Links to a Life, and the play

and teaching materials are copywright to Vince Miles (play) and John Teasdale (workshop materials). This

project has been subsequently adapted to form this Creations project masterclass/demonstrator; future

activities along the same lines would need to develop new theatrical/drama responses to the lives of

significant scientists with the appropriate links to the curriculum. The masterclass fosters links to current

research and innovation in the form of engaging with CERN’s schools programme via Skype.

The following text describes the specific Links to a Life event which has been placed at the centre of this

particular version of a drama/science activity day (please note that this text is © Links to a Life and should

not be reproduced in its current form)

‘Bringing wider public attention to Lise Meitner’s role in the discovery of ‘nuclear fission’, her humanity and

her lasting impact on the modern world, Links to a Life, a creative learning company, has created a day-

long programme for secondary schools including an hour-long piece of theatre at the centre with associated

workshop games, hands on calculations and debate. The day is designed to inspire a passion like hers for

Physics. Links to a Life sheds light on the dramatic and at times life threatening events of her life alongside

an exploration into the Maths and Physics she grappled with in order to arrive at the theoretical explanation

of the splitting of the uranium atom. The performance exposes audiences to her life, her associates

(Boltzmann, Planck, Rutherford and Chadwick), the Maths behind her discovery and its historical context.’

2.2 Added Value

This demonstrator adds value to pupils’ curricular learning in physics and maths by encouraging them to

link the curriculum to historical discoveries and to current cutting edge science, thus situating and grounding

the abstract concepts they are learning. Workshops for both pupils and attending teachers will draw on the

pedagogical approaches suggested by the CREATIONS Features; teachers will be given the opportunity to

explore the Features in their own dedicated workshop, as well as seeing them in action during facilitated

workshops for pupils. Use of pedagogical methods informed by the Features will enable pupils to link their

http://www.linkstoalife.com/




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learning in Science and Maths to the real life application of these theoretical approaches, as well as learning

about an individual behind their development.




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3 Learning Objectives

3.1 Domain specific objectives

Aims

• to inspire more young girls to want to pursue Physics to ‘A level’ and to see it as a viable and attractive option at Higher Education

• to raise public awareness, interest and engagement with contemporary physics, especially amongst girls

• Inspire and enthuse audiences, especially those not previously interested in physics. • Develop the science communication skills of individuals, particularly physicists. • to stimulate an interest in Maths and Physics, especially amongst girls • with professional actors, through an episodic drama, to tell the story of Lise Meitner (1878 –

1968) • to introduce the Maths Meitner used to explain nuclear fission • to develop students’ understanding of nuclear fission, radioactivity and sub-atomic particles • to work in partnership with different sectors to see the programme roll out to a wider and

geographically spread audience

3.2 General skills objectives

Please describe the skills that will be developed according to your demonstrator. As an example,

see below:

In the context of the Meitner Day Masterclass, students’ general skills objectives are:

• Active participation in the negotiation of scientific concepts

• Develop creative and critical skills

• Understanding of scientific concepts and phenomena

• Understanding the process of development of scientific concepts as an interactive process, brought to life

through drama.

• Develop spirit of cooperation and teamwork

• Understand to some extent how drama as an artform works to illuminate ideas and emotions




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4 Demonstrator characteristics and Needs of Students

4.1 Aim of the demonstrator

The demonstrator’s main aim is to link scientific theory and practice to the dramatized real life experiences of a

scientist who made a significant contribution to the development and application of these theories. The opportunity

to engage with the scientific and autobiographical content through drama– brings the theory to life by linking it to

individuals and their social/historical context. The follow-up workshops engage creatively and dialogically with the

scientific material in more detail, with connections to the dramatic presentation maintained by scientific facilitators

during the follow-up workshops.

The project is aimed at students between 13 and 18 years old and takes a ‘vertical learning’ approach, by including

students from different year groups who can support and challenge one another in terms of applying existing scientific

knowledge. The project is facilitated by actors and teachers/scientists together, and can be developed in cooperation

with researchers and/or scientists from a range of different settings, in collaboration with theatre companies and/or

school drama departments.

4.2 Student needs addressed

Students will be supported in understanding abstract concepts by seeing how they are situated in

the development of science from history through to the present day, in order to engage them with

science differently.




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5 Learning Activities & Effective Learning Environments




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Please note that this aspect of the demonstrator has been

completed relating to a specific version, created by the creative

learning company ‘Links to a Life and adapted for the CREATIONs

project masterclass. However, it could be adapted to relate the

curriculum to the life work of any scientist brought to life through

drama.

Science topic: Nuclear Fission

(Relevance to national curriculum) GCSE and A-level physics

related to atomic structure, bonding and radioactivity

Class information

Year Group: Mixed Year 9-13

Age range: 13-18, but the inclusion of older participants is advised in

order to facilitate the learning

Sex: both

Pupil Ability: The approach is designed to help pupils access and engage

with an abstract topic in physics and maths, so although challenging it is

designed to facilitate engagement of all pupils.

Materials and Resources

What do you need? (eg.printed questionnaires, teleconference, etc.) Creations project toolkit materials (e.g. wheels, honeycombs) ; a workbook relevant to the topic ; a drama. A space suitable for drama about science (e.g. a spacious laboratory) with a ‘backstage’ area is required and a classroom. Capacity to teleconference with a relevant research setting.

Prior pupil knowledge

No prior knowledge is required about the historical figure central to the scientific concept. Otherwise, some prior knowledge might be helpful dependent on the central figure

of the day. In this case, knowledge of a basic model of atomic structure is helpful.




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Individual session project objectives (What do you want pupils to know and understand by the end of the lesson?)

During this scenario, students will develop an understanding of nuclear fission and standard form in Mathematics. They will be able to link this learning to the development

of scientific knowledge and understanding of the atom and sub-atomic particles over time.

Assessment

Pupils’ workbooks; responses to

questions

Differentiation

How can the activities be adapted to the needs of

individual pupils?

‘Vertical’ groups to facilitate peer support for

younger pupils or those who find accessing the

concepts more challenging.

Key Concepts and Terminology

Science terminology:

Nuclear fission, radioactivity, sub-atomic particles, standard

form

Arts terminology:

Exploring characterisation, illuminating human narratives,

empathetic understanding, understanding drama

techniques through ‘close-up’ encounters with the actor’s

craft, physical learning




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Session Objectives:

During this scenario, students will engage with a researcher studying science at the cutting edge relevant to the historical figure’s work, as a preparatory Q&A session (e.g. CERN’s Virtual

Visits). During the masterclass, they will engage in activities to learn about nuclear fission and standard form developed by ‘linkstoalife’, supported by some of the ‘creations’ toolkit and

features to develop engaging pedagogical approaches. The centrepoint of the day is a drama about the life of Lise Meitner, produced by a creative learning company ‘linkstoalife’. Following

the drama, the learning will be consolidated by a Plenary session in which pupils ask and answer questions about the key topic. This is a fun and active (and competitive) game which

consolidates the learning before we move to the debate around issues raised from her story.

Learning activities in terms of CREATIONS Approach

IBSE Activity Interaction with CREATIONs Features Student Teacher Potential

arts activity

Phase 1:

QUESTION: students

investigate a scientifically

oriented question

Students pose, select, or are given a scientifically oriented

question to investigate. Balance and navigation through dialogue

aids teachers and students in creatively navigating educational

tensions, including between open and structured approaches to

IBSE. Questions may arise through dialogue between students’

scientific knowledge and the scientific knowledge of professional

scientists and science educators, or through dialogue with

different ways of knowledge inspired by interdisciplinarity and

personal, embodied learning. Ethics and trusteeship is an

Students engage with questions relating to the Physics and Maths behind nuclear fission through question posing in taught sessions and

interaction with the drama activity.

Provides initial questions and factual responses to consolidate/give new knowledge in

order to further students’ ability to apply existing Physics/Maths knowledge

Investigation of the Physics/Maths content through links to the

biographical and dramatic content.




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important consideration in experimental design and collaborative

work, as well as in the initial choice of question.

Phase 2:

EVIDENCE: students give

priority to evidence

Students determine or are guided to evidence/data, which may

come from individual, collaborative and communal activity such

as practical work, or from sources such as data from professional

scientific activity or from other contexts. Risk, immersion and play

is crucial in empowering pupils to generate, question and discuss

evidence.

Students engage with the CERN data prior to the Masterclass via a Virtual Visit.

Facilitate virtual visit and follow-up activities including ‘Happy families’ card game to revisit factual content in a playful manner.

Students could create own happy families fact cards; possibilities of artistic representations of data encountered via CERN virtual visit.

Phase 3:

ANALYSE: students

analyse evidence

Students analyse evidence, using dialogue with each other and

the teacher to support their developing understanding.

Students engage with a range of evidence relating to the discovery

of nuclear fission, including source material from the scientists involved.

Provide resources in terms of physical data and

factual knowledge to support dialogue and engagement with evidence.

Possibilities for students to create own

drama activities in response to aspects of the scientific processes under exploration.

Phase 4:

EXPLAIN: students

formulate an explanation

based on evidence

Students use evidence they have generated and analysed to

consider possibilities for explanations that are original to them.

They use argumentation and dialogue to decide on the relative

merits of the explanations they formulate, playing with ideas.

Students apply mathematical knowledge to calculate energy released during

fission reaction, working in mixed age groups and in dialogue with teachers.

Provide support for mathematical tasks and facilitate dialogue to enable

constructive discussion and experimentation with knowledge.




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Phase 5:

CONNECT: students

connect explanations to

scientific knowledge

Students connect their explanations with scientific knowledge,

using different ways of thinking and knowing (‘knowing that’,

‘knowing how’, and ‘knowing this’) to relate their ideas to both

disciplinary knowledge and to interdisciplinary knowledge to

understand the origin of their ideas and reflect on the strength of

their evidence and explanations in relation to the original

question.

Students apply mathematical knowledge to calculate energy released during fission reaction, working in mixed age groups and in dialogue with teachers.

Provide support for mathematical tasks and facilitate dialogue to enable constructive discussion and experimentation with knowledge.

Phase 6:

COMMUNICATE:

students communicate and

justify explanation

Communication of possibilities, ideas and justifications through

dialogue with other students, with science educators, and with

professional scientists offer students the chance to test their new

thinking and experience and be immersed in a key part of the

scientific process. Such communication is crucial to an ethical

approach to working scientifically.

Students participate in a ‘relay’ game to respond to questions about Meitner, her life, the science and the moral dilemmas and possible future advantages/ disadvantages of the Nuclear technology resulting from Meitner’s discovery including Nuclear power and atomic weapons. Students are given a question per group to discuss amongst themselves. Students present their views to the session as a whole.

Facilitate responses and moderate responses as necessary.

Possibility of discussing questions ‘in role’ as scientists




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Phase 7:

REFLECT: students reflect

on the inquiry process and

their learning

Individual, collaborative and community-based reflective activity

for change both consolidates learning and enables students and

teachers to balance educational tensions such as that between

open-ended inquiry learning and the curriculum and assessment

requirements of education.

Students participate in a ‘relay’ game to respond to questions about Meitner, her life, the science and the moral dilemmas and possible future advantages/ disadvantages of the Nuclear technology resulting from Meitner’s discovery including Nuclear power and atomic weapons. Students are given a question per group to discuss amongst themselves. Students

present their views to the session as a whole.

Facilitate responses and moderate responses as necessary.

Possibility of discussing questions ‘in role’ as scientists




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6 Additional Information




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Images from the play, staged in the science labs:




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7 Assessment

Pre- and post-test questionnaires will be administered to all students participating in the

Masterclass; pre-test will be administered at least two weeks before the activity, and post-test at

the end of the day. Teachers will complete the post-test questionnaire at the end of the day.

Qualitative data will be collected in the form of observations, photographs and interviews with

both students (group) and teachers (individual); teacher follow-up interviews will take place after

the event to provide further insight into the impact of the activities.




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8 Possible Extension

The activities outlined above could be used to develop similar activities related to other historical

figures in Science, with a particular focus on mis- or under-represented individuals and/or groups.

Links to a Life are happy to enter into discussion with European partners regarding development

of similar drama/workshop masterclasses linked to significant figures throughout the history of

Science. Similar techniques could also be used to engage with living or imagined scientific figures;

for example, students could create dramatic representations of the types of scientists that they

might envision themselves becoming, or scientific innovations that they would like to lead. This

type of activity would also encourage students to consider the limitations or barriers that might be

placed in their way – whether social, moral, economic or intellectual – and how they might

overcome them, linking to the CREATIONS feature of ethics and trusteeship and developing the

idea of resilience in a scientific context.




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9 References

d3.1.x lise meitner: the battle for ultimate truth · 2019. 3. 1. · d3.1 creations demonstrators...

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