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Activity Guide
The Path of Most Resistance
Ask students the following questions:Explain that the scientists in this program are all physicists. They study the movements of atoms, molecules, planets and stars. They calculate the movements of these objects using advanced mathematics. They grew up in different places all over the United States, and they study their science all over the world. Most of them never saw a scientist who looked like them until they looked in the mirror. In this program, they tell you who they are and what kind of science they do.
- Have you ever seen a scientist who looks like you?
- What do people see when they look at you? An athlete? A grade-A student? A soccer fan? A dancer? How about a scientist?
Neil Tyson, Ph.D., research staff, Department of Astrophysics, Princeton University
Dr. Tyson studies the movements of planets and stars. As a boy, he once looked up at the sky through a pair of binoculars and observed features on the Moon that he had never seen before. Soon, he wanted to study about space whenever he could. However, as an African-American boy in New York City, people expected him to be an athlete rather than a scientist. Although it was hard for him to get permission to use school equipment for his research, Dr.Tyson continued to study science. Today he is a researcher at Princeton University, investigating the large bulge of stars at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Discussion and Activities:
- Ask the students what they know about the Milky Way. Challenge them to find a star chart or map of the universe that shows where the Milky Way is, and where Earth is located. For younger students, bring in a map of the universe and point these locations out to the class before showing the video.
- Dr.Tyson uses a telescope at a certain latitude in Chile to study the stars at a certain time of the year when the stars are lined up properly above the telescope. What is your latitude? Using a globe, have the students locate your state or city. If possible, have older students find star charts or almanacs that describe which constellations are visible at different times of year.
George Castro, Ph.D., senior research scientist, IBM
Dr. Castro is building a machine that will magnify the tiny components used in computers so that engineers can test the components and make sure they are usable in new computers. His machine involves a great deal of patience - he has been working on this machine for five years! If it works, it will be a very useful invention. As a boy in East Los Angeles, he was not expected to take college prep courses, and he had never seen a scientist who shared his Mexican-American background. When his family moved to the suburbs, Dr.Castro started studying advanced mathematics. After they moved back to the city, he kept up his interest in math. Today he is responsible for building important machines to solve tough problems for his company.
Discussion and Activities:
- Dr. Castro's machine enables researchers to magnify objects on a very large scale. What is the difference in different powers of magnification? Using a hand lens and a microscope, or hand lenses of different strengths, have the students compare their close-up observations of common objects, such as pennies or sheets of notebook paper. What can they see using the higher powered magnification that they could not see using lower magnification?
- Patience is important when working on a problem. What are some examples of situations in which students had to wait for an important solution?
S. James Gates, Ph.D., professor of physics, University of Maryland
Dr. Gates uses mathematics to describe events such as the movement of objects in space, or the amount of time it takes for an object to move across a certain distance. Since he was a young boy, he has always wanted to know the answers to questions. Today, he is a theoretical physicist, solving problems that take years to answer. He is working on a theory that uses very large calculations called Superstring Theory. Dr. Gates is an African-American scientist whose work involves sharing research with an international team of scientists and physicists. In this program, he travels to Siberia in Russia to discuss his theory with scientists from around the world.
Discussion and Activity:
Dr. Gates' work uses mathematics to explain how events happen. What does it mean to use mathematics to describe an event? For younger students, give an example such as a shopping trip. Ask the students to write an equation that would explain how many items a person bought at the supermarket. In the first aisle, the person bought four items. In the second aisle, the person bought three items, and so on. The equation would look like this: Aisle 1 + Aisle 2 + etc. Then the students can plug in the values of their shopping trip and add them to solve the equation. For older students, the problem can be more complicated, such as creating a graph to show the various speeds of the school bus along the trip from home to school.
France Cordova, Ph.D., chief scientist, NASA
Dr. Cordova studies a particular type of stars - pulsars. Pulsars are stars that have died. Dead stars do not give off light in the same way that other stars do, and Dr. Cordova has developed a way of finding visible and invisible light given off by pulsars. She went to college as an English major. While she was in college, she went on an archaeological dig in Mexico and connected with her father's Mexican heritage. Later, Dr. Cordova became interested in science, and went back to school to study cosmology. Today, she is one of the leading scientists studying stars. She works at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where in addition to doing research, she also speaks to lawmakers about our country's space policies.
Discussion and Activities:
- Dr. Cordova's research has focused mostly on one type of star - the pulsar. Have the students find information about different types of stars. What is a pulsar? A red dwarf? What kind of star is our Sun? Older students can research the lives of stars and make timelines to show the different phases of star existence.
- Use a prism to show students the spectrum of visible light. Explain that the white light we see is actually made up of many types of light waves blended together. In addition, light waves like infrared and ultraviolet are important types of electromagnetic energy.
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