Work in progress
As a science teacher I find that the historical approach is the best pedagogical method. Take an equation, an experiment, a hypothesis or a method within the natural sciences: You can just tell it,,.. and that may work. Hands-on, try it yourself usually helps. But do the students get the beauty of it and do they get the fan of underliying ideas, connected concepts and competing theories, that whole machinery, that in the end will let them understand the potential? Another thing is getting the interest in science in the first place. Yes, some student may find the equation exciting on its own – but certainly not all. We might complain, that the young need it all served as easy digestable fast intertainment. But for many will spark the interested -the need to know- to set the scenery first.So why not? Who was this person that invented this (equation/method/theory)? What were they occupied with before the discovered it? What was the propblem? What were their struggles? Where they really people just like you and me? What was know already in the science community at the time? What was debated? And what made the difference in the end for this theory to see the day? Tell the story!
Copenhagen is a treassury when it comes to history. The streets, museums, castles, parks – almost every building will give you an opportunity to learn about European culture from Stone Age, to vikings, to queens and kings of the Middle Ages and the renaissance, to enlightment, to modern days of jazz, architecture and New Nordic Cuisine. The history of Copenhagen is also the history of some of the greatest scientific discoveries.
This is the Science Tales of Copenhagen. It’s a bit like the fairy tales – just without the fairies 😉
Chapter 1 – Pretty things in the ground
About ‘køkkenmøddings’ and how pretty things found in the ground stopped being “ol’ ancient stuff” and started to be a part of the science of the history of human kind. Tools, treassures and daily life items of ancient people was cataloged stone age, bronze age and iron age… and the story of the science of tools, metals, fabric, jewelery, currencies can begin.
Chapter 2 – Starmen
About thte astronomers Tycho Brahe and Ole Rømer. And about discovery of the history og ea
Chapter 3 – Turn and face the change
About Niels Steensen and the geological changes – the is not only moving it is also changing . it has a history. And going down the sediment layers we see the earth and the animal life of earlier days. Also about the time of enlightment and HC Ørsted the discoverer of electromagnetism, that is the conenction between the two physical concepts electricity and magnetism.
Chapter 4 – The beer light to guide us
About the science of beer brewing, about yeast, acid-base-therory, the pH-scale, Bjerrum diagrams and more. All beer-guided science.
Chapter 5 – Waves and particles of joy
About quantum mechanics and the Niels Bohr Institue.
Chapter 6 – Wild is the windmill
The Danish wind mill fairy tale.
Chapter 7 – Take your medicin and put your helmet on
The mediconvalley fairy tale.
Chapter 8 – A small affair
New stuff – cubits, lasers and sound?