STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM Teacher's Guide Structure of the Atom Teacher's Guide The Series Contents This teacher's guide is designed for use with the Producer: David Chamberlain Program 1. The Earliest Models .... 1 Structure of the Atom series of programs produced by Narrator: Michael Reynolds Program 2, Smaller than the Smallest ...... 4 TVOntario and available on videotape to educational Consultant: William Konrad Program 3. The Rutherford Model ........... 7 i nstitutions and nonprofit organizations. The programs Computer Program 4. The Bohr Model ............... 12 are broadcast by TVOntario, the television service of animation: Animations Drouin Inc, Program s. Spectra .................... 16 The Ontario Educational Communications Authority. Designed and produced by Northey Productions Ltd. Program 6. The Wave Mechanical Model ...... 21 For broadcast dates, consult the appropriate for TVOntario /1985. For Further Reading . .................. 24 TVOntario schedule. Ordering Information for Ordering Information . _ 24 videotapes and this publication appears on page 24. The Teacher's Guide Project Leader: David Chamberlain Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Writer: William Konrad Konrad, William 1942- Editor: Elizabeth MacLean Structure of the atom. Teacher's guide Designer: Michael Bowness Consultant: George Laundry To be used with the television program, Structure of the atom. Note to Teachers Bibliography: p. The Structure of the Atom series traces the I SBN 0-88944-076-X development of the concept of the atom, starting with the ancient Greeks and ending with the wave 1. Structure of the atom (Television program) mechanical model developed by Erwin Schrodinger 2. Atoms-Models-Study and teaching (Secondary) and Werner Heisenberg in the 1920s. An effort is I. TVOntario. II. Title. made to illustrate how the process of science was at work over the centuries, as people continually revised QC173.K66 1985 539'.14 C85-09- their view of the nature of matter. The major 3024-3 experiments and conceptual breakthroughs in this process form the core of the series of six 10-minute programs. 'c)Copyright 1985 by The Ontario Educational This teacher's guide contains a detailed description Communications Authority. of each program. It also provides additional All rights reserved. background information, which the teacher may wish to use during class discussion to give students extra i nsight into the roles of various discoveries in the model-building process. I n addition to these materials, there are questions and suggestions for activities that the teacher may find useful in incorporating a particular program into a Printed in Canada 1706/85 lesson sequence. The Earliest Models The contributions covered include William Gilbert's discovery of Objectives electrostatic attraction; Niccolo Cabeo's discovery of electrostatic After viewing the program, students should be able to: repulsion; Benjamin Franklin's view of electricity as a fluid; Charles Augustin de Coulomb's law describing the force between charged 1. Respond to the question, "Can something be broken in half objects; Antoine Laurent Lavoisier's law of conservation of matter, forever?" and Joseph Proust's law of constant proportions. 2. I dentify the Greek philosopher credited with first suggesting that matter consists of atoms. 3. List the key postulates in Democritus's theory of matter and Additional Background evaluate them in light of today's scientific knowledge. This program concentrates on material not usually covered in class, 4. State one reason why Democritus's theory was not accepted by but included to help show students how complex and time consuming the early Greeks. the development of a scientific model can actually be. It also shows 5. Explain why the early Christian church opposed the theory of that not every new discovery or suggestion can be considered atomism. progressive; some actually reverse the progress of the model. 6. Explain the contributions made by the alchemists to the The span of time covered in the program is more than 2000 years development of the scientific method. - from the ancient Greeks (500 BC) to Joseph Proust (1800). 7. State the contribution made by each of the following to our Obviously, not all the scientists who made contributions to the knowledge of the nature of matter: William Gilbert, Niccolo development of a model for matter during this period can be included Cabeo, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Augustin de Coulomb, Antoine i n such a short program. Some other individuals and their Laurent Lavoisier. and Joseph Proust. contributions are: Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647). He suggested that we live at the bottom of a deep sea of air and invented a device known as a Program Description "barometer" to measure atmospheric pressure. The program begins by going back in history and acquainting viewers Otto von Guericke (1602-1686). He invented the air pump. with some of the great names in science, names that will be Robert Boyle (1627-1691). Boyle improved the air pump and encountered in this series, as the model of the atom is developed. It showed how the changes in the volume of a gas were related to then raises this question: "Can things be broken in half forever?" and pressure. explains the theory of matter developed by the ancient Greek Jacques Charles (1746-1823) and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac philosopher, Democritus. This theory has a number of postulates that (1778-1850). These scientists independently discovered that the would still be considered valid today, but since it was not supported change in volume of a gas under constant pressure is proportional to by some of the prominent philosophers of Democritus's day, it faded the change in temperature. into oblivion. Isaac Newton (1642-1727). He showed that if one assumed that a The program goes on to show how the alchemists brought us gas consisted of particles, then mathematical analysis would show closer to the scientific method by making experimentation and that the gas should change its temperature if it were allowed to observation more acceptable than they had been to the Greeks. In expand. spite of this advance in technique, the model of matter visualized by Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782). Bernoulli developed a model for the alchemists was more primitive than that of Democritus. gases based on his idea of a gas as a material consisting of minute The last half of the program shows how a number of scientists "corpuscles." contributed to the growth of knowledge about the nature of matter. 1 2 for the observed motion. Before Viewing 5. A successful theory is flexible enough to undergo modification 1. Before viewing the program, it is essential for the class to discuss where necessary. The mechanics Newton used to explain the the role of the model in science. Students will find the criteria listed solar system are today regarded as a special case of Einstein's below helpful in assessing the various models they will encounter. To all-encompassing relativistic mechanics. enable them to understand these criteria more easily, you can use a II. Students sometimes view a scientific model as the absolute truth. scientific model with which they are familiar to illustrate each criterion The following poem illustrates the models that each of six blind men listed. In the following material, the heliocentric model of the solar formulated for an elephant, based on their own observations. It is system is used. It is a model with which most students are familiar, followed by a modern version that can be used as a puzzle. and yet, students will realize that it isn't obvious to an observer who has not heard of it before. To approach the subject of modelling, the teacher could supple- The Blind Men and ment a discussion with two additional TVOntario videotapes. "Models the Elephant in the Mind" (BPN 112610) in the Dimensions in Science series and "Modelling" (BPN 200307) in Search for Solutions show how models It was six men of Indostan are used to test hypotheses, predict effects, and suggest To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant precautions. (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Characteristics of a Useful Scientific Model Might satisfy his mind. 1. A theory or model helps us interpret or explain the unknown in The First approached the Elephant, terms of the known. We can explain the motion of objects in the And happening to fall heavens by visualizing spheres moving in a specific manner. Against his broad and sturdy side, 2. A theory or model correlates many separate facts into a more At once began to bawl: easily grasped structure of thought. If we consider the earth, "God bless me! but the Elephant I s very like a wall!" rotating on its tilted axis and moving around the sun along with the other planets, we can explain a large number of observations. The Second, feeling of the tusk, We can explain day and night, as well as the seasons. We know Cried, "Ho! what have we here why the stars appear to move along an arc in the evening sky, So very round and smooth and sharp? and we can explain why the motion of the planets appears To me 'tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant different from that of the stars. I s very like a spear!" 3. A theory or model often makes predictions about phenomena that have not yet been observed. I n the mid-nineteenth century, The Third approached the animal, astronomers observed irregularities in the orbit of Uranus. If their And happening to take model of the solar system was correct, then these irregularities The squirming trunk with his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: could be explained by the assumption that another planet beyond "I see," quote he, "the Elephant Uranus was also orbiting around the sun.