All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms. These atoms are in turn made of even smaller particles called protons, neutron and electrons. Everything that matter is and everything that matter does can be explained by the behavior of atoms!
How have scientists come to understand these particles we cannot see?
How has this understanding changed and evolved over time?
What remains to be discovered?
In a way, the scientists who have unraveled the properties of the atom have been like detectives solving parts of a mystery — with new mysteries arising out of every discovery.
Your Task
You will work as a class to research the scientists and experiments that have lead to our current understanding of the atom and its properties. Your group will be responsible for becoming an expert on one of the ten sections. We will then share our information and create a timeline of events. Within each group you will research and create a report including:
Each group will prepare a 5-10 minute presentation to the class with the results of their research. You may use posters, demonstrations or any other visual you choose.
You must divide the tasks so that all group members have a specific role in the research and the presentation. Active participation by all members of the group is required in order for the group to receive full credit for the assignment.
Each group will prepare a single poster to contribute to a class timeline of the discovery of the atom. Each poster in the timeline will note the date or period of the discovery, the major character and the advancement in our understanding of the atom that is associated with your assigned topic. Together, these posters should present a history of the atom.
Finally, each group will prepare a report of their research on the biography, discovery and timeline of their topic. Just hit the major points! This task should be divided between group members — but you must make the final product look like a single report — not a cut and paste of three reports.
Keep track of what websites you visit and what printed sources you use.
Your report must include a bibliography of at least three sources.
Resources:
The following resources should get you started. In addition, use search engines to find additional data and the hard copy resources available through the media center.
Questions in each area are only guides — your report should answer at least these questions.
Each group should review the following sites:
Atomic history overview
http://www.shs.d211.org/science/faculty/hlg/history%20of%20atom%20sanjay%20karan/chempage1.htm
A timeline of the atom:
http://www.watertown.k12.wi.us/hs/teachers/buescher/atomtime.asp
More about the atom:
http://library.thinkquest.org/19662/low/eng/main.html
1. Early History of the atom:
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/ci/1992/Dalton.html
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1411.htm
http://www.slcc.edu/schools/hum_sci/physics/whatis/biography/dalton.html
http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/AtomicStructure/Greeks.html
What ideas about matter did Democritus and Aristotle have? Who was believed by the masses?
Who were the alchemists? What “virtues” for modern science did they possess?
What were John Dalton’s theories? How did he arrive at his conclusions?
What is the significance of Dalton’s work?
For this task do the biography of John Dalton and his work on the atom.
2. Rutherford and the Atomic Nucleus
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/rutherford/
http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/AtomicStructure/Rutherford-Model.html
Describe the gold foil experiment.
What did Rutherford expect to see?
Why did the results surprise Rutherford?
How did this experiment change the view of the atom developed by Thomson?
3. Thomson and the discovery of the electron
http://www.aip.org/history/electron/
http://webserver.lemoyne.edu/faculty/giunta/thomson1897.html
http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/AtomicStructure/Thomson-Model-Intro.html
What experiments did Thomson conduct? What was he investigating?
What hypothesis did Thomson develop based on his experiments?
What was Thomson’s model of the atom?
Why were Thomson’s results controversial?
What further research was needed?
4. Robert Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment
http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1923/millikan-bio.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/19662/low/eng/biog-millikan.html
http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/AtomicStructure/Determine-electron-charge.html
http://www.bun.falkenberg.se/gymnasium/amnen/fysik/millikaneng.html
What was Millikan’s experiment?
Did his experiment support the theory of the electron?
How did Millikan’s experiment solve the problem that Thomson could not?
5. Marie Curie, Henri Becquerel and Radioactivity
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/historical_background.html
http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1911/marie-curie-bio.html
http://www.watertown.k12.wi.us/hs/teachers/buescher/atomtime.asp
http://www.aip.org/history/curie/resbr1.htm
What radioactive element did Becquerel discover?
How did Becquerel observe the property of radioactivity?
Who was M. Curie’s research partner?
What radioactive elements did M. Curie discover?
What is radioactivity?
How can an element change its identity?
What is a half-life?
For a biography choose either Becquerel or M. Curie
6. Niels Bohr and the planetary model
http://orac.sunderland.ac.uk/~hs0bcl/h_nb.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpbohr.html
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/refarticle.aspx?refid=761576813
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/refarticle.aspx?refid=761576813
How old was Niels Bohr when he received the Nobel Prize?
What is the Bohr model of the atom?
How did Bohr explain that the electrons would not be “pulled into” the nucleus?
Whose work did he build upon?
How did Bohr’s ideas differ from that of Einstein’s?
7. Schrodinger and the wave function
http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpschr.html
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0%2C%2Csid9_gci341236%2C00.html
http://www.phobe.com/s_cat/s_cat.html
http://www.zbp.univie.ac.at/schrodinger/euebersicht.htm
http://online.redwoods.edu/DEPTS/science/chem/storage/Schrod/page3.htm
What’s the deal with Schrodinger’s cat?
Explain superposition as it applies to the atom.
How does a wave function (or wave equation) apply to the quantum model of the atom?
8. Planck and quantum theory
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Planck.html
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mod2.html#c3
http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/study/sci/cosmo/internal/quantum.htm
What type of bodies did Planck study and what did he notice?
What is his equation?
What is a quantum?
How was Planck’s theory applied to the atom?
9. Heisenberg
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Heisenberg.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpheis.html
http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p08.htm
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~imamura/208/jan27/hup.html
What principle bears his name?
What does this principle mean?
How does it apply to the quantum-mechanical model of the atom?
10. Einstein
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpeins.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/mytheory/einstein/
http://www.faqs.org/docs/qp/chap03.html
For what did Einstein win the Nobel Prize in 1921? Explain this idea.
How is it related to the quantum-mechanical model of the atom?
What is a photon?
GRADING
| Presentation | 30 points | Group Grade |
| Biography | 5 | Clear and complete with |
| Research | 5 | all questions answered n |
| Timeline | 5 | each category |
| Visual Aid | 5 | Easy to see and relevant to audience understanding |
| Participation | 5 | All members participate |
| Organization | 5 | Presentation is planned and well coordinated. |
| Report | 20 Points | Group Grade |
| Complete | 12 | Covers all the main points accurately |
| Organization | 5 | Report is coherent (not just cut and paste) |
| Sources | 3 | Cites included — at least three sources |
| Poster | 10 | Group Grade Timeline poster complete/accurate/visually pleasing |