We read the very brief passage in Lesson 1, on pages 6-7, called Humans – The Problem Solving Animals. The PDF is linked on the right hand side of the blog page, and there is a podcast for this reading if you would like to just read along.The reading compared humans to other animals, and makes an argument that what sets humans aside is that we are very efficient problem solvers. It also suggests that because we can use tools that it separates us from most other animals (and that we can use tools because we have thumbs).
Well, this was written more than 10 years ago. Science has made progress since then, and any evidence they had regarding their tool argument has been made invalid by a recent study that shows that crows are capable of problem solving and using a series of complex tools to gain access to food. I am sure that there are Youtube videos out there of the crow getting his food, because I saw it featured on the Colbert Report the night before we did the reading in class. I think what we can take from this lesson is that science is in a constant state of change. Nothing is permanent, and our use of scientific method and investigation, using evidence to support or challenge claims, will keep us always moving forward.
The reading is really trying to express that problem solving by working together in teams is the best way to find success in science. And we will be following that advice as we move through this unit. Many of our investigations require teamwork to be successful, not only because we need to be challenging each other with Accountable Talk, but because some of them are complex enough that without everyone pitching in, we will not finish within the 50 minutes we're given.
I will just very briefly climb on my soapbox and say that it is depressing to me that almost every famous scientist is a white male – but there's Marie Curie, of course! If you asked people to name some famous scientists who are not a white male, the first name usually mentioned is Marie Curie. The second can sometimes be Rosalind Franklin. She is an unsung hero who has been getting more exposure in recent times, but she nevertheless had to fight against discrimination at every turn and never received proper credit for her contributions while she was alive. The caption under the photo in the textbook marvels at the fact that "Dr. Watson was only 25 years old when he and Dr. Crick made their important discovery" – that may be the case, but he was still a white male living in a world run by white males!
I am here, teaching science, because I don't want our future history books to be filled with only white males. Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against white males going into science! But we need a lot more diversity in our sciences. In that spirit, I found a one-page biography on Rosalind Franklin online and shared it with the class. This is a PDF of the handout. However, keep in mind that there is much more about Dr. Franklin than can be found on this short biography! There is a really interesting movie called The Race for the Double Helix, which I believe does a very good job of dramatizing Dr. Franklin's role in DNA research, and there are several books that chronicle her entire life that you may find interesting.
Ms. Katherine, of course, feels as strongly about this as I do! Just "look up" the next time you're in the classroom. Hanging on the wall are the pictures of many influential figures in contemporary science: Albert Einstein on one end and Sanjay Gupta on the other. Can you identify each one, and their contribution to science?
