Michael Faraday
| National Curriculum links (Key Stage
3) |
Sc1
1c |
... the ways in which scientists work
today and how they worked in the past, including the roles of experimentation,
evidence and creative thought in the development of scientific ideas |
Sc4
5c |
... that electricity is generated by
means of a variety of energy resources |
| National Curriculum links (Key Stage
4 double science) |
Sc1
1a |
... how scientific ideas are presented,
evaluated and disseminated |
Sc1
1b |
... how scientific controversies can
arise ... |
Sc4
1o |
... the ... relationship between steady
current, charge and time |
Sc4
1p |
... electric current as the flow of charge
... |
Sc4
5 |
... a force is exerted on a current-carrying
wire in a magnetic field ... this effect in electric motors |
Resources
The life and science of Michael
Faraday. The links from this page provide a potted biography of
Michael Faraday, looking at his personal life, the various controversies
in which he became embroiled and the amazing range of his achievements.
Students can click on the different headings to see small chunks of
this astonishing life story. These can be used to dip into for interest,
as a resource for the teacher or in conjunction with the Activity.
Activity
This asks students to choose one of three titles and use the information
in the biography to put together a graphical presentation for use in
the Key Stage below them. The titles suggested are:
- "A very human scientist" - the personal life of Michael
Faraday and how it affected his work
- "A controversial scientist" - the various controversies
and conflicts in which Faraday was involved
- "The electricity man" - the importance of Michael Faraday
in the development of ideas about electricity, magnetism and electrolysis
Another way of using this material would be to focus on the Faraday
Controversies. A major discovery
and More problems summarise
the two areas of Faraday's work where he was accused - rightly or wrongly
- of using other people's ideas. The accusations caused him great embarrassment,
and fear of repeating these difficulties led to Faraday limiting his
own research as he got older and his memory began to fail - he would
rather not research a topic than risk being accused once more of stealing
other peoples ideas.
There are a number of different ways in which this smaller chunk of
material could be used with pupils:
- Students could be asked to write a letter to a newspaper either
as Faraday, Wollaston or Davy. As Faraday they could refute the unfair
accusations, explain their position and justify their actions. As
Wollaston or Davy they need to explain the events and the sense of
outrage felt.
- In similar vein students could be asked to produce a web page for
the web site of one of these great scientists. For Wollaston or Davy
they could explain what Faraday had done from their perspective and
why they felt offended. For Faraday they could explain the false accusations
and why they were unjust.
- Students could work in groups of three to prepare a brief interview
for a news or current affairs programme. They need a neutral presenter
to ask the questions, with Faraday and either Wollaston or Davy as
the interviewees.
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