Lesson Plan
The project as it is described here takes about six fifty-minute periods to complete with 30 students. The list of student activities includes:
Introduction (Day 1)
In this activity, students learn about the two theories and state their initial opinion about the debate topic. It is important to encourage students to express their personal idea about the topic and not what the consider to be the "correct" theory. Many students are likely to identify with the Light Dies Out theory at this point in the project.
During the culminating debate, students will be defending one of the two theories in the debate. As they prepare, however, it is often useful to tell student that they are responsible for BOTH theories. That is, they may be asksed to present ether one. This encourages students to think about the evidence from both theoretical perspectives.
Survey Evidence (Day 1 to 3)
Students spend most of their time during the project interpreting and critiquing a set of evidence from the Web. Students take notes on it as they go in the How Far Document. During this activity, students should focus on the evidence listed under "General Evidence."
As students work with the evidence they can receive hints about the Guidance by clicking on the Guide button. These hints from Mildred point out salient about a particular piece of evidence. (NOTE: Mildred can also give hints to students about the particular activity they are working or the project itself.)
Create Evidence (Day 4)
It is important for students to understand how scientific ideas can help explain events in the world around them. For this reason, this activity asks students to describe personal life experiences which they believe are related to the debate. Students should be encouraged to think about experiences they have had, things they have read, and experiments they have done. If time permits, students can also search the Web for additional evidence related to the debate.
Specialize (Day 4)
In this activity, students develop expertise about either telescopes or light detectors. Since these are both central topics for the debate, they can help students expand their conceptual understanding.
It should be noted that many students may not initally associate telescopes or eyes with light. This is very common. Students may well have other mechanisms to explain how telescopes work. For example, many students talk about telescopes "taking you closer" or "looking at light which is closer to the source." For these students, the specialty evidence offers them an opportunity to think through their ideas further.
Refine Argument (Day 5)
After looking at all of the evidence, students need to focus in on the most salient pieces and prepare the argument they will present to the class. At this point you should assign student groups to defend one of the two theories. It can be beneficial to allow students to defend the theory they believe at this point in the project.
In terms of refining their argument, students should be encouraged to think of THREE pieces of evidence which support their theory and THREE pieces which contradict their theory. They should be able to explain how the supporting evidence is explained by their theory and how they would respond to the contradictory evidence if someone brings it up during the debate.
Discuss Your Ideas (Day 6)
The culminating activity is to have the class engage in a debate of the two theories. One good structure is to have each group present their argument and then to respond to questions from the rest of the class. An even-handed treatment of groups which are presenting either theory can also be very helpful for getting all students to think through the ideas associated with the debate further.
Students listening to the presenting group can fill out the Thought While Listening worksheet. This will focus their attention, help them think critically about what is being said, and will lead to questions which they can ask of groups.