Lesson Plan 1.

3
Unit 1 : Energy in Society
Topic Title: Physics for Development
Time Frame: 1 day
I - OBJECTIVES
General Objectives:
1. Cite the role of energy in the development of human society from the industrial
age to the knowledge-based society.
2. Trace the development of technology in the country and relate it to international
and worldwide developments.
3. State some worldwide developments in Physics that had implications to society
and had changed humanitys thinking about nature.
Specific Objectives:
1. Cite the contributions of physics to society
2. Describe how physicists contributed to the body of knowledge called science and
to technology
II SUBJECT MATTER
A. Lesson Title: Physics for Development
B. References:
1.
Pabellon, Josefina Ll. and Genelita B. Tubal. Physics 3rd Edition. Diwa
Learning Systems. Pp1-10; 149-152
2.
http://www.timelinescience.org/years
3.
http://timeline.aps.org/APS/index.html
4.
http://www.psigate.ac.uk/newsite/physics_timeline.html
5. Materials:
Cartolina cut outs
Pentel pen
III LEARNING ACTIVITIES
A. Lesson/Activity Proper
1.
Prepare an area in the classroom for the Physics Timeline. Divide this area
into centuries or any appropriate timescale.
2.
Ask students or their groups to write the breakthroughs, contributions, etc. on
a piece of cartolina.
3.
Let the groups paste these along the timeline.
4.
After all of them have done their share, encourage them to ask questions or
clarify a particular discovery/event/contribution related to Physics.

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5.

Ask them which events / discovery / contribution do they consider as major

breakthroughs in Physics (Refer to Teachers Notes) for guidance.

B. Valuing
1.
Appreciation of the contributions of physicists to science.
IV ASSESSMENT
Give points for students who:
1) cited one contribution
2) explained or asked questions about a specific contribution
V ASSIGNMENT
Answer briefly but concisely:
1. Which do you consider as the greatest physics invention among all the ones
mentioned in the timeline? Why do you think so?
2. Who among the physicists do you admire the most? Why is this so?

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Teachers Handout
SAMPLE PHYSICS TIMELINE1
FIRST PRINCIPLES: Pre-1600

440BC

Leucippus of Miletus introduces the concept of the atom, an indivisible unit of

matter

400BC

Democritus puts forward an "atomic theory" [Democritus of Abdera]

360BC

Aristotle discovers that free fall is an accelerated form of motion

250BC

Archimedes develops the principles of buoyancy and levers

100

Hero of Alexandria describes experiments he has undertaken with air, and also
writes about light, mirrors and very simple machines

1015

The Arabian physicist "Alhazen" explains how lenses work and develops parabolic
mirrors

1150

Bhaskara is one of the first to describe a "perpetual motion" machine

1220

Nemorarius publishes "Mechanica", which contains the law of levers and the law of
composition of movements

1270

"Perspectiva", a treatise of optics, refraction, reflection and geometrical optics is

published by Witelo

1355

Jean Buridan develops the idea of impetus

1586

Stevinus notes that two items of different weights dropped at the same time
strike the ground together - first real observations of gravity

1590

Galileo's "De motu" (on motion) is published; this work refutes Aristotelian
physics

1592

Galileo develops the thermoscope

Aristotle (384BC-322BC)
A mathematician and logician of great renown, Aristotle's ideas formed the basis for much
Western thinking for over 1500 years. He was born in Stagirus in Northern Greece in
384BC, the son of a doctor. Following his father's death a decade later, Aristotle was
educated by Proxenus and subsequently became a student at Plato's Academy in Athens.
Aristotle travelled widely, his movements often dictated by political uprisings; having
finally established his own academy, he taught and spoke on a huge array of subjects in his
later life, including mathematics, astronomy, physics, logic, zoology and economics, as well
1

Taken from http://www.psigate.ac.uk/newsite/physics_timeline.html

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as the traditional Greek interests of poetry and philosophy. Much of his published writings
came to prominence after his death, particularly his work in physics and mathematics;
together with his great works on logic, these influenced the thinking and work of countless
generations of scholars.
Archimedes (c.287BC - c.211BC)
Born in Syracuse, Sicily, around 287BC, Archimedes was raised in a scientific
family; his father, Phidias, was an astronomer. He studied in Alexandria under
the followers of Euclid, and quickly gained renown as the greatest
mathematician of his age. His early work focused on mechanical problems and
calculus, and he is credited with many inventions, including war machines, the pulley system,
and the planetarium.
Archimedes is known for his work in the fields of hydrostatics and static mechanics and
published many writings in his time. He remains one of the top mathematicians and
scientists the world has seen.
THE FIRST GREAT DISCOVERIES: 1600-1800

1600

Gilbert describes magnetism [Magnet and Magnetism FAQ]

1608

Hans Lippershey invents the telescope

1609

Galileo constructs his own telescope, which he uses to make a whole series of
discoveries
Galileo also establishes the principle of falling bodies descending to Earth at the
same speed

1621

Snell's Law of refraction of light

1642

Principles of hydraulics published by Pascal

1643

Torricelli invents the mercury barometer and observes the first vacuum

1656

The pendulum clock is invented by Christiaan Huygens [Huygens' Clocks]

1662

Boyle's Law published

1665

Newton's law of universal gravitation

1676

Hooke's Law

1687

"Principia" published. Newtons' great work includes his 3 laws of motion and also
the law of universal gravitation [Newton's Laws]

1690

Although he first established it in 1678, Huygens published his wave theory of

light in this year

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1704

Isaac Newton put forward the corpuscular theory of light

1714

Fahrenheit invents the mercury thermometer

1742

Anders Celsius invents the temperature scale named after him

1748

Lomonosov formulates the laws of conservation of mass and conservation of energy

1752

Benjamin Franklin performs his famous "kite experiments" and shows that lightning
is a form of electricity [Benjamin Franklin - A Documentary History]

1761

Latent heat and specific heat described by Joseph Black

1787

Charles' Law established (gases)

1798

Rumford discovers the link between heat and friction

The mass of the Earth is determined by Cavendish

1800

The voltaic cell is invented by Alessandro Volta

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Born in Pisa in 1554, Galileo became one of the most influential and important
scientists the world had seen. Although famed for his later astronomical work,
his early studies included pendulums, motion, falling bodies and the invention of
the "thermoscope", a primitive thermometer. Having adopted the Copernican
theory of the solar system, Galileo then turned his attention to the stars.
Having learned of the development of the telescope, Galileo refined the design in 1609, and
very quickly made a number of observations and discoveries which would prove among the
most ground-breaking in history. Looking at the Moon, Galileo observed craters and
mountains, before switching his focus to the planets. He discovered four Moons of Jupiter
and observed "handles" around Saturn, which of course were later shown to be rings.
However, it was his study of the phases of Venus which finally showed Copernicus' theory
that the planets revolve around the Sun and not the Earth to be correct. The observation
of sunspots was also a very important milestone.
Galileo fell into massive disfavour with the church because of his Copernican beliefs, and
having received an earlier (1616) warning, he was forced to recant his views about the
movement of the Earth in 1633 by the Inquisition - it is widely believed that at the end of
his recantation, he muttered "E pur se muove" ("nevertheless, it moves")! Galileo also
worked in other areas, developing elementary hydrostatics, the principle of inertia and
introducing relativity to physics.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Isaac Newton is one of the most famous scientists in history. Born in
Woolsthorpe on Christmas Day 1642 (the year of Galileo's death), Newton's
visionary work revolutionised physics and astronomy from the 1660s onwards.
Basing his early work on mathematics, Newton discovered the general
binomial theory in 1665, but it was the following year that he began to take an interest in
falling bodies and motion. He began to study the way bodies fell (the story of the apple and
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the tree is a legendary tale) and concluded that a force inversely proportional to the
square of the distance from a body to its centre of rotation kept the Moon and planets in
their orbits.
Having discarded his ideas for over a decade, the Cambridge-resident Newton collaborated
with Hooke in 1679 to revive his interest in elliptical orbits, but it was under the influence
of Edmund Halley that he developed his ideas for publication. In September 1687,
Newton's "Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica", known simply as the "Principia",
was published. This work contained the three laws of motion and a discussion of orbital
motion. The two subsequent volumes dealt in turn with the motion of fluids and with
gravitation, the latter probably the most significant scientific breakthrough to that time.
Newton's theory of gravitation finally provided the theoretical basis for the Copernican
system and Kepler's laws, and heralded the birth of celestial mechanics. The Principia can
thus be regarded as arguably the most important scientific work ever published, and
Newton as one of the most important and influential scientists to date. Intriguingly,
Newton never mentioned Hooke's contributions to the inverse square law, fuelling a feud
between the two men which raged for many years. Newton died in London in March 1727.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Although most renowned in the scientific world for his work with electricity
and lightning, Franklin had many other interests and stimuli, including
printing, economics, music and politics - indeed he is one of America's
Founding Fathers and signed the Declaration of Independence. Born in 1706
in Boston, he took up an apprenticeship as a printer with his brother at age 12, before
moving to Philadelphia and then London. Having returned to Philadelphia, he started his own
printing company in 1728.
Having focused on family life in the 1730s, Franklin turned his attention to science, and
began work on electrical experiments, publishing his first results in 1747. In June of 1752,
Franklin performed his famous kite experiment, when he held up a metal rod attached to a
child's kite in the midst of an electrical storm, allowing lightning to strike it. Having
invented the lightning rod as a safety device, Franklin travelled the world as a
representative of the Philadelphia Assembly and latterly the American Philosophical
Society. He entered politics and in 1775 was elected to the Continental Congress. He signed
the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Having performed many great acts of statesmanship, including the fight against slavery and
negotiating treaties with Britain, France and other European states, Franklin died in
Philadelphia in 1790.
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS: 1801-1900

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1801

Thomas Young discovers interference of light

1808

Modern atomic theory is put forward by John Dalton [Atomic Theory]

1816

Fresnel explains the refraction of light

1819

Hans Oersted discovers electromagnetism

1820-23

The laws of electrodynamics are established in this period by Andre Ampere

1821

Dynamo principle described by Faraday

1827

Ohm's law of electrical resistance established

Robert Brown observes what becomes known as Brownian motion

1829

Graham's Law of gaseous diffusion

1831

Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction

1833

Faraday introduces the laws of electrolysis and coins terms such as electrode,
anode, cathode, ion, cation, anion, and electrolyte

1836

The first reliable source of electric current is produced, using copper and zinc.
This becomes known as the Daniell Cell

1842

Principle of conservation of energy put forward by Julius Mayer

Doppler effect discovered

1843

Joule describes the mechanical equivalent of heat

1849

French physicist Armand Fizeau measures the speed of light

1851

Foucault demonstrates the rotation of the Earth

Kelvin proposes "absolute zero"

1859

First spectrographic analysis performed by Bunsen and Kirchhoff

1861

The discovery of osmosis

1873

Maxwell describes light as electromagnetic radiation

1887

Hertz predicts the existence of radio waves - he successfully detects them a

year later

1895

Rontgen discovers X-rays

1896

Radioactivity is discovered by Becquerel [Radioactivity]

1897

J. J. Thomson discovers the electron [Life, the Universe and the Electron]

1899

Ernest Rutherford discovers alpha and beta rays

Foundation of the American Physical Society [APS Homepage]

1900

Max Planck puts forward his quantum theory

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Gamma rays are discovered by Villard

John Dalton (1766-1844)
Renowned primarily for originating modern atomic theory, Dalton was
attracted to gas chemistry from his early love of meteorology. In 1801 he
published his Law of Partial Pressures for ideal gases and within 2 years had
also published a table of comparative atomic weights.
His study of colour blindness is commemorated in the name of Daltonism, the red-green
strain of the affliction from which he suffered.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Born in Southwark, the son of a blacksmith, Faraday began his working life as a
bookbinder from age 14. His interest in science led him to the Royal Institution,
where he worked as a chemical assistant until 1821. Having gained several
promotions, he became Fullerian Professor of Chemistry in 1833, a position
created especially for him, and which he held until his death.
Faraday's work in physics and chemistry was exceptional, with many notable achievements
and discoveries, including discovering electromagnetic rotations in 1821, electromagnetic
induction in 1831 and the laws of electrolysis in 1833. He established the wave theory of
electromagnetism. Faraday died at Hampton Court, where he had resided as a favourite of
Queen Victoria; he is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Born Madja Sklodowska in Poland, Curie, in conjunction with husband Pierre,
discovered radium and polonium via a study of pitchblende in 1898. Her
subsequent work with radioactive materials led to the development of
medical applications of radium.
A double Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and physics, Curie eventually contracted
leukaemia and died in 1934.
THE ATOMIC AGE: 1901 - PRESENT

1905

Einstein puts forward his special theory of relativity [Dummies Guide to Special
Relativity]

1908

Geiger and Rutherford invent the Geiger counter

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1910

Marie Curie's "treatise on radioactivity" published

1911

Rutherford discovers the atomic nucleus

1913

Niels Bohr puts forward the orbiting electron atomic theory [Bohr Theory]

1914

Rutherford discovers the proton

1915

Lawrence and William Bragg discover X-ray crystallography

1916

Einstein's general theory of relativity is published

1918

Aston discovers mass spectrography and isotopes

1925

Discovery of the Pauli Exclusion Principle

1926

Wave mechanics introduced by Schroedinger

1927

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is established

1931

Ernest Lawrence develops the cyclotron

1932

Neutron discovered by Chadwick

Urey discovers deuterium
Cockroft and Walton use a particle accelerator to split the atom
Carl Anderson discovers the positron, the electron antiparticle

1933

Ruska builds the first electron microscope [Electron Microscopy]

1934

Tritium discovered by Oliphant

1937

The Nobel Institute of Physics is established in Stockholm

1938

Hahn and Strassmann discover nuclear fission

1942

The first controlled nuclear chain reaction is performed at the University of

Chicago by Enrico Fermi

1943

The world's first operational nuclear reactor is activated at Oak Ridge,

Tennessee

1945

Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed using the first (and only existing!) nuclear
fission bombs

1946

The first synchrocyclotron is built at Berkeley

1952

Development and explosion of the world's first thermonuclear device - the "H
bomb"

1954

CERN (Centre Europeen de Recherche Nucleaire) founded

1955

Couran and Reines discover the neutrino

1960

Mossbauer Effect discovered

Theodore Maiman develops the first laser using a ruby cylinder

1964

Gell-Mann and Zweig discover the quark

1979

Cronin and Fitch discover asymmetry of elementary particles

1980

Rohrer and Binnig invent the scanning tunnelling microscope

1983

Research at CERN shows evidence of "weakons" (W and Z particles); this

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validates the link between weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force
1986

First high-temperature superconductor discovered

1989

The Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider comes into operation at CERN. This is
a particle accelerator with a diameter of almost 17 miles

1991

LEP experiments confirm the existence of 3 generations of elementary particles

1992

Development of material that becomes superconducting at -103C, 45C higher

than the previous highest

1993

Fermilab in Chicago discovers the "top quark", first predicted in 1984

Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)

Ernest Rutherford gained renown as one of the major scientists of the late
19th and early 20th centuries and made some of the most important
breakthroughs in the history of physics. Born and educated in New Zealand,
Rutherford left his homeland in 1895, already holding three scientific
degrees. He joined the Cambridge laboratory of J. J. Thomson (the discoverer of the
electron) and was quickly recognised as an exceptionally gifted researcher.
Having taken up a Professorship in Montreal, Rutherford's work with the atom and
radiation led him to the discovery of alpha and beta rays, for which he first gained
prominence. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1908 to his astonishment, as
he considered himself first and foremost a physicist! He developed radioactive dating, and
then the Geiger counter, achievements which would have ensured the fame of any scientist
- but which rank low down in Rutherford's list of achievements!
In 1911, Rutherford made perhaps his most important breakthrough, when he discovered
the atomic nucleus, and in conjunction with Bohr, he developed modern atomic theory.
Rutherford was knighted in 1914. At the end of the First World War, he became the first
person to split the atom. Rutherford spent much of the rest of his career as a mentor and
speaker, and was elected to the Peerage in 1931; even though he was instrumental in
initiating many of the greatest scientific discoveries of his age, Rutherford refused to be
co-credited with work such as the discovery of the neutron and the splitting of the atom.
In 1937, Rutherford died while waiting for a delayed operation on a hernia; following his
tragic death, his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
One of the most easily recognisable scientists in history, Albert Einstein was
a German-Swiss-American physicist whose name has become synonymous with
relativity and nuclear physics. Born to a German-Jewish family in 1879, the
young Einstein had an unexceptional education, skipping lectures and leaving
the University of Zurich in 1900 a modest graduate. Working at a patent office, he started
to devote a lot of time to research in fundamental physics, and gradually attracted respect
for his published findings.

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Having published his special theory of relativity in 1905, Einstein finally returned to
academia in 1909, as Associate Professor at Zurich. He began to meet and consort with
prominent scientists, and finally made his major breakthrough in 1915, when he completed
his general theory of relativity, published the following year - this of course included the
famous E=mc2 equation.
After the end of WW1, Einstein became a German citizen, but the hostile attitude of the
Nazi party led him to leave Germany in 1932, renouncing his citizenship. He moved to the
US in 1933, eventually acquiring citizenship in 1940. His passionate debates with the likes
of Bohr, Heisenberg and Pauli occupied much of the 1920s and 1930s, and ultimately led to
Einstein's involvement in atomic research during the Second World War. Despite playing a
major role in the development of the atomic bomb, Einstein was an advocate of nuclear
disarmament and the foundation of the United Nations. He died in 1955, one of the most
celebrated scientists of the 20th century.
Niels Bohr (1885-1962)
A Danish physicist who proposed the Bohr model of the atom while working with
Rutherford in Manchester. Bohr postulated that a hydrogen atom consisted of a
central proton nucleus with a single electron in a circular orbit; he also said that
the electron energy was quantized.
Having escaped Denmark in WW2, Bohr helped to develop the atomic bomb, though he was
dismayed by its subsequent use.

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