Background Information for Teachers

Teachers have little time to get acquainted with the context and background of much of the content they are required to teach. We hope these resources save you time while providing you with helpful information that fills this information gap. Resources in this section will acquaint you with important figures in the field, the nature of their work, and the impacts of their work on world views of the nature and structure of matter.

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The Particle Adventure: What Is Fundamental? http://particleadventure.org/frameless/startstandard.html

Although this tutorial is designed for high school students, it can serve as an excellent review for middle school teachers. It covers the history of particle physics, discussing, for example, Rutherford's experiment and findings as well how physicists study small particles and how we know what we know about atoms and the structure of matter. Parts of the tutorial are appropriate for sharing directly with middle school students. MSP full record

The History of Atomic Theory http://www.lancs.ac.uk/ug/cooked1/index.htm

This text is presented as a tutorial and overview starting with the ancient Greek ideas of the atom and continuing through the Bohr model. Some middle school students with high reading levels may be able to benefit directly from this resource. MSP full record

The Greek Concept of Atomos: The Indivisible Atom http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/AtomicStructure/Greeks.html

This well-organized page concisely presents the five points of atomism first articulated by Democritus, marking the earliest known theory of atomic structure. Links to other atomists are included. MSP full record

John Dalton http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Dalton.html

This short biography is accompanied by an image of Dalton and includes the three tenets of his atomic theory. The link to Berzelius illustrates how atomic theory was useful in identifying ions and ionic compounds. MSP full record

J.J. Thompson: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1906 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1906/thomson-bio.html

A brief biography of the man whose original study of cathode rays culminated in the discovery of the electron. MSP full record

Ernest Rutherford: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1908/rutherford-bio.html

Rutherford’s research and many discoveries about the nature of the inner structure of the atom are described in this biography. MSP full record

Electrons and the Electromagnetic Spectrum http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert/tutorials/ch3.htm

This page accompanies a college textbook on chemistry and contains links to six animated tutorials. Click on the first one for an inquiry-oriented presentation regarding Rutherford's and most other physicists’ hypotheses of the atom, Rutherford's experimental design, his findings, and how, based on the results, he was compelled to modify the model of the atom. With teacher support, middle school students could be led through the tutorial. MSP full record

Rutherford and Bohr Describe Atomic Structure 1913 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dp13at.html

This page is from the PBS series A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries. It describes Bohr's contribution to theories of the atom and its relationship to others' theories, such as Rutherford's. Links to relevant pages are provided. An image of Bohr's research notes is included. MSP full record

James Chadwick http://www.thocp.net/biographies/chadwick_james.htm

This is an easy-to-read biography of Chadwick, who discovered the neutron. MSP full record

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Copyright December 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.