The stories behind the scientists can be brought to life and used to enhance classroom instruction especially at the secondary levels where some prior exposure to content already exists. Bringing the historic data, experiments, and images into the classroom is a great way to introduce older ways of reasoning with students which can lead into a discussion about the modern day understanding on a given topic. Furthermore, the realistic, and at times drastic or dramatic tales of the scientists and their personal lives adds in a whole new dimension and real look into what science looks like. As students learn more about the real lives of the scientists and the mistakes they may have made, they are able to see themselves more easily in the lab doing real research themselves. 

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     Science has a long and rich place in societies the world over. From Aristotle and Theophrastus in the ancient Grecian times to Hooke, Van Leeuwenhoek, Schleiden, Schwann, Virchow, Linnaeus, Darwin, Wallace, and Mendel, among many others in the 1600-1800s.  The 1900s saw the likes of Fleming, Franklin, Crick and Watson. The history of Biology has seen numerous key discoveries and breakthroughs throughout the ages. In the powerpoint slideshow below, these great biological discoveries are documented. 

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 Teaching the History of Science

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     Many scientific textbooks do not cover the rich history of science at all, or if they do, it is just a meager image or mention of a timeline.  There are multiple ways to convey historic scientific information in the classroom. Below are three types of teaching strategies and an example lesson for each.

 

 For a general overview of each type and a glimpse into the lessons, click this button:

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 Recurrent

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     The Recurrent Approach to teaching the history of science involves introducing the students to data that was used long ago, during the time period involved in the discovery of the concept being studied and asks students to use that data to reason in the way of past scientists. In the example activity attached, the history of taxonomy is explored in a series of lessons by having students investigate, via hands-on activities, the way that scientists reasoned during different time periods.

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 Storyline

     

     The Storyline Approach to teaching the history of science involves using engaging and dynamic storytelling to draw in students and peak their curiosity about a given topic. Stories are written which interweave fictional and non-fictional material aimed at highlighting a scientific concept or an historic figure.  These stories can we used as an introduction to a lab or a stand alone lesson. See the example given, in which a story about William Harvey and the discovery of a tourniquet saves the life of a farmer and introduces the class to the topic of blood circulation which segues into a lab.

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 Historic Controversy Case Study  

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     The Historic Controversy Case Study (HCCS) Model uses historical controversies to develop students’ analysis and argumentation skills. Students are asked to investigate scientific claims, interpret data, weigh the evidence, and argue a viewpoint. One benefit of historical scientific controversies is that they are typically free of modern politics, and as such, offer a less-distracting context in which to teach analytical skills using real issues. The historic topic that I chose for my lesson was Germ Theory. In the HCCS lesson plan example listed above, students investigate three different theories of Germ Theory: Miasma,  Humoral Theory, and modern day Germ Theory. 

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 History of Science Resource Cards

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