Empiricism Lesson Plans

1. Note to the Teacher: This lesson plan is compatible with any gra
...them the procedure to follow in identifying the physical and chemical properties of minerals. 3) Students will record the physical and chemical properties and of minerals on a chart (found in any Earth Science lab manual). 4) Give each student 7 minerals to identify. Bibliography Bowen, Margarita. Empiricism and Geographical Thought: From Francis Bacon to Alexander Von Humboldt. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge UP, 1981. Bronowski, Jacob. "The Ascent of Man." (Film Series) Cohen, I. Bernard. Album of Science: From Leonardo to Lavoiser, 1450-1800. Scribner, 1980. Cohen, I. Bernard. "Koestler on Kepler and the Hi...

2. Researching the Researchers
...g. In what ways did Crick "forge his own path through life?" h. How did Crick work with his contemporaries to advance his thinking? i. What discoveries were achieved through this method? j. How did Crick use visual information to solve problems? k. Why was it significant that he balanced theory and empiricism? l. How was this demonstrated in 1958? m. Why did Crick have a falling out with James Watson? n. How does the reporter characterize the biography? 3. Explain to students that they will work in pairs to co-author an article profiling a scientist who made a major discovery. To begin, arrange the class...

3. ENSI/SENSI Lesson: Nat.of Sci.: Magic Hooey Stick
...letter and put it on your overhead and read it out loud to your class, being as serious as possible. 5. After reading the magic mantra, successfully operate the Hooey Stick. Try to convince the kids that you must have psychic powers (hopefully you have already covered the importance of skepticism, empiricism, and logic as the foundations of modern science). Some will question your ability. Let them offer various challenges ... "you're just blowing on it" so show them you can do it with your head turned. etc. Show them that you can even do it telepathically - - be sure to squint your eyes and grunt a lit...

4. Dewey and Chemistry: The Water Cycle Revisited
...ence, in short to overcome the Cartesian dualism or split of body and mind. The philosophical origins in Greek (or Indian) thought are not important to dwell on. Dewey analyses succindly (and in in my mind convincingly) that the split is alive and well in science. Indeed it is epitomized in British Empiricism and American behaviorism. For example, Santayana described reality as a machine the self or mind is a ghostly shadowy glow emanating from the body which is also just a machine. The self is a name tag. The mechanistic model is most apparent in the soences and chemistry supremely so. In split thinking...