TEACHER’S GUIDE TEACHER’S GUIDE

Suggested Print Resources

• Bernstein, Jeremy. Albert Einstein And the Frontiers of Physics. Oxford
University Press, London, England; 1997.
• Cole, K.C., First You Build a Cloud: And Other Reflections on Physics as a
Way of Life. Harvest Books, San Diego, CA; 1999.
• Gilmore, Robert. The Wizard of Quarks: A Fantasy of Particle Physics.
Copernicus Books, New York, NY; 2001.
• Stwertka,Albert. The World of Atoms and Quarks. Twenty-First Century
Books, New York, NY; 1995.

Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our Web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• particleadventure.org/particleadventure/index.html
The Particle Adventure presented by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab is
an online tutorial that allows student to explore the world of fundamental
particles and forces, and then to investigate the experimental evidence and
techniques.
• www.aip.org/history/electron/jjhome.htm
The American Institute of Physics Web site contains historical information
about the most brilliant minds in science.
Sub-Atomic Particles
• www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/quantumzone
Beyond the Atom
Physics 2000 is an interactive Web site designed to help make physics more
accessible to students and to foster an appreciation of the accomplishments
of 20th-century physicists. Grades 9–12
• www.nobel.se
The Nobel eMuseum is an excellent resource for studying the science and
the scientists that have made tremendous impacts on our society and have
been awarded the Nobel Prize for their efforts. T his series explores the world of ground-breaking
scientific research through the most prestigious award
in the scientific community — the Nobel Prize.Each program
TEACHER’S GUIDE illustrates the research and discoveries of preeminent world
Paula J. Bense, M.Ed scientists who have been honored for their achievements in
Curriculum Specialist the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine or physiology.
Schlessinger Media Established by scientist Alfred Nobel in his will and first con-
TITLES ferred in 1901, the Nobel Prize is given annually to great
thinkers for making important discoveries or improvements
• BLOOD RESEARCH • NOBEL – THE MAN in their field that provide the greatest benefit to mankind.
• DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING • ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
• ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION • RADIOACTIVITY This guide provides a brief synopsis of the program, back-
• HOW ATOMS WORK • SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES ground on the science concepts presented in the show, dis-
• IMMUNOLOGY • SUPERCONDUCTORS cussion topics,activities,vocabulary and additional resources.
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
800-843-3620

S CHLESSINGE
MEDIA
A DIVISION OF LIBRARY VIDEO COMPANY®

Program Copyright 2001 York Films of England

Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2002 Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video Company
P.O. Box 580, Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
R ®

S CHLESSINGE
MEDIA
A DIVISION OF LIBRARY VIDEO COMPANY® R ®

All rights reserved

Historical Background
Because of the work of Nobel Prize-winning scientific pioneers, many myster-
ies of matter have been uncovered. While it has long been thought that all
matter can be reduced to particles that cannot be divided, the search for the
ultimate building blocks of nature and a way to describe their interactions
continues.
One of the scientific visionaries who has helped us to understand the compo-
nents of the atom is Joseph John Thomson. In 1897, his experiments with
cathode rays led to the discovery of negatively charged particles called elec-
trons. He proposed a “plum pudding model” of the atom, with negative elec-
trons imbedded in fluid of positive charge. Thomson inspired many other
scientists to explore the secrets of the atom, and in 1906, he received a Nobel
Prize for his work.
With a brilliant experiment, Ernest Rutherford concluded that, in addition to
electrons, each atom contained a dense, central mass called a nucleus, com-
prised of positively charged particles called protons. One of Rutherford’s con-
temporaries, Neils Bohr, proposed a revised model of the atom with electrons
traveling around the nucleus in fixed orbits, like planets around the sun.
Although the “Bohr model” is not a complete representation of the atom, it is
very useful to study chemical bonding, and Bohr was recognized with a Nobel
Prize for Physics in 1922.
The scientific efforts of James Chadwick further unraveled the mystery of the
nucleus with his discovery of the neutron, an elementary atomic particle with
no charge. Chadwick received the Nobel Prize in 1935 for his proof that neu-
trons and protons make up the nuclei of atoms other than hydrogen. It was
the work of three other scientists, Maria Goeppert-Meyer, Hans Jensen and
Eugene Wigner, that showed how the elementary particles are arranged in
shells.They were recognized in 1963 with the Nobel Prize.
In order to learn more about the particles that make up atoms and the forces
that hold atoms together, physicists developed particle accelerators that
allowed them to smash atomic particles together at the speed of light.The first
atom-smasher, dubbed the cyclotron, was developed by Ernest Lawrence. He
received the Nobel Prize in 1939 for this amazing achievement. Using a parti-
cle accelerator of their own design, Sir John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton split
the atom in 1932.They were recognized for this feat with a Nobel Prize for
Physics in 1951.
Building on the work of Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann, the discoverer of
the quark, Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor received the
Nobel Prize for Physics in 1990 for their continuing investigations.Their work
was extremely important for the development of the quark model in particle
physics.
Vocabulary
Democritus — (460–370 BCE) A Greek philosopher who theorized that all
matter could be reduced to particles that could not be divided, which he
described as “atomos.”
elements — The fundamental kinds of atoms that make up the building
blocks of matter, which are each shown on the periodic table of the elements.
The most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and helium.
electron — A negatively charged particle commonly found in the outer layers
of atoms. (Continued)
nucleus — The center of every atom, containing positively charged protons
and neutrally charged neutrons.The number of protons in a given nucleus dis-
tinguishes one element from another.
proton — A sub-atomic particle located in the nucleus of an atom that carries
a positive charge.
neutron — A sub-atomic particle with a neutral charge located in the nucleus
of an atom.
particle accelerator — A device that produces a beam of fast-moving, elec-
trically charged atomic or sub-atomic particles.
antimatter — Matter composed of particles with opposite charges and
magnetic fields as the sub-atomic particles found in ordinary matter. When
antimatter joins its counterpart, mutual annihilation occurs.
positrons — Electrons with a positive instead of negative charge. Discovered
by Carl Anderson in 1932, positrons were the first evidence that antimatter
existed.
anti-protons — The antimatter equivalent of the proton, with the same mass
but opposite charge.
quarks — A family of elementary sub-atomic particles; one of three basic
groups that make up matter.The term was coined by Nobel laureate Murray
Gell-Mann in 1964.
gluons — A family of force-carrying sub-atomic particles said to hold quarks
together.
hadrons — The elementary sub-atomic particles that make up all sub-atomic
particles that are built from quarks (i.e., protons and neutrons).
Discussion Questions
1.What is the smallest particle of matter?
2.What are the sub-atomic particles that make up atoms?
3. Describe a typical model of an atom.
4.What holds the protons and neutrons together to form the nucleus of an
atom?
5. How does a particle accelerator allow us to study the atom?
6.What are the three basic groups of matter?
7.What are quarks?
8. Give an example of a boson.
9. Give an example of a lepton.
Activities
• The Contemporary Physics Education Project, in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Energy, presents a downloadable “Activity Packet”
(www.cpepweb.org). Included is a simple experiment that demonstrates
how particle detectors work using shoe box lids, marbles and iron filings.
• Have students research atomic clocks and explain how they keep time.
• Discuss the “thought experiments” done by Einstein and his contemporaries.
Ask students to reconcile the typical image of a scientist performing physi-
cal experiments and gathering data with the way these visionaries did their
scientific research.