Living in Berlin, Germany means having regular encounters with ghosts of the past. Take a walk through Berlin’s vast urban landscape and you will pass by monuments, plaques, and street signs named after many famous literary, artistic and scientific figures. Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn and Max Planck are just some of the scientists commemorated in the streets of Berlin. These encounters inspire me to learn more about the physicists and chemists who made important discoveries in the city I now call home.
Over the next school year I want to bring these scientists to life for my students. To do this, we’ve launched a new video series called Street Wise Science. Starting in Berlin and expanding to other areas later on, these short videos will help students learn more about the people behind some of the most significant discoveries in physics and chemistry. For example, did you know that Michael Faraday discovered the rubber balloon when he was looking for a way to store hydrogen gas? Next time you go to a birthday party, you can impress everyone with this bit of fun trivia about the party decorations.
Our first video in the series is about Michael Faraday and two of his most important discoveries (besides the balloon!) in the field of electromagnetism. The video ends with a challenge activity on Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction. You can access this free resource from our TPT shop by clicking on the image below.
Michael Faraday had little formal education yet his discoveries form the basis of many common electrical devices we use today, such as motors, generators and transformers. Walking in the footsteps of such renowned scientists is one way to stimulate student interest in the sciences and possibly motivate their own quest to expand our understanding of the world and universe. As time permits over the next school year, we’ll post additional Street Wise Science videos on the Step by Step Science YouTube channel, bringing other famous scientists to life.
Step by Step Science 