Assignment Example: Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall
Background:
Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934 in London, England, where she stayed until she was 12. Then, her parents separated and she moved into the countryside with her mother. Even at the age of 74, she is still actively championing causes for the environment and has set up Roots and Shoots, an organisation that encourages youth to get involved and help the environment as a global community.


What inspired him or her in childhood?

As a child,

(1) she was given a lifelike chimpanzee toy named Jubilee by her father which piqued her interest in animals

(2) she had always dreamt of going to Africa, from books that she read on Tarzan, and from Dr Dolittle she dreamt of being able to talk to animals, (3) she was innately curious about her surroundings in the countryside and kept discovering new things everyday,

(4) she also shared her stories with her encouraging parents. Once, Jane's mother was calling her in for dinner when she found Jane quietly sitting in a chicken coop, watching how chickens lay eggs. Jane had been there for five hours, fascinated and watching closely. Jane's mother joined her and listen closely to what Jane had seen over the past few hours.

Why is her discovery important?

(1) It increased awareness of communication between other animal species (e.g. dolphins)

(2) It made people re-think the idea of what it was that made man different from chimpanzees, since chimpanzees can do a lot of things that man can do, such as using simple tools in their daily life (using twigs to scrape out food, using a rock to crack nuts, making a sponge out of leaves to draw water out of a waterhole).

What challenges does she have to face in her life?

(1) She had to pay for her own trip to Africa (which had been her childhood dream) by working and keeping two jobs

(2) Her family and many others objected to her idea of living alone among wild animals

(3)Her first attempt to observe closely a group of chimpanzees failed

(4) She suffered from a neurological condition that prevented her from memorizing faces and patterns

But she overcame all these problems through sheer determination, strong will and good planning and strategy.

Sources:

http://www.janegoodall.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall

Assignment One: Famous Scientists in History

Teaching of Science through History
Science is not a static field of knowledge but a constant movement towards new discoveries. Science is also not limited to a particular culture but crosses borders of language, race and nationalities. Some of the greatest innovations of the past came from the Chinese who were the first to design the printing press and gunpowder, and the Arabs, whose discoveries on traditional medicine and astronomy contributed greatly to the field of knowledge for future generations to make even better discoveries to improve our knowledge of the world and quality of life.

Famous Scientists of the Past

Ibn Sina

Widely regarded as the father of modern medicine (Researched on infectious diseases and drugs from natural sources)

(980-1037)

Isaac Newton

Developed laws of physics that are still used until today

(1642-1727)



Marie Curie

Physicist& Chemist

Discovered radioactivity or breaking down of atoms

(1867-1934)

You are to research on a famous scientist and on his discovery that improved lives.

As part of the assignment, you are to answer the following questions:
(a) What inspired him/her in his childhood?
(b) Why is his/her discovery important?
(c) What challenges does he/she have to face in his/her life?

This is an online assignment. You are to post the scientist that you are doing on by Tuesday, 17th March and hand in the first draft of the assignment with all the questions above by Saturday, 21st March.