English/Language Arts
Explore focus - biography
Do some compare/contrast practice. Take this Minute and compare it to , well, any of the other biographical Minutes (just search Biography or use the blog tag from the Categories list on the right) and see if your students can decipher the focus of each piece. How did the author approach the person’s life? What details were included? How did the details support the focus, or lens through which the author considered her subject? Regular practice decoding Minutes for focus and theme will increase test scores, and more importantly, comprehension skills.
Explore word choice - reader appeal
Hollihan tells us that Newton “unplugged,” however, the word is not historically accurate as Newton would not have anything to plug in or unplug from! Hollihan knows her readers and knows the contemporary word unplugged, while not of use in Newton’s lifetime, is the choice that captures the idea she wants to convey to her audience. Word choice matters. Have your students find a piece in their journals and reconsider some their word choices. Ask them to try out different choices and then write about the results.
Explore literary devices - similes
Author Hollihan writes that for Newton, “learning about science and math bubbled up like yeast rising in a loaf of bread.” SImiles help create visual connections for readers. Ask your students to brainstorm a list of other similes Author Hollihan might have considered. Do they work as well as what she chose? What should a writer consider when looking for a simile? Can students transfer this skill to their own writing?
Social Studies
Explore British history - Black Death
Author Hollihan tells her readers that Cambridge University was closed down because of an outbreak of the plague. What implications did the plague outbreak have in other facets of British life? Did the disease potentially change the course of history? How? Were there benefits as well as consequences? Get your students thinking beyond the facts and looking instead at what a set of facts might tell them about a culture, a country, or an era.
STEM
Explore Newton’s Laws of Motion
Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the concepts revealed in Newton’s three Laws of Motion. Have your students design an experiment that demonstrates each law. Up the ante and make it a contest where students present their “proofs” to each other.
Explore finding the area under a curve
Students start learning about area and perimeter as early as second grade, but calculus is not generally addressed until late in high school. Use this Minute to get your students thinking about the concepts that will lead to a foundational understanding of calculus later. If your students can successfully find the area of a rectangle, challenge them to figure out a way to come up with the area under a curve. Have students work in groups, and let them know that they are looking for a way to come up with a close estimate. See where their imaginations lead.
Explore light and prisms
Prisms can hold endless fascination for students. Get a box of these and let your students play with light. Have them hypothesize about what they think might be happening. What can they observe? Are there patterns? What can they learn from their play?
Research Skills
Explore communicating findings
Newton ultimately communicates his findings by writing a book, Principia Mathematica. How one decides to communicate an idea can mean the idea drastically changes the world, or has no meaningful impact. Have your students brainstorm modern methods of communication. Generate a list and have students debate the pros and cons of each method. Do some modes work better than others? Do these communication tools naturally fall into categories? Spending time on an exercise like this will reinforce that the choice in how to communicate is often as important as the information they wish to communicate, and presenting findings requires some thoughtful consideration of the most effective means to do so.
Explore focus - biography
Do some compare/contrast practice. Take this Minute and compare it to , well, any of the other biographical Minutes (just search Biography or use the blog tag from the Categories list on the right) and see if your students can decipher the focus of each piece. How did the author approach the person’s life? What details were included? How did the details support the focus, or lens through which the author considered her subject? Regular practice decoding Minutes for focus and theme will increase test scores, and more importantly, comprehension skills.
Explore word choice - reader appeal
Hollihan tells us that Newton “unplugged,” however, the word is not historically accurate as Newton would not have anything to plug in or unplug from! Hollihan knows her readers and knows the contemporary word unplugged, while not of use in Newton’s lifetime, is the choice that captures the idea she wants to convey to her audience. Word choice matters. Have your students find a piece in their journals and reconsider some their word choices. Ask them to try out different choices and then write about the results.
Explore literary devices - similes
Author Hollihan writes that for Newton, “learning about science and math bubbled up like yeast rising in a loaf of bread.” SImiles help create visual connections for readers. Ask your students to brainstorm a list of other similes Author Hollihan might have considered. Do they work as well as what she chose? What should a writer consider when looking for a simile? Can students transfer this skill to their own writing?
Social Studies
Explore British history - Black Death
Author Hollihan tells her readers that Cambridge University was closed down because of an outbreak of the plague. What implications did the plague outbreak have in other facets of British life? Did the disease potentially change the course of history? How? Were there benefits as well as consequences? Get your students thinking beyond the facts and looking instead at what a set of facts might tell them about a culture, a country, or an era.
STEM
Explore Newton’s Laws of Motion
Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the concepts revealed in Newton’s three Laws of Motion. Have your students design an experiment that demonstrates each law. Up the ante and make it a contest where students present their “proofs” to each other.
Explore finding the area under a curve
Students start learning about area and perimeter as early as second grade, but calculus is not generally addressed until late in high school. Use this Minute to get your students thinking about the concepts that will lead to a foundational understanding of calculus later. If your students can successfully find the area of a rectangle, challenge them to figure out a way to come up with the area under a curve. Have students work in groups, and let them know that they are looking for a way to come up with a close estimate. See where their imaginations lead.
Explore light and prisms
Prisms can hold endless fascination for students. Get a box of these and let your students play with light. Have them hypothesize about what they think might be happening. What can they observe? Are there patterns? What can they learn from their play?
Research Skills
Explore communicating findings
Newton ultimately communicates his findings by writing a book, Principia Mathematica. How one decides to communicate an idea can mean the idea drastically changes the world, or has no meaningful impact. Have your students brainstorm modern methods of communication. Generate a list and have students debate the pros and cons of each method. Do some modes work better than others? Do these communication tools naturally fall into categories? Spending time on an exercise like this will reinforce that the choice in how to communicate is often as important as the information they wish to communicate, and presenting findings requires some thoughtful consideration of the most effective means to do so.
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission