Classroom

Students should be given time to explore the common thread between concepts in science. To facilitate, the instructor must be knowledgeable, engaging, and patient. Below, a student submitted a writing sample from an assignment involving time traveling interviews with the developers of the periodic table.

Student Sample

Student A

There are several men who worked with the atoms, but I’m only talking to and about three. The three atomic men I’m talking about are John Dalton, Ernest Rutherford, and Aristotle. There are also several men who work with the periodic table, but I’m only talking about three of them. The three periodic men are Mendeleev, Henry Mosley, and William Ramsey. I will be talking to these six men and asking them questions about what they did and why they did what they did. I will be using the information I get from these six men to come up with an element.

The three atomic men I’m talking to and about are John Dalton, Ernest Rutherford, and Aristotle. I talked to John Dalton about his theories about the atom. I asked John Dalton “What led him to believe the theories he stated about atoms?” He replied “I believed that there was more to the measurable quantity of mass of an atom. “I also asked him “Were all of his theories proven to be correct?” He replied “No, two out of five of my theories were wrong. I talked Ernest Rutherford about his theory about atoms having a nucleus. I asked him “Why did you believe or what made you think that atoms had a nucleus?” He replies “I looked at the information the scientist before me had. I tried everything to make the fluorescent chamber work. So at last I tried a piece of gold foil, and not only did it work sometimes it deflected or bounced back.” I also talked to Aristotle about his theory. I asked him “why did you think matter was continuous?” He replied “I believed that there was more to it than nothing at all.”

The three periodic men I’m talking to and about are Mendeleev, Henry Mosley, and William Ramsay. I had a discussion with Mendeleev about his part in creating the periodic table. I asked him “Why did you list the elements by their atomic mass?” He responded by saying “At the time I was just going by what I saw and what I discovered.” I also asked him, “Why did you leave spaces for some elements?” He replied “I knew in my mind that there were other elements that were there but they weren’t discovered yet.” I talked to Henry Mosley about his part in creating the periodic table. I asked him “Why did you list the elements by their atomic number?” He responded “I was trying to resolve discrepancies in Mendeleev’s arrangement. I also spoke with William Ramsay about his part in creating the periodic table. I asked him “What was the first noble gas you discovered?” He replied “I discovered neon, argon, krypton, and xenon.”

I’ve looked and read over the information I’ve received from the three atomic men and the three periodic table. I think I’ve finally might have come up with a new element. The name of the new element is Chrison. Its atomic number is 117 and its atomic mass is 270. The unique thing about this element is not only is it a halogen but it’s the last halogen on the periodic table.

In conclusion these three atomic men and these three periodic did some great things. Talking to these six men opened my mind up to many different things. The three atomic men John Dalton, Ernest Rutherford, and Aristotle give me more information about atoms. The three periodic Mendeleev, Henry Mosley, and William Ramsay gave me more information about the periodic table. Using all of the information this six men gave me it help me discover another element I call Chrison.