This guest post comes to us from Meg Steele, who works with K-12 educators at the Library of Congress.
What do scientists do? This simple prompt was central in one activity during the inaugural week-long Seminar for Science Educators held at the Library this summer. Twenty-five educators examined primary sources, and one secondary source, from the Library’s collections to generate possible answers.
The question was inspired by the science and engineering practices embedded within the Next Generation Science Standards, which suggest that science content will have more value to students when taught in context of these practices. We set out to see if the real work of professionals across the sciences could come to life with primary sources generated by and about Bell.
First, with the focus question as a reference point, teachers in small groups used the Primary Source Analysis Tool to analyze an 1877 print featuring “Professor Bell in Lyceum Hall…” They generated observations, reflections, and questions, including questions about the work of scientists as depicted in the scene.
These questions prepared them for the next step: reading “Telephone and Multiple Telegraph,” informational text from the Library’s website. Used effectively, secondary texts – whether a short article on a website, or a chapter from a nonfiction book, can help spur further inquiry, building a learner’s confidence and focus. For the teachers this summer, from a variety of science disciplines, the article confirmed hunches about chronology raised by the primary source, offered vocabulary for details they noticed, and provided a model for summary and synthesis. The article also dug a bit deeper into science content, enabling the group to start making natural connections to the science practices illustrated by the primary source.
With this foundation, and keeping in mind the focus question, each small group of teachers examined additional primary sources from the Bell collection, representing different points of view, different stages of Bell’s work, and different scientific practices.
- A drawing from Bell’s notebooks spurred observations about planning investigations, using calculations and data.
- A letter from Joseph Henry, then head of the Smithsonian, responding to a letter from Bell asking for advice, illustrated the importance of reaching out to mentors and connecting to a larger body of scientific discovery.
- A circular from Western Union, a competitor of Bell Telephone, highlighting a patent dispute, crossed disciplines into economics and business, and underscored the importance of effective and timely communication in the work of science.
Teachers analyzed the items, generating lengthy lists of possible answers to What do scientists do?
We shifted to thinking about educational practices and strategies, and invited the group to reflect and compare the experiences of reading a primary source with reading a secondary text, asking how they were similar, or different, and how they worked together. The teachers offered additional ideas of how they might pair primary and secondary sources effectively in their classrooms.
When exposure to the real work of scientists can sometimes be limited, how might you use primary sources generated by and about scientists to bring their work to life?