Alexander Graham Bell (Groundbreakers)

click here for more details, find new or used items	Struan Reid Used from £15.60 Pages: 48 (Library Binding) Reading Level: Ages 9-12 ISBN: 1575723662 Pub: Heinemann Pub date: 2000-10

Reader Reviews:

Use in the science classroom (0/0 people found this helpful)

I think the place to start using this text is on page 34. Here there is a diagram of one of Bell's early 1876 telephones. The circuitry is not too complicated. So my approach here would be one of getting to grips with the early telephone - how did it work? Demonstrations of the principles of electromagnetic induction and the Lorentz force are easily arranged in the laboratory and students can do many of them for themselves. If I were able to re-write the text, not only would I start here but I would also make more of the physics.

On the opposite page (35) there is text about Elisha Gray who was a rival in the race to patent a working telephone. There is also mention of the successful demonstration of a working telephone at the 1876 American Centennial exhibition. This all adds context. A potted account of Bell's work and importance is given on pages 4/ 5. From page 6 to page 33 the text and attractive illustrations tell of Bell's life, which experiences were probably the most formative, who were his supporters, financial backers and rivals. Students could be given a 'hunt and kill' style set of questions for some work on this. Less tedious and more involving would be to ask them to read the text and then to make some presentation on Bell's life and work. This could take the form of a poster, a power-point or multi-media presentation, or even a small drama of key events. The time-line on pages 44/ 45 will be helpful in this. Pages 38 onwards detail the 'so what?' issue of events after Bell's triumph.

Pages 11 to 13 and 22/ 23 all allow further work on electricity and the variation of currents in electric circuits. This could involve teacher led demonstrations or students activities in the laboratory. For a traditional, analytic, approach to electricity this would usually be covered before the work on electro-magnetic induction. But because I am suggesting an alternative approach in asking the question "How does the telephone work?" this implies an alternative positioning of topics in a scheme of work. There is no account of a modern telephone in this book and teachers who use the book may want to supplement the text.

It is a great pity that the old Telecom museum at Blackfriars in London has long been closed because it would have made an excellent visit as a treat to round off such a unit of work.

Possible use in the science classroom. (0/0 people found this helpful)

I think the place to start using this text is on page 34. Here there is a diagram of one of Bell's early 1876 telephones. The circuitry is not too complicated. So my approach here would be one of getting to grips with the early telephone - how did it work? Demonstrations of the principles of electromagnetic induction and the Lorentz force are easily arranged in the laboratory and students can do many of them for themselves. If I were able to re-write the text, not only would I start here but I would also make more of the physics.

On the opposite page (35) there is text about Elisha Gray who was a rival in the race to patent a working telephone. There is also mention of the successful demonstration of a working telephone at the 1876 American Centennial exhibition. This all adds context. A potted account of Bell's work and importance is given on pages 4/ 5. From page 6 to page 33 the text and attractive illustrations tell of Bell's life, which experiences were probably the most formative, who were his supporters, financial backers and rivals. Students could be given a 'hunt and kill' style set of questions for some work on this. Less tedious and more involving would be to ask them to read the text and then to make some presentation on Bell's life and work. This could take the form of a poster, a power-point or multi-media presentation, or even a small drama of key events. The time-line on pages 44/ 45 will be helpful in this. Pages 38 onwards detail the 'so what?' issue of events after Bell's triumph.

Pages 11 to 13 and 22/ 23 all allow further work on electricity and the variation of currents in electric circuits. This could involve teacher led demonstrations or students activities in the laboratory. For a traditional, analytic, approach to electricity this would usually be covered before the work on electro-magnetic induction. But because I am suggesting an alternative approach in asking the question "How does the telephone work?" this implies an alternative positioning of topics in a scheme of work. There is no account of a modern telephone in this book and teachers who use the book may want to supplement the text.

It is a great pity that the old Telecom museum at Blackfriars in London has long been closed because it would have made an excellent visit as a treat to round off such a unit of work.

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