Genius of Britain
Last week a fascinating programme from Britain's Channel 4 was aired on the satellite channel BBC knowledge. British viewers probably saw this ages ago so it's old news but it was new for me. The programme was a potted history of the role played by British scientists in the development of science since its beginning in 1964 (!?). I found the series very interesting and learnt lots of interesting little facts to take to my class, unfortunately I have forgotten most of them but do remember that at the age of 3 Maxwell (or was it Faraday) was told that a stone was blue and replied "but how do we know it's blue". As a matter of interest I thought I'd see how the series would rate alongside some of the IB Aims for Gp4 subjects.
1. Provide opportunities for scientific study and creativity within a global context that will stimulate and challenge students.
The programme did show how the achievements of British scientists affected global development but was completely biased towards Britain so wouldn't do very well as far as internationalism goes.
5. Engender an awareness of the need for, and the value of, effective collaboration and communication during scientific activities.
Yes and no. The point that each generation's achievements were based on the previous generations work was strongly emphasised but the fact that there were some non Brit involved was generally left out. The only non Brit I can remember was Dr. Hans von Ohain who beat Sir Frank Whittle to get the first Jet plane in to the air. Hmm, I'm sure we weren't told that at school.
8. Raise awareness of the moral, ethical, social, economic and environmental implications of using science and technology.
Yep, most of the science was put into context, industrial revolution, wars etc.
9. Develop an appreciation of the possibilities and limitations associated with science and scientists.
Not really, this was about the successes not failures.
10. Encourage an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching nature of the scientific method.
Very much so, the programme was about science not just physics.