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ands On

A historical journey in science

educat ion through role playing

By Smita Gu ha

In order to ov oidoroutine ciassroom environment, teoch ers often e m pioy the use of role-ploys .

This is an effective strategy because it is essential for teachers to engage their students with

information through various methods. Role-ploying provides the children with the opportunity

to incorporate muitiple senses into knowledge-based, fun activity. Students can be creative

in setting up props and using optional music while maintaining the basic theme of the story. By

ac ting , students who play the roles and the au dien ce in the class will learn something abou t

person ond their scientific contribution. Role-play is highly motivating, anditenables students

to put themselves in situations they have never expe rienc ed before. It ca n also help to dev elop

and improve interpersonal and communication skills.

The following fictitious scenes transport us ba ck in time to cond uc t a n interview w ith go od ole

Ga briel F ahrenheit. After a brief visit with him , with the help of the m ythica l time mach ine the

scene fast-forwards and we ieap in time to visit with Anders Celsius for a pleasant a nd informative

conversation. Aithough scenes dep icted here are im aginative, the scientif ic concep ts are factual

and could be designed to help teachers teach history of science to students.

INTRO U TION

Prior to the initiation ot role-play, a science lesson or

laboratory experiment on temperature would greatly

increose the students' concept ot the topic at hand.

Temperature

is

one ot the com mo n news activit ies

that children are exposed to, and thermometer isthe

only instrument that could be used tor temperature

mea surem ent. It wo uld be interesting as well as

challenging for classroom teochers to get children

work with thermometer related activity os it involves

some glass items, hot water, and the the rmo me ter itself

contoining mercury. Theretore, sincere care must be

taken to ensure satety. It may be possible to use plastics

instead ot glass,

dummy thermometer instead of real

one tor the play activity, and hot water must be used

very discretely and caretully monitored by the teachers

in the classroom.

A simple activity on temperature measurement cou ld

enh anc e children's know ledge in science. The activity

requires the following supplies; Ice, two unc alibra ted

thermometers, one caliiorated thermometer, electric

hot p late , 250 ml glass beaker, marking p en , some

plastic tubes, satety gogg les, and w ater proot apron .

Also, the classroom tea ch er must explain to the

students thot there are two scoles used tor temperoture

me osurem ent. The deg ree Celsius (C) is a unit ot

temperature named for the Swedish astronomer Anders

Celsius. The Celsius tem pera ture scale w as d esigned so

that the treezing point ot water

is

0 degrees, ond the

boiling point

is

100 degrees at standard atmospheric

pressure. Since there are on e h undred steps b etw ee n

these two referen ce points, the original term for this

system was Centigrode

( 100

parts). The other scole,

called Fahrenheit, is primarily used in the United States

The degre e Fahrenheit (F) is a unit ot te mpe ratu re

named tor the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit.

In the Fahrenheit scale ot tem pera ture, the treezing

point ot woter

is

32 degrees, an d the bo iling point is

212 degrees, placing the boiling ond melting points

ot wo ter 180 degrees a pa rt. Zero degrees Fahrenheit

indicates the lowest temperature Fahrenheit could

obtain by a mixture of ice and salt.

The experiment begins with add ing crushed ice to

250 ml bea ker untilit

is

obout

1

/2

tull.Then,

place the

unco librated thermom eter in the ice a nd observe

it until the fluid stops drop ping . At that point, a nd

without ollowing the liquid to rise, place o mark on the

thermometer. This must be done with greot care.

Next, pour distilled water into the beaker until

it

isabout

1/2tull.Place the beaker on an electric hot plate ond

bring water to o rapidboil.Place the thermom eter in

the boiling liquid a nd observe the tluid rising. When the

tluid stops rising, plo ce the sec ond mark at tha t p oint

an d label the low mark as zero and the top mark os

100.

Through this experimen t, students co uld de velo p

o tem pera ture s cale. Relating to this experim ent, the

teach er may ask the students, How ca n you mark

or calibrate your thermom eter so you ca n measure

all degrees be twee n the zero an d 100 degre e point?

Similarly, the students c ou ld dev elop a Fahrenheit

scale using similar m ethods. Thus two unc alibra ted

thermometers co uld be designed os two seporote

scales ot m easurem ent, Celsius and Fohrenheit, a nd

equ al m arkings (100 and 180 parts respectively) cou ld

be given to each ot these scales. Students could then

use the calibrated thermometer to ensure validity ot

the markings they had established on the uncaliiroted

thermometers.

Furthermore, the classroom teac he r should help

students understand the Celsius-Fahrenheit scale


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canversian. Since thereare100 degrees and180

degreesatmeasurement in Celsius and Fahrenheit

scale respectively, each degreean theCelsius scale

is equalta180/100ar9/5 degrees antheFahrenheit

scale. Ta canvert Celsius temperaturestaFahrenheit,

students needta dathe following sfeps:

Step 1 Multiply the Celsius temperatureby9/5.

Step 2: Add 32taadjustforthe offset infhe

Fahrenheit scale.

Example: convert 37C toFahrenheit.

37X 9/5= 333/5 = 66.6

66.6

+

32 = 98.6

F

Understandingtheconversion scale is important,as

students could better comprehendthetemperature

measurement system that varies betweenthecountries.

Atter the science experiment has been completed,

students could help classroom teachers setup the

props for yet another fun-filled role play activity. This

is where the students participatein thedrama,and

demonstrate science lessons through playful acfivify.

T H E P L Y

arrator

After more thanadecadeofarduous

labor, Dr. Smifh has finally perfecfed

her time machine which is capableof

going back in fime.Itcangobackward

and then forwardbufcannofgo

intothefuture. With her wondertui

machine she has arrangedto go

backto thetime thatagreat scientific

invention was first made-one fhat

would bring enormous benefitsto the

scientific world. She decided

to

visit

Gabriel Fahrenheit and Anders Celsius,

inventorsofthe Fahrenheit and Celsius

thermometers.

This mythical time machine isagreat

secret and mustbeused with supreme

care. Only her colleague and confidanf.

Professor Stacey Ausfin (SA),and

Professor Ausfin's sisfer Catherine Jones

(CJ),

know about the machine. They

accompanied Dr. Smith (SG)onthis

monumental journey back in time.

They helped her navigatethedelicate

machinery. Listen as they arrive

in

Heidelberg, GermanyatDr. Fahrenheit's,

who had been expecting them,on a

cold morninginDecember, 1713.

Dr Fahrenheit:"Hello everyone Would you liketohave

a freshly brewed cupoftea?"

SG :

"Dr. Fahrenheit, would you like meto

help you?"

Dr Fahrenheit:"Thank you young lady,but letme make

youaperfect brewoftea which needs

accuracy, precise timing andagreat

dealofpractice. The water for thetea

comes from

the

development

of my

scienfific research. You see, the water

temperature is important and you need

the "Magic Stick"tomeasureit."

arrator

We all saw Dr. Fahrenheit takeout a

long (about 12 inches) glass stick, with

three colored markings and several small

markingsinblack, evenly distributedon

its side.Itis actuallya30 ml size hollow

tube with

a

rubber stopper

at

the

top

end withan airtight fit. He then filled

a medium size flask (about 250 ml size)

with plain water upto2/3ofifs volume.

He also added few dropsofgreen food

coloringfomake the water somewhat

visible. Then,as heplaced his "Magic

Stick" just below the surfaceof the

water,

we

saw water rise

up the

tubing.

Dr Fahrenheit:"See the three large markingsofred,

yellow and blue. They are the respective

boiling point, zero-point and freezing

pointofwafer. The zero-poinf, whichis

indicatedby ayellow line, is the base

of my sysfem.

I

found fhat there are32

degrees between the zero-point andthe

freezing pointofwater. Thus on my scale

water freezesat32 degrees."

arrator

Next,wesaw Dr. Fahrenheit pouring

warm water over the flask and fhe wafer

inside

fhe

tube rising higher and towards

the red marking.

Dr Fahrenheit:"Thermometers work ontheprincipleot

expansion and contraction dueto the

additionorremovalotheat. In ideal

conditions, as water reaches the boiling

point,itwill riseto thered mark onthe

tube."

CJ:

"Howdoyou really know that it'sthe

boiling pointofwafer?"

Dr Fahrenheit:

"It's simple theboiling point isthe

oppositeofthe freezing point.Ifyou

observe fhe markings carefully, you will

see thatitshows 32 with blue markingat

one end and 212 with the red markingat

the other end."

J

Yes, I

see that, but why 212? Is there

any specific reason?"

Dr Fahrenheit: "Mathematically speaking,the two

most dissimilar pointson ascale are180

degrees apart. When

I

say 180 degrees,

I meanthedegrees inastraight angle.It

the freezing poinfofwater

is

32 degrees,

then adding 180 degreesto get the

boiling pointofwater, comesto212

degrees."

SG:

"It is really interesting, but what about

the zero-point? How would you explain

that?"

Dr Fahrenheit:"You see, this zero-point isfarbelowthe

treezing pointofwafer. This is as coldas

it can get, evenatthe north pole. When

I use the degree spacing that I fixed

between the freezing point andthe

zero-point,Ihave 32 degrees. Letme

show you another simple experiment."

arrator

Dr. Fahrenheit

put

some ice

in a

glass,

measured its weight and setitaside.

Next,hepoured some common saltin

another flask, measuredit acoupleof

times and then placed itonthe table.

He then poured the whole ice-water

mixture fromtheglass intotheflask

containing the salt, and placedhis

"Magic Stick"inthe tlask.


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Har ds On

SA:

"Dr. Fahrenheit,Isee the ice m elting, so

the temperature must be higher now."

Dr Fahrenheit:"Oh no the temperatureiswell below

the treezing point now ."

CJ: "But we see the ice melting, so how

isitbe possible that the temp erature

is lower? Ice melts only wh en th e

temperature gets warmer."

Dr Fahrenheit:

"Com pare the temperature level at the

gra dua ted yellow mark, and you will see

how low it is from the blue mark which

is our treezing point. If the temperature

had been warmer, the indicator line

would have been over the blue mark

and moving towards the red mark. This

isacom mo n error that peop le make.

In reality, whe n salt causes the iceto

melt, the process absorbs huge am ount

ot heat energy, and the temperature

goes down tar below freezing. The

force d m elting ot the ice hasacooling

etfect just like evapo ration has a c ooling

effect."

SA:

SG :

Narrator :

rof Celsius:

SG :

CJ :

rof Celsius:

"Wow This is all new to me. The

co nc ep t is quite interesting and itis

really commendable the way you had

patiently worked your experiments an d

gave

a

true form to your th eoretica l

concept . "

"Dr. Fahrenheit, thank you tor beinga

wondertui host, and we shall remember

this evening an d the scientific te a session

forever."

After our historic m eetin g with Dr.

Fahrenheit, the my thical time m achine

was re-set to tast forward th e years to

1742 tor a visit with the Swedish physicist.

Professor Anders Celsius. Itisthirty

minutes past the hour

in

the morning

and the laboratory supervisor at the

Royal InstituteofPhysical Sciences

indicafed thatProf.Celsius was read y for

fhe interview.

"Dear friends Welcom e to the landot

the midnightsun.You had indicated

in your letter that you had met with Dr.

Fahrenheit atter he in ven ted his scale of

temperature measurement.Iam glad

that you are here to learn about my

invention."

"We are so pleased to meet you and

hear about your alternative inventionto

the Fahrenheit scale."

Prof.Celsius, ma y

I

ask you what ma de

you to think about an alternative scale

of measurement, when everyone was

con tent using the Fahrenheit scale?"

"You know. Dr. Fahrenheit's scale was

certainly useful; we adopteditquite well

in our research experiments and it was

widely used by the com mo n pe ople.

However, there were ce rtain aspects

that made me curious about tryingto

designadifferent tem perature scale.

First, the zero-point was not really a fixed

SA:

rof Celsius:

Narra tor :

CJ :

rof Celsius:

SG :

rof Celsius:

SA:

rof Celsius:

C J :

rof Celsius:

SA:

value, and for a com mo n person

it

is

ditticult to understand the concept ofa

180 degre e difference ."

"I don't understand your statement

on the zero-point, cou ld you please

explain?"

"To b e specific. Dr. Fahrenheit

overlooked the tact that in some

countries, the tem perature tails below

zero on his scale so they ca nn ot

measure the temperature.

Prof.

Fahrenheit a rrived at this zero-point

when he mixed equ al amounts ot salt

and crushed ice and the temperature

dro pp ed tar below treezing. The lowest

point he could reach be cam e his

zero-point. However, in reality

it

isnot

a

fixed point an d c ann ot be consistently

duplica ted around the world. Since the

temperature of the ice-salt mixture varies

dep end ing on the size of crushed ice

an d th e size an d ty pe of salt, the zero-

point m eant different temperatures in

ditterent p laces."

"Well now,Iun derstand when yo u say

that in the Fahrenheit scale, the zero-

pointisnever a fixed value. But how

do you place your temperature scale

with respect to that? Would you say

tha t your scale is right a nd Fahrenheit is

wrong?"

"No,

Iw ould n't say that Prot.

Fahrenheitisincor rect, but my scale is

comparatively convenient to use.

I

took

the freezing p oint ot pure wa ter as my

reterence point;I call my thermometer,

the Centigrode thermometer because

itiscalibr ated to show 100 degrees

between the freezing and the boiling

point."

"Now, what about the boiling point?

How would you tell people that the

boiling point

is

the oppo site ot the

treezing point? "

"I marked my thermometer at the

freezing poinf of pure wafer. Then af the

boiling p oint of pure water,Imarked m y

thermometer again. Using the decimal

system, I m ad e 100 marks at equ al

distances be twe en these two points.

Thatissomething everyone understands;

so my treezing point of wateris100

degrees and the boiling pointis0

degree."

"Do n't you m ean zero for freezing a nd

100 for boiling? "

"No, I meanitas

I

say " (very firmly).

"I read that you found out that

Fahrenheit's ice-salt mixture is 18

degrees below on your

scale,

is tha t

correct?"

"You are absolutely right."

"Do you think, this will set a stand ardin

temperature measurement."


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Prof Celsius: No, nothing is standard,

it

depends upon

the users and what is appropriate tor

them.

I invented this scale becouse I felt

that the Fahrenheit scale had limitations,

so

I

wantedtodevelop something

convenientfor meand forothers.

SG: Prof.Celsius, we thank you very much

forthis opportunityto discussyournew

invention the Celsius Degree Scole

andoursincere wishesfor yoursuccess.

Narrator:

After the role playactivityends and

students take theirseats.Dr. Smithutilize

hertime machine once again to set

the time,andtheywere swiftlyand

painlesslybroughtback tothe

21

st

century. Dr.Smith further continues her

class discussion andconfirms, years

afterCelsiusdied,the scalewasreversed

to use zerodegree for freezing and 100

degrees for boiling.Thisis thesystemwe

usetoday.Later on, the nameof the

scalewas changed from centigrade to

Celsius inhonorof its inventor.

DIS USSION ND ON LUSION

This article depictsa30-minute play duringaclass

session.An entire classcan directly or indirectly

participate in this play.Since, scientific population

hasbeen mentionedacoupleof timesthroughoutthis

role-play article,

it

may bebeneficial toactually create

specific parts for the students to actout the scientific

populationand demonstrate the experiment. Another

relatively simple way to createadditional characters

is tobringlifeto animals.The horse pulling carriage

couldbe played bya studentand itwould also be

feasible and interesting

if

somestudents could even

playthe rolesofpets of Dr. Fahrenheit andDr. Celsius.

For example. Dr. Fahrenheit could haveacat thattrips

a couple of laboratory itemsor. Dr. Celsius could have

a parakeet in his lab that repeats someofthewords

sparking some humor in the discussion. In order to

incorporate theaudience into this activity,itmight bea

good idea to have them makecostumes tortheactors

and create props forthe role-play,suchas the mythical

timemachine and clippings from newspapers and

scientific journals. In this way, every student willdirectly

be involved intheproduction oftherole-play.

Togenerate further interest,theseexercises could

be repeated using

a

calibrated thermometer.Then,

compare it with the marked thermometer.

Atter the science lesson,itmaybebeneficial toholda

discussion with the entireclass.A potential discussion

topic could be: How wouldtheworid be differentifDr.

Fahrenheit and

Dr. Celsius never invented their temperature scales?

This would allow setting upastage for another

role-playing activity. Although fictitious, students could

explore other possibilities tor measuring temperature.

Again,class discussions could possibly generate some

ideastoconstruct some experiments followed by role

playing activity. The objective istonurturescience

learning and generate inquisitiveness among children.

Children tend to show greater interest and gain more

knowledgeifthey are encouraged, and they invest

time and energy into preparing for an activity.

Role-playing,evenin fictitioussettings as depicted

here (by appropriately usingthetime machine),

encourages useot the imagination,andstill teaches

tactual information and important scientific concepts.

It

is also an excellent tool with which to teach the history

ofscienceto students. After the presentations students

candiscusswhat theyhave learned,impressions

gained,

posenew questions and otfer suggestions.

Some assessment questionsthatcouldbe posed trom

thisroleplayactivity are:

Locate GabrielFahrenheit's country onthemap.

Repeat for Anders Celsius'scountry?

Supposeyou were livingbeforeGabrielFahrenheit

invented his thermometer.Tellsomeoneliving ina

different climatezone, asexactly as youcan how

hot it is onahot day during thesummer. Compare

this day to the two preceding days.Nowdo the

samethingusing either theFahrenheit orCelsius

scale;

Repeatthe same exercise except thistimeitisvery

cold:

Suppose youhad the privilegeof meeting

Fahrenheit and Celsius.Whatwouldyoutell them?

What wouldyouaskthem?

Celsius scale is usedin AsiaandEurope, so,how

would you convert thetemperature froma

Fahrenheit (forexample, 85degrees F) to

a

Celsius

scale?

The article incorporatesditferentcurricular areas such

socialstudies (geographyand history), languagearts

(through verbal expressions, speakingandlistening

skillsare enhanced), liberalarts(acting/drama), math

(through mathematical conversion), and physical

science (hands-on and minds-on activity).The

assessment questions wouldallowstudents reconstruct

the science lessontheypreviously learned, fullcircle

without simply reiterating thesamematerial andalso

itwould be

a

goodwayto testwhat the students

learned.

In order to avoidaroutine classroom environment,

teachersoftenemploy theuseofrole-plays. This is an

effective strategy becauseitisessential for teachers

toengage their students with information through

various methods. Role-playing provides the children

with the opportunity toincorporatemultiplesenses

into a knowledge-based, funactivity. Role-playing

givesstudents an opportunity to practice interacting

with others in certain settings. It helps them cultivate

imogination by portraying the person they represent

inatheatrical set-up. Students canbecreative in

setting up props and using optional music to open and

close the various scenes while maintaining the basic

theme of the story. By acting, students who play the

roles and the audience in the class will learn something

aboutaperson and their scientific contribution. Role-

play is highly motivating (Ments, 1994), and

it

enables

students to put themselves in situations they have never

experienced before. It can also and help to develop

and improve interpersonal and communication skills.

REFEREN ES

Asimov, Issac.

1982).

Fahrenheit.Asimov s Biographical

Encyclopedia ofScienceandTechnology NewYork: Doubleday

Company.

Inc,

pp.159.

Charles,C. G. editor). 1971).Dictionary

of

scientific biography

Voi

IV.

AmericanCouncilofLearned

Societies, pp.516-518.

Charles,

C. G.

editor). 1971).

Dictionary

of

scientific biography

yol

III

AmericanCouncilofLearned

Societies,

pp.

173-174.

Friedi,

E. A.

1986).

Teaching Science to

Children

3rd.

edition),

McGraw-Hill,Inc.


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HaridsOn

Jones, E.R. (Nov. 1980). Fahren heitandCelsius,Ahistory.

Physics

Teacher Vol.18 No.8, pp.594-'95.

Ments,M.V. (1994).TheEttective use ot

rote-play.

Porter,R. (1994).Celsius,Anders,

TheBiographical Dictionary

ot

Scientists NewYork: Ox ford University Press,pp. 222.

Romer,R.H.(Oct. 1982). Tem perature scales: Celsius, Fahren heit,

Kelvin,Reamur and Romer.Physics

Teacher Vol.

18 No.7, pp . 450-454.

Van

der

Star, P.

1983).

Fah renheit s Letters

to

Leibniz

and

Boerhaave, Amsterdam: Rodopi.

INTERNET RESOURCES

About Temperature. Retrieved May 1,2009 from

http:/ /eo.ucar.edu/skymath/tnnp2.hfml

Anders Celsius (1701-1744) Retrieved

May

1,2009 from

http://www.astro.uu.se/hi$tory/Celsius_eng.hfml

(4169) Celsius =1980 FO3 Retrieved May 1, 2009 trom

hftp:/ /www.asfro.uu.se/planet/asferoid/astdiv/4169.html

Fohrenheit Temperature scale. Re trieved

May

1,2009 trom http://

www.sizes.com/units/temperature_Fahrenheit.htm

The Celsius Observatory 1741 -1852 Retrieved

May

1,2009 trom

http://www.astro.uu.Se/hisfop//Celsiusobs.html

Historyot the Celsius Temperature Scale. Retrieved May1,2009

trom h ttp://www.astro.uu.se/history/celsius_scale.html

What Mari lyn omitted aboutthe Fahrenheit. Thermo meter

Retrieved

May

1,

2009 trom http:/ /www.wiskif .com /mari lyn/

tahrenheit.html

ABOUT TH AUTHOR

Smita Guha r ece i ved her Ph.D. from the State

Universityof New Yorkaf Buffalo. She is an Associafe

Professorat St. Joh n's Universityin New York.

c i e n c e e b

U S T R L

Scienceweb.asta.edu.au offers f i fteen

units ofwork,allusing resources freely av aila ble

online and linked to the Australian Curriculum. Covering

topics ranging from 'Changing lands and skies'to Our Universe',the

units provide an outline, five lesson plans, student activities and useful

links w hich teach ers can use in the classroom for studentsinyearsF-10.

ASTA Sc ienceW eb webinars

To support teachers intheir use ot theScienceWeb units, ASTA

is pro viding aweekly w eb inar series trom A ugust-November. In

these v^ebinars,

the

teachers wh o have w rit ten

the

units ou tline

the rat ionale behind them, guide part icipants throughthe

content ,

and

make suggestions about

how

they

can be

used.

The webinarsarerecorded,and the recordings willbestored

on

the

ASTA portal

tor t

least twelv e months

to

provide

n

ongoing resource.Seemo odle.asta.edu.au tormore details.

sciencew eb asta edu au

moodle asta edu au


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C o p y r i g h t o f T e a c h i n g S c i e n c e : T h e J o u r n a l o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n S c i e n c e T e a c h e r s A s s o c i a t i o n

i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f A u s t r a l i a n S c i e n c e T e a c h e r s A s s o c i a t i o n a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d

o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s

w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r e m a i l a r t i c l e s f o r i n d i v i d u a l u s e .

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