Newton at the Center

Register for Newton at the Center here!

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90 Minute Semester long classes are $475; GHF, SENG, MAGE, and NHAGE Members pay $460!

Science
Instructor: Sherene Raisbeck
5-10 students
Suggested Age Ranges: 8-12
Meets:  Mondays, 10:00 am to 11:30 am  Eastern time, starting September 13

NOTE: In  past, this course has been offered over two terms. We plan to offer it as a single term course with sessions running 75-90 minutes. We believe this better meets the needs of our gifted students.

DESCRIPTION

Newton at the Center is the second of three works by Joy Hakim that present the major scientific innovations within the context of major works produced by Aristotle, Newton, Einstein, and progress which continues in theoretical physics.

Learning how to make accurate and useful observations, investigate ideas, evaluate sources, and find out what’s really true, are important skills for scholars in all fields of endeavor.

Students in Newton at the Center continue to develop their understanding of the historical context and great experiments of the world’s innovators.

As the second part of The Story of Science series, Newton at the Center builds on the foundation set forward in the course Aristotle Leads the Way and prepares the student for Einstein Adds a New Dimension (although the courses can be taken in any order). From the Copernican Revolution to the Renaissance to the Curies, from the discovery of the planetary system to radiation, Newton at the Center brings students through major discoveries in classical science, integrating the major themes of scientific analysis, evidence, and reasoning with the framework of history and the humanities to establish a solid scaffold for later studies. 

Over the course of the term, we will weigh the earth, discover the invisible, and we will explore the tiny scale of the atom and the vastness of the universe. We will build the scaffold for later studies in science and other endeavors.

Tests, homework, and grades are provided optionally and may be graded at home or by the instructor. We fully support 2e students and will tailor testing, homework, and class participation so that it is low stress and meaningful for each student. Students need to be able to do simple multiplication with fractions and ratios.

This is a 1 semester course!  While some experiments are repeated from the Einstein and Aristotle courses, students will encounter them on a different level. These courses do NOT need to be taken in a particular order.

Find the Newton at the Center book here.

Please note that this is a one semester course schedule for Fall 2020. 

SYLLABUS

Fall semester

1.      Off-Center? It Can’t Be!
2.      A New Age: Bringing New Ways of Seeing
3.      On Revolutions and Fools
4.      Tycho Brahe: Taking Heaven’s Measure
5.      Renaissance Men
6.      Gazing at a Star Named Galileo
7.      Moving Relatively or Relatively Moving?
8.      Are Novas Really “New”Stars? As to Supernovas – Wow!
9.      Moving the Sun and the Earth
10.  Do You Think You Have Troubles?
11.  Poor Kepler
12.  Descartes and His Coordinates
13.  What’s the Big Attraction?
14.  Gravity – How Absurd!
15.  Newton Sees the Light
16.  Newton Moves
17.  Fame Finds Newton
18.  A Dane Lights the Way
19.  What’s the Matter? (About Elements and Alchemy)
20.  Robert Boyle, Skeptic – or Airhead?
21.  Daniel and the Old Lion Hunter
22.  Brains and Beauty Squared
23.  It’s a Gas! Take Its Temperature!
24.  Weighing the World
25.  The Right Man for the Job
26.  A Man with a Powerful Head
27.  Dalton Takes Us Back to Greece – and Atoms
28.  A Molecule-and-Number Man
29.  Putting Things in Order
30.  The Heated Story of an American Spy
31.  A Shocking Science
32.  Michael Faraday Has a Field Day
33.  Maxwell’s Changes
34.  Building Boltzmann
35.  Wake Up!  This Is About Work, Which Takes Energy
36.  A Number-One Law, Thermodynamically Speaking
37.  Obeying the (Second) Law
38.  Tying Down a Demon
39.  Nothing to Do?
40. Wrapping up and Getting Ready

 

This course is $475; GHF, SENG, MAGE, and NHAGE Members pay $460! (But no double dipping, sorry!) Multiple children? Talk to us!

We accept charter school funds

Return to the list of current courses

Register for Newton at the Center here!