Interview with a Scientist1
Over the next couple of weeks we will be studying the history of atomic theory in more detail. In particular we
will consider the changes in the model of the atom from the mid-1800s to 1940. There will be many chemists and physicists
who contributed to the model we now use.
Your assignment will be to find information on one of the scientists listed below. In particular, you will look for
the contributions that person made to the development of the model of the atom. You will need to find some information
about their personal lives as well.
You will present this information in the form of a written interview by an investigative reporter such as those
seen in magazines. You must have a minimum of 10 questions that you ask the scientist and have 10 responses to those
questions, as the person would have answered them. The questions must be answered with more than just a yes or no. You
should not have more than 15 questions and answers. You will want to include a picture of the person and/or a diagram.
You will work alone on this project. You may produce a written document on paper, or you may up-load your
document to my Mrs. Mason folder on the L: drive of the school network, and save it in the folder for your class period.
We will spend class time in the LMC and writing lab on February 21st and February 26th.
The interviews are due on Friday, March 7th. (You can obtain extra credit by turning the report in early
Here is a list of scientists you may choose from:
Curie, Marie Meitner, Lisa Bohr, Neils
Curie-Joliot, Irene Curie-Joliot, Frederick Chadwick, James
Thomson, J.J. Einstein, Albert deBroglie, Louis
Roentgen, Wilhelm Heisenburg, Werner Geiger, Hans
Balmer, Johannes Becquerel, Henri Goeppert-Mayer, Maria
Crookes, William Young, Thomas Millikan, Robert
Schrodinger, E. Oppenheimer, Robert Planck, Max
Moseley, Henry Frisch, Otto Rutherford, Ernest
Pauli, Wolfgang Lewis, Gilbert Strassman, Fritz
To get started, try some of these websites. They are loaded in my folder on the L drive, and also under my favorites.
Accessed either way, they are clickable links.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Internet is NOT always factual! ANYONE can make a
web page. Double check your information, use a book!
http://www.TheCatalyst.org/m04histr.html
http://www.treasure-troves.com/bios/topics/BranchofScience.html
http://www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/portraits.html
http://www.watertown.k12.wi.us/hs/teachers/buescher/atomtime.asp
http://www.aip.org/history/electron/
http://www.aip.org/history/
http://www.k12tlc.net click Science subject heading, username: DCHSX7, click Scientists and
Mathematicians subject heading
Essentially, you will be doing your research before you “conduct” your fictitious interview. In a sense, you will be working
backwards from what a reporter normally does. You should ask leading questions that you know can be answered with the
information you have already gathered.
1 Patricia Mason
Delphi High School
Delphi, IN 46923
