RichardFeynman,“TheMakingofaScientist”-Grade6
OriginallypublishedinCricketMagazine,October1995(Vol.23,#2).
LearningObjective:Thegoalofthistwotothreedayexemplaristogivestudentstheopportunitytousethereadingandwritinghabitsthey’vebeenpracticingonaregularbasistoabsorbdeeplessonsfromRichardFeynman’srecollectionsofinteractionswithhisfather.Byreadingandrereadingthepassageclosely,andfocusingtheirreadingthroughaseriesofquestionsanddiscussionaboutthetext,studentswillidentifyhowandwhyFeynmanstartedtolookattheworldthroughtheeyesofascientist.Whencombinedwithwritingaboutthepassage,studentswilldiscoverhowmuchtheycanlearnfromamemoir.
ReadingTask:Studentswillsilentlyreadthepassageinquestiononagivenday—firstindependentlyandthenfollowingalongwiththetextastheteacherand/orskillfulstudentsreadaloud.Dependingonthedifficultiesofagiventextandtheteacher’sknowledgeofthefluencyabilitiesofstudents,theorderofthestudentsilentreadandtheteacherreadingaloudwithstudentsfollowingmightbereversed.Whatisimportantistoallowallstudentstointeractwithchallengingtextontheirownasfrequentlyandindependentlyaspossible.Studentswill thenrereadspecificpassagesinresponsetoasetofconcise,text-dependentquestionsthatcompelthemtoexaminethemeaningandstructureofFeynman’sprose.Therefore,rereadingisdeliberatelybuiltintotheinstructionalunit.
VocabularyTask:Mostofthemeaningsofwordsintheexemplartextcanbediscoveredbystudentsfromcarefulreadingofthecontextinwhichtheyappear.Teacherscanusediscussionstomodelandreinforcehowtolearnvocabularyfromcontextualclues,andstudentsmustbeheldaccountableforengaginginthispractice.Whereitisjudgedthisisnotpossible,underlinedwordsaredefinedbrieflyforstudents totherightofthetextinaseparatecolumnwhenevertheoriginaltextisreproduced.Attimes,thisisallthesupportthesedefinedwordsneed.Atothertimes,particularlywithabstractwords,teacherswillneedtospendmoretimeexplaininganddiscussingthem.Inaddition, insubsequentclosereadingsofpassagesofthetext,highvalueacademic(‘TierTwo’)wordshavebeenboldedtodrawattentiontothem.Givenhowcrucialvocabularyknowledgeisforacademicandcareersuccess,itisessentialthatthesehighvaluewordsbediscussedandlingeredoverduringtheinstructionalsequence.
SentenceSyntaxTask:Onoccasion,studentswillencounterparticularlydifficultsentencestodecode.Teachersshouldengageinacloseexaminationofsuchsentencestohelpstudentsdiscoverhowtheyarebuiltandhowtheyconveymeaning.Whilemanyquestionsaddressingimportantaspectsofthetextdoubleasquestionsaboutsyntax,studentsshouldreceiveregularsupportedpracticeindecipheringcomplexsentences.Itiscrucialthatthehelptheyreceiveinunpackingtextcomplexityfocusesbothontheprecisemeaningofwhattheauthorissayingandwhytheauthormighthaveconstructedthesentenceinthisparticularfashion.Thatpracticewillinturnsupportstudents’abilitytounpackmeaningfromsyntacticallycomplexsentencestheyencounterinfuturereading.
DiscussionTask:Studentswilldiscusstheexemplartextindepthwiththeirteacherandtheirclassmates,performingactivitiesthatresultinaclosereadingofFeynman’smemoir.Thegoalistofosterstudentconfidencewhenencounteringcomplextextandtoreinforcetheskillstheyhaveacquiredregardinghowtobuildandextendtheirunderstandingofatext.Ageneralprincipleistoalwaysrereadthe
passagethatprovidesevidenceforthequestionunderdiscussion.Thisgivesstudentsanotherencounterwiththetext,helpingthemdevelopfluencyandreinforcingtheiruseoftextevidence.
WritingTask:StudentswillparaphrasedifferentsentencesandparagraphsofFeynman’smemoirandthenwriteaninformalexplanatoryessaydetailinghowoneoftheinteractionsbetweenhimandhisfatherillustratesadeeperlesson.Teachersmightaffordstudentstheopportunitytorevisetheirin-classparaphrasesafterparticipatinginclassroomdiscussionorevenrewritetheirexplanationafterreceivingteacherfeedback,allowingthemtorefashionboththeirunderstandingofthetextandtheirexpressionofthatunderstanding.
TextSelection:Thisexemplartext,takenfromthehighlyregardedchildren’smagazineCricket,speaksdirectlyandwithoutcondescensiontostudentsaboutwhyFeynmanbecameascientist.Theclearandcompellingexamplesoffervividandconcreteavenuesforexplorationandclosereading.
OutlineofLessonPlan:Thislessoncanbedeliveredintwoorthreedaysofinstructionandreflectiononthepartofstudentsandtheirteacher.
StandardsCovered:ThefollowingCommonCoreStateStandardsarethefocusofthisassignment:RI.6.1,RI.6.2,RI.6.4,RI.6.8;W.6.2,W.6.4,W.6.9;SL.6.1;L.6.4,L6.5,L.6.6.
TheText:Feynman,Richard.“TheMakingofaScientist”
ExemplarText / VocabularyBefore I was born, my fathertold mymother, “If it’s aboy, he’s going to be a scientist.”When I wasjustalittlekid, very smallin ahighchair,my father brought home a lot of littlebathroom tiles—seconds—of different colors. We playedwith them, myfather settingthemupvertically onmy highchairlike dominoes,and I would push one end so they would all go down.
Then after a while, I’d help setthemup. Pretty soon, we’re settingthem upin a
morecomplicated way: two whitetiles and a bluetile,two white tiles andabluetile, and so on. When mymother saw thatshe said, “Leave thepoor child alone. If he wants toputa blue tile, lethim puta blue tile.”
Butmy fathersaid, “No, I wantto show him whatpatterns are like and how interestingthey are. It’s akind ofelementary mathematics.” So he started very earlyto tell me aboutthe world and how interesting itis.
Wehadthe EncyclopaediaBritannica athome. WhenI was a small boy he usedto sit me on his lap and read to me from theBritannica. We would be reading, say, about dinosaurs. Itwould be talking abouttheTyrannosaurus rex,and itwould say something like, “This dinosauris twenty-five feethigh andits head is six feetacross.”
My father would stop reading and say, “Now, let’s see whatthatmeans. Thatwould
mean thatifhe stood in our frontyard, he would be tallenough to puthis head through our window up here.” (We were on the second floor.) “Buthis head would be too wideto fitin the window.” Everythinghe read tomehewould translateasbesthe could into some reality.
Itwas very exciting and very, very interesting to think there were animals of such
magnitude—andthattheyall died out,and thatnobodyknew why.Iwasn’t frightened that there would be one comingin my window as aconsequenceofthis. But I learned frommy fatherto translate: everything I readItryto figure out what itreallymeans, whatit’s really saying.
We used to go to the Catskill Mountains,a place wherepeople from New YorkCity would go in the summer. The fathers would all returntoNew Yorkto workduring the week and come backonly for the weekend. On weekends, my father wouldtakeme for walks in the woods and he’dtell meaboutinteresting things that were going on in the woods. When the othermothers saw this,they thoughtitwas wonderful and thatthe other fathers should taketheir sons for walks. They tried to workon them butthey didn’t getanywhere atfirst. They wantedmy father to take allthekids, buthedidn’twantto because he hada special relationship with me. So it ended up that the other fathers had totake their children for walks the nextweekend.
The nextMonday, whenthe fathers wereall backatwork, wekids were playing in a / Largesetofbookscoveringallsortsofknowledge
field. One kid says to me, “See thatbird?Whatkind ofbird is that?” I said, “Ihaven’ttheslightest idea what kind of abird itis.”
He says, “It’sa brown-throated thrush. Your father doesn’tteach you anything!” Butitwasthe opposite. He had alreadytaughtme: “Seethatbird?” he says. “It’s a
Spencer’s warbler.” (I knewhe didn’tknow the realname.) “Well, in Italian, it’s aChutto Lapittida. In Portuguese it’sa Bom da Peida. In Chinese,it’s a Chung-long-tah,and in Japanese,it’saKatano Tekeda. Youcan know thename of thebird in allthe languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever aboutthe bird. You’ll only know abouthumans in differentplaces,and whattheycall thebird. So let’s lookatthe bird and see whatit’s doing—that’s whatcounts.” (I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.)
He said, “For example, look: the birdpecksatits feathers all the time. See itwalking
around,peckingatits feathers?” “Yeah.”
He says, “Why do you thinkbirds peck at their feathers?”
I said, “Well,maybe they messup their feathers when they fly, so they’repecking
them in orderto straighten them out.”
“Allright,” he says.“If that were the case, thenthey would pecka lot justafter they’vebeen flying. Then, after they’vebeen on the ground a while, they wouldn’tpeck so much anymore—you know whatImean?”
“Yeah.”
He says, “Let’slookand see if they peck more justafterthey land.”
Itwasn’thardto tell:there was notmuchdifference between thebirds thathad been walkingaround a bit and those thathad justlanded. So I said, “I give up. Whydoes a birdpeck atits feathers?”
“Becausetherearelicebotheringit,”hesays. “Theliceeat flakesofproteinthat come off its feathers.”
Hecontinued,“Each lousehas somewaxystuff on its legs, and littlemites eatthat.
Themitesdon’t digestitperfectly, sotheyemit from theirrear endsa sugarlikematerial, in whichbacteriagrow.”
Finallyhe says, “So you see, everywhere there’s a source of food, there’ssomeform of life thatfinds it.”
Now,I knew thatitmay nothave been exactlyalouse,thatit might notbe exactly
truethatthelouse’s legshave mites. That storywasprobably incorrect in detail,but what he was telling me was rightin principle.
Not having experience withmany fathers,Ididn’trealize howremarkable he was.
How did he learn thedeepprinciples of science and the love of it, what’s behind it, and why it’s worth doing? Inever really askedhim, because Ijustassumed that those were things thatfathers knew.
individualpartsGenerallawor
largertruth
My fathertaughtme tonotice things. One day, Iwas playing with an “express wagon,”a little wagon witha railing around it. Ithadaball in it,and whenI pulledthe wagon, I noticed something aboutthe waythe ballmoved. I wentto my father and said, “Say, Pop, I noticed something. When I pull the wagon,the ballrolls to the backof the wagon. And when I’m pulling it along andI suddenly stop,theball rollsto the frontof the wagon. Why is that?”
“That, nobody knows,” he said. “The general principle is thatthings which are moving tend to keep on moving, and things which are standing still tend to stand still, unless youpush them hard. Thistendencyis called ‘inertia,’but nobody knows why it’s true.”Now, that’sa deepunderstanding. He didn’tjustgive me thename.
Hewentonto say, “If you lookfrom the side, you’ll seethatit’s theback of the wagon thatyou’re pulling againstthe ball,and theball stands still. As a matter of fact, from thefrictionitstartsto move forward alittlebitinrelation tothe ground. It doesn’tmove back.”
arelikelytowaythingsare
I ran backto the little wagon and settheball up againand pulled the wagon. Looking sideways, I sawthatindeed he was right.Relativeto the sidewalk, itmoved forward a little bit.
That’s the way I was educated by my father, withthose kinds of examples and discussions:no pressure—just lovely, interesting discussions. Ithasmotivatedme forthe restof my life, and makes me interested inall the sciences. (Itjusthappens I do physics better.)
I’ve been caught, so to speak—like someone who was given something wonderful
when he wasa child, andhe’s always looking for itagain. I’m always looking, like a child, for the wonders Iknow I’m going to find—maybe noteverytime, butevery once in a while.
UsedbypermissionofW.W.NortonCompany.
DayOne:InstructionalExemplarforFeynman’s“TheMakingofaScientist”
SummaryofActivities
1.Teacherintroducestheday’spassagewithminimalcommentaryandstudentsreaditindependently(5minutes)
2.Teacheroraskillfulreaderthenreadsthepassageoutloudtotheclassasstudentsfollowalonginthetext(5minutes)
3.Teacheraskstheclasstodiscussthefirstsetoftext-dependentquestionsandperformtargetedtasksaboutthepassage,withanswersintheformofnotes,annotationstothetext,ormoreformalresponsesasappropriate(40minutes)
4.Forhomework,teacherasksstudentstorereadthepassageandrefinetheiranswerstothequestions.
TextPassage under Discussion / Directions forTeachers/GuidingQuestionsForStudentsBefore I was born, my fathertold mymother, “If it’s aboy, he’s
going to be a scientist.” When I was justalittlekid, very small in a highchair,myfatherbroughthomealotof littlebathroom tiles— seconds—ofdifferentcolors.We playedwith them,my father setting themupvertically onmyhighchair likedominoes,andI wouldpush one end so they would all go down…
[read theintervening paragraphs]
Butitwasthe opposite. He had alreadytaughtme: “Seethat bird?” he says. “It’s a Spencer’s warbler.” (I knew hedidn’tknow thereal name.) “Well, in Italian, it’saChuttoLapittida. In Portuguese it’sa Bom da Peida. In Chinese, it’sa Chung-long-tah, and inJapanese, it’saKatano Tekeda.You can knowthename of the bird inallthe languages of the world, butwhen you’re finished, you’ll know absolutelynothing whatever aboutthebird. You’ll only know abouthumans in differentplaces, and whattheycall the bird. So let’s lookatthe bird and see whatit’s doing— that’s whatcounts.” (I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something andknowing something.) / 1.Introducethepassage and students read independently.
Otherthangiving thebrief definitions offered to words students would likely not be abletodefine fromcontext (underlined inthetext),avoid giving any backgroundcontext or instructionalguidance attheoutset of the lesson while students are readingthetext silently.Thisclose readingapproach forces students to rely exclusivelyon thetext instead ofprivileging background knowledge and levels theplayingfield forall students as they seek to comprehend Feynman’s memoir.It is critical tocultivating independence and creating aculture ofclose readingthat students initiallygrapple with rich
texts like Feynman’s prose withouttheaid of prefatory material, extensive
notes, oreventeacherexplanations.
2.Read thepassageoutloudto theclass asstudents follow along in thetext.
Asking students to listen to“The Making ofaScientist” exposes studentsa
secondtime tothe rhythms and meaningofhis language before theybegin their ownclose reading ofthe passage.Speakingclearlyandcarefully will allow students to followFeynman’s narrative, and readingout loud with students following along improves fluency while offeringall students access to this complex text. Accurateandskillful modeling of the readingprovides students who may be dysfluent withaccurate pronunciations and syntactic patternsofEnglish.
TextPassage under Discussion / Directions forTeachers/GuidingQuestionsForStudents
Before I was born, my fathertold mymother, “If it’s a boy, he’s going to be a scientist.” When I was justa little
kid, very smallina highchair,my fatherbrought home alotof littlebathroomtiles—seconds—ofdifferent colors.We
played with them, my father setting themupvertically on my
highchairlikedominoes,and I wouldpush one end so they would all go down.
Then after a while, I’d help setthemup. Pretty soon,
we’re settingthemupin amore complicatedway: two white tiles and a blue tile,two white tiles andablue tile, andso on. When my mother saw thatshe said, “Leave the poor child alone. If he wantsto putablue tile, lethim puta blue tile.”
Butmy fathersaid, “No, I wantto show him what
patterns arelike andhow interesting they are. It’sa kind of elementarymathematics.” Sohe started very early to tell me aboutthe world and how interesting itis.
Wehadthe EncyclopaediaBritannicaathome.When I was a smallboy he used to sitme on his lap and readto me fromthe Britannica. We would be reading, say, about dinosaurs. Itwould be talkingabouttheTyrannosaurus rex, and itwould say something like, “This dinosaur is twenty-five feethigh and its head is six feetacross.”
My father would stop reading and say, “Now, let’s see whatthatmeans. That would mean thatif he stood in our frontyard, he would be tall enough to puthis head through our window up here.” (We were on the second floor.)“But
his head would be too wideto fitinthe window.” Everything heread tomehe would translateas besthe couldinto some reality.
Itwas very exciting and very,very interesting to think there wereanimals of suchmagnitude—andthattheyall
died out, andthatnobody knew why.I wasn’t frightened that
there wouldbe one cominginmy window asaconsequence ofthis. ButIlearned frommy fathertotranslate: everything I read I tryto figure outwhat itreally means, whatit’s really saying. / Largesetofbookscoveringallsortsofknowledge / 3. Ask theclass to answera small setoftext-dependent guidedquestionsand
performtargeted tasks about thepassage, with answers in the formofnotes,
annotationstothetext, ormore formal responses as appropriate.
As students move throughthese questionsand rereadFeynman’s memoir, be sure tocheck for and reinforce theirunderstanding ofacademic vocabulary in thecorrespondingtext(which will beboldfacedthe first time it appearsin the text).Attimes, the questionsthemselves may focuson academic vocabulary.
(Q1) What was Feynman’sfather trying to teachhisson with thetiles?What sentenceisthe main point of thisscene?
Students will likely say that he was teachinghis sonaboutpatternsor possibly thathe was teachinghim math.Teachers shouldask students togoback into the textto findthe main point—something even more importantthan patternsand math thathis father was trying toteachhim:“Sohe started very early totell me about the world and howinteresting it is.”
Ask studentsto putthelastparagraph ofthe textpassage (“It wasvery exciting...”) into their own words.
The message Feynmanis trying to convey by the dinosaurexample aligns quite well withthis task:When you read something,you must translateit so youtrulyunderstand it.His choice of wordslike “magnitude” and “consequence” are deliberate and reflectthe deep meaning of these words. (“Magnitude” implies both size and importance,for example.) Students should investigate whether their synonyms for these words capturethefull sense of whatFeynman is implying.Iftimepermits, afterstudents sharetheiranswers with one anotherand theclass, studentscould beofferedthe opportunity to rewrite their paraphrase.
Sidebar: Website on Tyrannosaurusrex
If students areintrigued to learn more about Tyrannosaurus rex,teachers can direct themtothe informative National Geographic webpage on that dinosaur:
3
TextPassage under Discussion / Directions forTeachers/GuidingQuestionsForStudents
WeusedtogototheCatskillMountains,aplacewherepeople
fromNewYorkCitywouldgointhesummer.ThefatherswouldallreturntoNewYorktoworkduringtheweekandcomebackonlyfortheweekend.Onweekends,myfatherwouldtakemeforwalksinthewoodsandhe’dtellmeaboutinterestingthingsthatweregoingoninthewoods.Whentheothermotherssawthis,theythoughtitwaswonderfulandthattheotherfathersshouldtaketheirsonsforwalks.Theytriedtoworkonthembuttheydidn’tgetanywhereatfirst.Theywantedmyfathertotakeallthekids,buthedidn’twanttobecausehehadaspecialrelationshipwithme.Soitendedupthattheotherfathershadtotaketheirchildrenforwalksthenextweekend.
ThenextMonday,whenthefatherswereallbackatwork,wekidswereplayinginafield.Onekidsaystome,“Seethatbird?Whatkindofbirdisthat?”
Isaid,“Ihaven’ttheslightestideawhatkindofabirditis.”
Hesays,“It’sabrown-throatedthrush.Yourfatherdoesn’tteachyouanything!”
Butitwastheopposite.Hehadalreadytaughtme:“Seethat
bird?”hesays.“It’saSpencer’swarbler.”(Iknewhedidn’tknowtherealname.)“Well,inItalian,it’saChuttoLapittida.InPortugueseit’saBomdaPeida.InChinese,it’saChung-long-tah,andinJapanese,it’saKatanoTekeda.Youcanknowthenameofthebirdinallthelanguagesoftheworld,butwhenyou’refinished,you’llknowabsolutelynothingwhateveraboutthebird.You’llonlyknowabouthumansindifferentplaces,andwhattheycallthebird.Solet’slookatthebirdandseewhatit’sdoing—that’swhatcounts.”(Ilearnedveryearlythedifferencebetweenknowingthenameofsomethingandknowingsomething.) / (Q2) In this section of the text,Feynman put the word“doing” (in
the finalparagraph) in italicstodraw attentionto it.Whyis he
focusing on that word, and how does it connecttothe lessonhis fatheris tryingto teachhim in this example?
Feynman’sfather is tryingtodrawadistinction between recalling the name of abirdandgenuinelyknowing something aboutbirds.The example ismeant to illustrate that whilethe same bird iscalled differentthings in different languages, knowingthe names of the bird (even madeupnames)doesn’t tell youanythingabout the bird—onlyabout whathumans have called it.For Feynman, what really matters—the difference between knowingthe name of somethingand knowing something—iscaptured in knowing what abirddoes.
DayTwo:InstructionalExemplarforFeynman’s“TheMakingofaScientist”
SummaryofActivities
1.Teacherintroducestheday’spassagewithminimalcommentaryandstudentsreaditindependently(5minutes)
2.Teacheroraskillfulreaderthenreadsthepassageoutloudtotheclassasstudentsfollowalonginthetext(5minutes)
3.Teacheraskstheclasstodiscusstext-dependentquestionsandperformtargetedtasksaboutthepassage,withanswersintheformofnotes,annotationstothetext,ormoreformalresponsesasappropriate(40minutes)
4.TeacherassignshomeworkthatasksstudentstowriteanexplanationofoneofFeynman’sexamplesandthelessonitrepresents
Text under Discussion / Directions forTeachers/GuidingQuestionsForStudentsHesaid,“Forexample,look:thebirdpecksatitsfeathersallthetime.Seeitwalkingaround,peckingatitsfeathers?”
“Yeah.”
Hesays,“Whydoyouthinkbirdspeckattheirfeathers?”
Isaid,“Well,maybetheymessuptheirfeatherswhentheyfly,sothey’repeckingtheminordertostraightenthemout.”
“Allright,”hesays.“Ifthatwerethecase,thentheywouldpeckalotjustafterthey’vebeenflying.Then,afterthey’vebeenonthegroundawhile,theywouldn’tpecksomuchanymore—youknowwhatImean?”
“Yeah.”
Hesays,“Let’slookandseeiftheypeckmorejustaftertheyland.”
Itwasn’thardtotell:therewasnotmuchdifferencebetweenthebirdsthathadbeenwalkingaroundabitandthosethathadjustlanded.SoIsaid,“Igiveup.Whydoesabirdpeckatitsfeathers?”
“Becausetherearelicebotheringit,”hesays.“Theliceeatflakesofproteinthatcomeoffitsfeathers.”
Hecontinued,“Eachlousehassomewaxystuffonitslegs,andlittlemiteseatthat.Themitesdon’tdigestitperfectly,sotheyemitfromtheirrearendsasugarlikematerial,inwhichbacteriagrow.”
Finallyhesays,“Soyousee,everywherethere’sasourceoffood,there’ssomeformoflifethatfindsit.”
Now,Iknewthatitmaynothavebeenexactlyalouse,thatitmightnotbeexactlytruethatthelouse’slegshavemites.Thatstorywasprobablyincorrectindetail,butwhathewastellingmewasrightinprinciple. / individualparts;generallaworlargertruth / (Q3)WhydoesFeynman’sfathertellhimabouttheliceand
themites on birds?
Students should connectthe lesson learnedin the previous example—to know something is toknow why it doessomething—to this one.Thebirddoessomething, namelypecksat its feathers.To knowthe bird wouldbe to knowwhyit pecks, andhisfather explores Feynman’s tentative answer with himbefore offering up his explanation.
(Q4)Feynman’sfathersays,“Soyousee,everywhere there’sasourceoffoodthere’ssomeformoflifethatfinds it.”Explain what is meant by this sentence and why “some” is in italics.
This is anothergood comprehensionquestion totest and see if studentstrulyunderstandFeynman’spoint about knowing.To his earlier insight about trulyknowing something, this example adds the furtherpoint that knowledge ofthe principleinquestion is key.The details—like the names ofthebirds or the relationship between lice and mites—might be incorrect in the particulars.But toFeynmanandhis father, what really mattered wasthe discoveryof theprinciple thatsome form of life (no matter how small or insignificant) will utilize anavailable source offood.
Text under Discussion / Directions forTeachers/GuidingQuestionsForStudents
Nothavingexperiencewithmanyfathers,Ididn’trealize
howremarkablehewas.Howdidhelearnthedeepprinciplesofscienceandtheloveofit,what’sbehindit,andwhyit’sworthdoing?Ineverreallyaskedhim,becauseIjustassumedthatthosewerethingsthatfathersknew.
Myfathertaughtmetonoticethings.Oneday,Iwasplayingwithan“expresswagon,”alittlewagonwitharailingaroundit.Ithadaballinit,andwhenIpulledthewagon,Inoticedsomethingaboutthewaytheballmoved.Iwenttomyfatherandsaid,“Say,Pop,Inoticedsomething.WhenIpullthewagon,theballrollstothebackofthewagon.AndwhenI’mpullingitalongandIsuddenlystop,theballrollstothefrontofthewagon.Whyisthat?”
“That,nobodyknows,”hesaid.“Thegeneralprincipleisthatthingswhicharemovingtendtokeeponmoving,andthingswhicharestandingstilltendtostandstill,unlessyoupushthemhard.Thistendencyiscalled‘inertia,’butnobodyknowswhyit’strue.”Now,that’sadeepunderstanding.Hedidn’tjustgivemethename.
Hewentontosay,“Ifyoulookfromtheside,you’llseethatit’sthebackofthewagonthatyou’repullingagainsttheball,andtheballstandsstill.Asamatteroffact,fromthefrictionitstartstomoveforwardalittlebitinrelationtotheground.Itdoesn’tmoveback.”
Iranbacktothelittlewagonandsettheballupagainandpulledthewagon.Lookingsideways,Isawthatindeedhewasright.Relativetothesidewalk,itmovedforwardalittlebit.
That’sthewayIwaseducatedbymyfather,withthosekindsofexamplesanddiscussions:nopressure—justlovely,interestingdiscussions.Ithasmotivatedmefortherestofmylife,andmakes meinterestedinallthesciences.(ItjusthappensIdophysicsbetter.)
I’vebeencaught,sotospeak—likesomeonewhowasgiven
somethingwonderfulwhenhewasachild,andhe’salwayslookingforitagain.I’malwayslooking,likeachild,forthewondersIknowI’mgoingtofind—maybenoteverytime,buteveryonceinawhile. / arelikelytowaythings
are / (Q5) After rereading thesectionofthetextonthe wagon andball
example, ifmaterials allow, ask studentstoengage inthisexperiment themselves orto guidetheteacher in physically re-creating it (or a similar experimentthat illustrates the lawof inertia).
Feynman’sexample shows the principle behind inertia—“that things which are moving tend tokeepon moving, andthings which are standing still tend to stand still”—a point he stressedin his explanationof what it meansto knowsomething.Teachersshould note thatFeynman’s father isquick toconfess to notknowing why there is a lawof inertia(“nobody knows”),butdoes explain the law throughan example thathethenuses to extract a “general principle.”
Sidebar: Website onInertia
The following website has several helpful videos onthe law of
inertia:
law-inertia-223913/
(Q6) In thefinal paragraph,Feynmansayshe “was givensomething wonderful whenhe was achild.”Using two ofthe examplesfromthe text, explain what he was given andhowit influencedhis life.
Feynmanbeautifully discusses how his father “educated” himand how it “motivated [him] for the rest of [his] life.” Whathis father gave him was“lovely, interestingdiscussions” that “caught”his imaginationas a child to sucha degree thatFeynman is “always looking for” those kinds of discussions.
Answeringthisquestion will require students to draw material from throughout the textand will be veryuseful to students when theytransitionto the writingassignment.Students shouldcite the principleFeynman’s father was trying toconvey in each example (“tryto figure out what [I read] really means”; “thedifference betweenknowing thename of something and knowing something").