Students’ Considerations of Archimedes Law - Use of Historic Introduction in Science Teaching

Abstract

One of the most significant features of science is the formulation of appropriate hypotheses and their testing. This particular feature of science requires the researcher to use imagination, creativity and skills in order to formulate a hypothesis that is new - funny sometimes and strange at other times. Such hypotheses may be reached as a result of a dream, intuition or accident. The aim of this study was to explore students’ attitudes toward the scientific exploration not as a result of systematic method, but through the use of the historical introduction. This study used the story of Archimedes and the golden crown and Archimedes’ discovery of the law of density as a concrete illustration of classroom implementation. The findings of this study provide evidence that students changed their view of Archimedes after their knowledge of the story of his discovery. This study demonstrates that teaching science through historical accounts of scientific discoveries can increase students’ understanding of the significance of scientific imagination and intuition for scientific discoveries.