ScienceMakers Toolkit Manual - The History Makers

Chemistry
5. Dr. Lester discusses his grandmother and her success in business. What do you know about the work that
your grandparents do? If they are retired or have passed away, what kind of work did they do? How did
this affect your parents? How did it affect you? Think about your family. Are there any business owners
among them? If so, what kind of business? What can you learn from them about owning their own
business? (See Clip #2)
6. Dr. Lester talks about integrating his high school. Think about your school. Estimate the racial mix of
your class, your grade, and your school. Is this different from when Dr. Lester was in school? How?
Research the integration of schools, both nationally and in your community. What were some of the
major steps? Why was school integration so important? How does this make a difference in the way you
are growing up versus Dr. Lester’s experience? (See Clip #3)
7. Dr. Lester discusses his high school chemistry teacher. What was his name? How did he infl uence Dr.
Lester? How did he come to suggest Dr. Lester’s college choice? Did he aid Dr. Lester? How? Think
about the teachers you have had. Is there a teacher who encouraged you in a particular area? Who was
that teacher? What area did he or she encourage you to study? Why? Do you plan to pursue that area in
college? Why or why not? (See Clip #4)
8. Dr. Lester was an outstanding athlete in college. Which sport? What records did he set? Does he still
hold them? Why didn’t he play professional basketball? What did he want to do instead? Do you play
sports? If so, what do you play? How can sports help you become a well-rounded individual? How can
science help you become a well-rounded individual? How can sports help you prepare for a career? How
can science help you prepare for a career? (See Clip #5)
Science:
9. What do you think a computational chemist does? Would you like to be a computational chemist? Why?
10. If you were a computational chemist, what kinds of questions would you study?
11. Dr. Lester works to discover the structure of the atom. What are the parts of the atom? How are these
parts arranged? Look at the periodic table of elements. What makes one element different from another?
12. Dr. Lester talks about trying to describe the instantaneous behavior of electrons. Think of an electron
as a ball that you have thrown into the air. What happens to the ball? Can you describe its path, its
position in space over time? How can you describe its exact position at a specifi c time? This is called
its instantaneous position. Why do you suppose it would be important to know the instantaneous
position of an electron? (See Clip #6) [Teacher’s note: The better understanding we have of an electron’s
behavior, the better advances we can make in electronics. See Shirley Ann Jackson’s interview for more
on this.]
13. What was the diffi culty in determining the instantaneous position of the electron? (You will have to
listen closely) How did Dr. Lester solve this problem? What did this lead to? He explains the mindset
of scientists who are conducting research. What is that mindset? Can you think of anyone else who
might share this mindset? Give some examples. [Teacher’s note: This can lead to a discussion of
explorers and/or record-breaking athletes and the need to excel.] How can this mindset help you in your
life? (See Clip #6)
14. Dr. Lester talks about the advice he gives to those he worked with at IBM. What was it? How can you
put this advice into practice? Give specifi c examples for putting this advice into practice by the end of
the school year. (See Clip #7)
20