A sight for sore eyes IBN AL-HAYTHAM DISCOVERED THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE CAMERA BEFORE IT
2
top to bottom and place it inside the container. The tube should be as wide as
HAD EVEN BEEN INVENTED. I GUESS IT JUST CLICKED FOR HIM, HA HA!
the container. 3
BRAINY BREAKTHROUGH NAME: IBN AL-HAYTHAM (AD 965–1038)
Stretch a piece of greaseproof paper over the open end of the container and secure it with an elastic band.
4
NATIONALITY: BORN IN MODERN IRAQ
Roll the other sheets of black paper into a tube and secure it with sticky tape. Then stick this black tube to the greaseproof paper end of the container.
5 Ibn al-Haytham was the first person to suggest you see something when light
Take the lid off the container. Make a tube by rolling a sheet of black paper from
So there it is – you’ve made a pinhole viewer – I hope the Sun is still shining! Peep the viewer out through the curtains and look through the black paper tube end.
reflects from that object into your eye. Before then many people thought that DON’T LOOK AT THE SUN OR YOU’LL NEED NEW EYEBALLS!
the eyes produced a ray to see things by. Ibn al-Haytham used maths and experiments to show that light travels in straight lines and it bends (refracts, as scientists say) as it passes through water. Here’s a device that he built to help with his research…
WHAT HAPPENS:
You should see an upside-down, back-to-front view of the outside world.
WHAT YOU NEED:
THIS IS BECAUSE:
•
Sticky tape and scissors
You’re looking at light that shone through the hole and is being projected on the
•
4 sheets of black A4 paper – ideally non-shiny
greaseproof paper. As Ibn al-Haytham realized, light travels in straight lines, and that
•
Container about 20–23 cm long – one of those crisp tubes is ideal
means light from the sky is projected on the bottom of the paper and light from the
•
2 large elastic bands
lower part of the scene makes it to the top of the paper, so you see the world upside
•
Drawing pin, small screwdriver, hammer and nail
down. Left and right are reversed in the same way. This is much the same way as a
•
Greaseproof paper
camera works, although there is a film or a light sensor rather than paper at the back
•
Pet adult
of the box.
•
Bright sunny day
•
Room with thick, dark curtains
Horrible Science: Famously Foul Experiments by Nick Arnold
WHAT YOU DO:
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Use the drawing pin to make a hole in the middle of the bottom of the container. Use the hammer and nail and then the screwdriver to make the hole a little larger. The ideal size is 4–5 mm – don’t make it bigger. Younger readers should order their pet adult to undertake this tricky task.
2
3
Questions
Teaching Assessment
1 ‘Ibn al-Haytham discovered the principle behind the camera before it had even been invented.’ In this sentence, the word ‘principle’ is closest in meaning to: headteacher
concept
inventor
concert
[1 mark]
2 When did Ibn al-Haytham live?
[1 mark]
3 Which section in the text tells you about the resources needed for the experiment?
[1 mark]
4 What is the name of the device that Ibn al-Haytham built?
[1 mark]
5 Why might younger readers need an adult to help them with this experiment? [1 mark] 6 Why do you think the author chose to write ‘I guess it just clicked for him’?
[2 marks]
7 The author tells you to conduct the experiment on a ‘bright sunny day’. Predict what would happen if you did not follow this instruction. Explain your answer.
[1 mark]
9 ‘Younger readers should order their pet adult to undertake this tricky task.’ Locate another place in the text where a warning is given to readers. Copy the phrase or sentence. [1 mark]
10 The author has written the text using an informal style. Give two examples of words or phrases from the text that support this opinion.
A Sight for Sore Eyes is an information text that sets out to explain how light enters the eye. The extract combines explanatory and instructional features in an informal and humorous style. At the core of the extract is Ibn al-Haytham’s pinhole viewer experiment, which established the principle behind the camera hundreds of years before the development of photography. This extract supports the scientific study of the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye. Due to Ibn al-Haytham’s connection with the Islamic Golden Age, this extract can also be used to support historical study of Baghdad c. AD 900 and can be used alongside the extract from The Golden Age of Baghdad later in this book. The following activities offer enrichment and application opportunities by engaging pupils in further activities inspired by the text. These activities offer opportunities to work independently and with a partner. They also enable children to use their reading comprehension skills for scientific enquiry and to embed their spoken language skills.
1 concept
1 mark (Content Domain 2a)
2 AD 965-1038
1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
3 What you need
1 mark (Content Domain 2c)
[2 marks]
8 What type of text do you think this is? Give examples from the text to support your opinion.
About this extract
[2 marks]
4 Expected standard: Pupils should write ‘pinhole viewer’. To answer this question, pupils need to read across the text to locate the phrase ‘you’ve made a pinhole viewer’ and connect this with the earlier phrase ‘Here’s a device that he built to help with his research’. 1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
5 Expected standard: Pupils should explain that using a drawing pin, small screwdriver, hammer and nail is potentially dangerous, so younger children should seek adult help to avoid potential accidents. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
6 Expected standard: Pupils should explain that Ibn al-Haytham discovered the principle behind the camera and as cameras make a click sound when taking a photograph, this is an effective phrase to use. 1 mark (Content Domain 2g) Extension: Some pupils may be able to further explain that saying something has ‘clicked’ is a phrase used to show that someone has understood an idea.1 additional mark (Content Domain 2g)
7 Expected standard: Pupils should predict that there would be no image if the experiment was conducted without sunlight.
1 mark (Content Domain 2e)
Extension: Some pupils may be able to explain that without bright sunlight there would be insufficient light rays travelling through the hole in the viewer, so the image on the screen would be weaker than on a bright day. 1 additional mark (Content Domain 2e) 4
5
Fuzzy Mud 8 Expected standard: Pupils should identify the text as an explanation, instructional text or a combination of both of these. They should support their opinion by referring to organisational and grammatical features. E.g. It is an explanation text as it explains the science processes by using phrases such as ‘what happens’ and ‘this is because’; it is an instruction text as it lists ‘what you need’ and ‘what to do’ and uses the imperative form to make command sentences such as ‘take the lid off the container’… 1 mark (Content Domain 2f)
9 Expected standard: Pupils should copy the sentence ‘Don’t look at the Sun or you’ll need new eyeballs!’
1 mark (Content Domain 2f)
10 Expected standard: Pupils should refer to any two words or phrases that are evidence of an informal style e.g. A sight for sore eyes; I guess it just clicked for him; Pet adult; you’ll need new eyeballs. Up to 2 marks (Content Domain 2g) Enrichment and application Explore Use a dictionary or www.collinsdictionary.com to find out more about these words: • aperture • reflect • refract • hypothesise • optics • variables
In a secluded valley thirty-three miles northwest of Woodridge Academy was SunRay Farm. You wouldn’t know it was a farm if you saw it. There were no animals, no green pastures, and no crops – at least, none that grew big enough for anyone to see with the naked eye. Instead, what you would see – if you made it past the armed guards, past the electric fence topped with barbed wire, past the alarms and security cameras – would be rows and rows of giant storage tanks. You also wouldn’t be able to see the network of tunnels and underground pipes connecting the storage tanks to the main laboratory, also underground. Hardly anyone in Heath Cliff knew about SunRay Farm, and certainly not Tamaya-or her friends. Those who had heard of it had only vague ideas about what was going on there. They might have heard of Biolene but probably didn’t know exactly what it was. A little more than a year before – that is, about a year before Tamaya Dhilwaddi cut her hair and started the fifth grade – the United States Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment held a series of secret hearings regarding SunRay Farm and Biolene. The following testimony is excerpted from that inquiry: SENATOR WRIGHT: You worked at SunRay Farm for two years before being fired, is that correct?
Extension: Write a sentence for each word showing how it can be used in the context of A Sight for Sore Eyes. Research Use books and the internet to find out more about Ibn al-Haytham. Use these key words to help with your research: • Ibn al-Haytham; • Islamic Golden Age; • Book of Optics; • scientific method.
DR. MARC HUMBARD: No, that is not correct. They never fired me. SENATOR WRIGHT: I’m sorry. I’d been informedDR. MARC HUMBARD: Well, they may have tried to fire me, but I’d already quit. I just hadn’t told anyone yet. SENATOR WRIGHT: I see. SENATOR FOOTE: But you no longer work there? DR. MARC HUMBARD: I couldn’t be in the same room with Fitzy a minute longer!
6
Discuss Work with a partner to carry out the experiment described in A Sight for Sore Eyes. Talk about your results and hypothesise about what might happen if you change any of the variables in the experiment e.g. the size of the aperture, the amount of sunlight, the darkness of the room. Test your hypotheses by conducting a series of experiments.
SENATOR WRIGHT: Are you referring to Jonathan Fitzman, the inventor of Biolene?
Write Write up the results of the experiment you conducted.
around the lab, muttering to himself, his arms flailing. It was impossible for the rest
Extension: Try to make your writing sound like a scientific report by using the passive voice, e.g. the aperture was enlarged; comparisons were made; the variables were changed…
like you were the one who was crazy! He wouldn’t even know he was singing. And
The man’s crazy. And when I say crazy, I mean one hundred percent bananas.
DR. MARC HUMBARD: Everyone thinks he's some kind of genius, but who did all the work? Me, that's who! Or at least, I would have, if he had let me. He’d pace of us to concentrate. He’d sing songs! And if you asked him to stop, he’d look at you then, out of the blue, he’d slap the side of his head and shout, “No, no, no!” And 7
Questions suddenly I’d have to stop everything I’d been working on and start all over again.
1 ’Those who had heard of it had only vague ideas about what was going on there.’ In
SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, we’ve heard that Mr Fitzman can be a bit … eccentric.
this sentence, the word ‘vague’ is closest in meaning to:
SENATOR FOOTE: Which is one reason why we are concerned about Biolene. Is it
certain
empty
popular
unclear
[1 mark]
truly a viable alternative to gasoline? SENATOR WRIGHT: This country needs clean energy, but is it safe?
2 How many people spoke during the Senate Committee meeting?
[1 mark]
DR. MARC HUMBARD: Clean energy? Is that what they’re calling it? There’s nothing
3 Decide whether each statement about the extract is true or false.
[1 mark]
clean about it. It’s an abomination of nature! You want to know what they’re doing True
at SunRay Farm? You really want to know? Because I know. I know! committee, Mr Humbard.
The Senate Committee Meeting took place whilst Tamaya Dhilwaddi was in the fifth grade.
DR. MARC HUMBARD: Doctor.
Biolene was invented by Jonathan Fitzman.
SENATOR FOOTE: Excuse me?
Biolene is a high-energy bacteria.
SENATOR FOOTE: Yes, we want to know. That's why you've been called before this
DR. MARC HUMBARD: It’s “Dr. Humbard,” not “Mr. Humbard.” I have a PhD in microbiology. SENATOR WRIGHT: Our apologies. Tell us, please, Dr. Humbard, what are they
4 What was grown at SunRay Farm?
DR. MARC HUMBARD: They have created a new form of life, never seen before. SENATOR WRIGHT: A kind of high-energy bacteria, as I understand it. To be used as fuel. DR. MARC HUMBARD: Not bacteria. Slime mold. People always confuse the two. Both are microscopic, but they are really quite different. We began with simple slime mold, but Fitzy altered its DNA to create something new: a single-celled living creature that is totally unnatural to this planet. SunRay Farm is now growing these
[1 mark]
5 How would you describe the layout of the text? Why do you think the author has organised it this way?
doing at SunRay Farm that you find so abominable?
False
[2 marks]
6 What do you think will happen later in the story? Explain your answer with evidence from the text.
[1 mark]
7 Dr. Humbard was proud of his qualifications. What evidence from the text suggests this?
[1 mark]
8 What was security like at SunRay Farm? Record two pieces of evidence that give you this impression.
[2 marks]
man-made microorganisms – these tiny Frankensteins – so that they can burn them 9 What do ‘arms flailing’ and ‘he wouldn’t even know he was singing’ suggest about
alive inside automobile engines. SENATOR FOOTE: Burn them alive? Don’t you think that’s a bit strong, Dr. Humbard? We’re talking about microbes here. After all, every time I wash my hands
Jonathan Fitzman?
10 Why do you think SunRay Farm was in a secluded location?
[1 mark] [1 mark]
or brush my teeth, I kill hundreds of thousands of bacteria. DR. MARC HUMBARD: Just because they’re small doesn’t mean their lives aren’t worthwhile. SunRay Farm is creating life for the sole purpose of destroying it. SENATOR WRIGHT: But isn’t that what all farmers do? Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar 8
9
Teaching Assessment 7 Expected standard: Pupils should explain that Dr Humbard corrected Senator Foote when he
About this extract Fuzzy Mud is an ecological thriller about the spillage and consequential damage caused by an engineered micro-organism: Biolene. Told as a third person narrative, the story includes regular script-style flashbacks in the form of transcripts from a secret government hearing. This extract supports scientific study into living things and their habitats, with a specific focus on micro-organisms. It offers opportunity for discussion about the positive and negative roles played by micro-organisms. The following activities offer enrichment and application opportunities by engaging pupils in further study of the text. These activities offer opportunities to work independently, with a partner and as part of a group. They also enable children to use their reading comprehension skills for scientific enquiry and to embed their spoken language skills.
called him Mr Humbard and went on to tell him that he had a PhD in microbiology. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
8 Expected standard: Pupils should infer that security was high at SunRay Farm. They should note any two of the following examples in their answer: armed guards; an electric fence topped with barbed wire; alarms; security cameras. 2 marks (Content Domain 2d)
9 Expected standard: Pupils should explain that both phrases suggest that Jonathan Fitzman lacked control of his actions. To answer this question, pupils need to understand that ‘flailing’ is an uncontrolled action. 1 mark (Content Domain 2g)
10 Expected standard: Pupils should infer that a secluded location would ensure that people did not know what was taking place at SunRay Farm.
1 unclear
1 mark (Content Domain 2a)
2 three
1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
3
True The Senate Committee Meeting took place whilst Tamaya Dhilwaddi was in the fifth grade. Biolene was invented by Jonathan Fitzman.
False
✓
1 mark for all three correct (Content Domain 2c)
4 Expected standard: Pupils should write Biolene.
1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
5 Expected standard: Pupils should describe the text layout as two sections; one set out as prose and the other set out as a script. They should give one reason for this layout e.g. making a clear distinction between the description and the revelation of what is taking place in SunRay Farm. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d) Extension: Some pupils may be able to explain that by presenting the text in this way, the author has been able to indicate two time periods; the present time at SunRay Farm and a year prior at the Senate Committee meeting. 1 additional mark (Content Domain 2f)
6 Expected standard: Accept any reasonable prediction, supported with an opinion, based upon what has been read. E.g. The title of the story makes me think that the Biolene will escape from SunRay Farm and form Fuzzy Mud; I think the Biolene will get spilt and get out of control because Dr. Humbard says it is unnatural to this planet which suggests nothing will be able to stop it. 1 mark (Content Domain 2e) 10
Enrichment and application Read Read the epilogue to Fuzzy Mud. In it, the Senate Committee were faced with a Hobson’s choice about the continued production of Biolene. Find out what is meant by a Hobson’s choice. In your book, explain the Hobson’s choice faced by the Senate Committee.
✓
✓
Biolene is a high-energy bacteria.
1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
Research Use books and the internet to find out about penicillin. Make notes about what you find out, organising them under the following headings: • Who discovered penicillin, and when? • What it is? • What it is used for? • The positive and negative effects of antibiotics Extension: Write a non-chronological report about penicillin. Discuss In your group, talk about what might happen if bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Try to decide what people should do to stop this from happening. Investigate Enter the phrase ‘How to make yoghurt in a thermos flask’ into an internet search engine. Read and evaluate the articles you find, choosing one that you find easy to follow. Assemble the required equipment and follow the instructions. Taste your yoghurt once it is ready to eat. Extension: Work with your group to think of, and make, flavourings for your yoghurt. Ask the rest of the class to taste the different flavours and rate them from best to least favourite. Construct a chart using your survey data. 11