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MSNBC is reporting that British physicist and Cambridge University
Professor Stephen Hawking received the distinguished Copley medal.
This medal is awarded by the Royal Society, Britain’s elite scientific
academy. Previous recipients have included Charles Darwin, Albert
Einstein and Louis Pasteur. The article reports that the academy’s
president Lord Reese said, "Stephen Hawking has contributed as much
as anyone since Einstein to our understanding of gravity…This medal
is a fitting recognition of an astonishing research career spanning more
than 40 years."

Read the Article!!

Hawking is best known for his research on "black holes." You can
learn more about black holes at the Wikipedia website.

Discussion-Starters for Younger Students:

  • Tell your students that a famous scientist from England won a
    very important award. Tell them that the man is known as a
    great teacher and he also learns a lot of new things that he
    teaches other people. Now tell them that the man is paralyzed,
    he cannot move. Ask what lessons we can learn from this man’
    s life. Encourage your students to support their opinions.

  • Ask your students how they think that Stephen Hawking felt
    after he received the award. Why would he feel this way? You
    might tell your students to pretend that they are Stephen
    Hawking. They could either draw a picture or write a journal
    entry describing their feelings.

  • Ask your students if they know what gravity is. Now ask them
    to imagine what life would be like if things didn't stay on the
    ground when they were put down. Share some of your own
    thoughts.

  • In the article, Stephen Hawking says that people need to set up
    colonies on other planets. Ask your students if they think that
    people are ever going to live in outer space. What might it be
    like to live in outer space? You might ask your students to
    develop skits in which they demonstrate what life might be like
    in outer space.


Discussion-Starters for Older Students:

  • Ask your students what the following words mean: "gravity,"
    "exploration," "paralyze," and "distinguished."

  • Ask your students what they would choose to explore if they
    could explore one new thing. Why? You might have your
    students write an informative essay explaining why they would
    explore this new thing and what they might expect to find there.

  • Professor Hawking has a website. You might consider perusing
    it with your child(ren). On one page he writes about his
    “disability:” (his word) http://www.hawking.org.
    uk/text/disable/disable.html Though Professor Hawking is
    paralyzed and cannot speak, he has written four books and
    given many lectures. Ask if it’s fair to say that he has a
    “disability.” Is it possible that his medical condition has enabled
    him to accomplish as much as he has? Why/why not?

  • Your students might develop skits in which they interview
    “Professor Hawking” to ask him what effect his illness has had
    on his life. One student could play Hawking while others could
    play the interviewers. If possible, you might even consider
    taping these interviews and placing them on-line with a vodcast.

  • Professor Hawking was honored with the Copley medal. Ask
    your students why they think so many different organizations
    issue awards. Are awards important? Why/why not?

  • Ask your students if they think it’s important for people to try
    and understand black holes or other characteristics of the
    universe? Why? You might hold a debate in your class to
    discuss this question.
Go Forth into Space  
November 30, 2006
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