DRAMA FOR INCLUSION IN SCIENCE

Abstract

Role plays, using given roles or simulated and improvised enactments, are claimed to improve learning of concepts, understanding the nature of science and appreciation of science's relationship with society (Ødegaard, 2001). Historical events often provide well-established examples of scientific discoveries, with the process of the discovery described and justified in fine detail. Adjacent to each discovery, we can find other investigations and outcomes, to set each one in scientific context. This enables researchers and teachers to construct the web of scientific advance at that time. In addition, each event takes place in a social context, often in the midst of political and social revolutions. However, these are rarely advertised in the journal accounts, which mostly focus on pure scientific aspects. Unearthing this complex interplay between the science, the nature of science itself which was developing throughout history, the social environment, is not straightforward for busy classroom teachers. The paper also notes that accounts feature the celebrities, and not the contributions of others such artisans, whose work was crucial to each and every discovery. This paper aims to document a particular Case Study involving explorations of the chemical properties of water-soluble gases, in Lavoisier’s laboratory in the 1770s. The carpenter and a stonemason, provide the Lavoisiers with a pneumatic trough, containing mercury, in which to manipulate the gases. To promote social justice, it uses dramatic licence to give them a voice.   Ødegaard M 2001, Unpublished Dr. scient., Dissertation, University of Oslo.