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US Scientist File/Gadd: Scientist File

Each student will choose a scientist from the list, clearing the choice with Dr. Gadd to avoid duplication.

Directions

You will prepare a file on a scientist which will include the following seven items: The four specified (required) documents, one document from each of two sets of additional choices (set A and set B), and a bibliography.

THE GRAVESTONES ARE DUE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29.

THE REST OF THE PROJECT IS DUE ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4.

Four Required Documents

These documents are to be created by you, and will include:

  1. A birth certificate for the scientist designed and filled in by you. 
    • This should include the scientist's full name, date and place of birth, and parents' names, including the mother's maiden name.
  2. A curriculum vitae for the scientist two years prior to death. 
    • This should include the scientist's education and professional experiences as well as any honors and other important achievements and be presented in a modern resume format. Be very detailed, include dates, and present in reverse chronological order.
  3. An obituary, as from a newspaper or magazine. 
    • ​This should include the date, location, age at time and cause of death; the names of any surviving family members; and that for which the scientist will be most remembered. (Note that this may not be the scientist's most famous experiment.) A brief review of his or her greatest achievements would also be in order.
  4. A gravestone. 
    • This should include the full birth and death dates (not just years) as well as a pithy one line summary of the scientist for an epitaph. This should be creative and clearly be a reference to the deceased.

Set A (choose one)

  1. A letter from the scientist to another scientist of the same time period. 
    • This should include a detailed description of the work being discussed and indicate why your scientist might've corresponded with the other.
  2. A newspaper front page published the day after the announcement of the scientist's most important contribution to science. 
    • This should include a detailed description of the contribution and why it is important. Other events of the time period should also appear on the front page.
  3. A letter "from the scientist to the government" requesting funds for the scientist's most important project. 
    • This would include a detailed description of the experiment the scientist would like to do and why it is important. Use a modern business letter format; be sure to date and address the letter to someone in the government of the country in which the majority of the work was performed.
  4. An original commemorative poem of your own creation. 
  5. A journal writing in the voice of the scientist as a teenager. 
    • This should focus on the early life of the scientist and include a reference to any important events occurring in the scientist's country and in the world at the time of his or her youth. Be sure to date the entry.

Set B (choose one)

  1. A design for a modern commemorative stamp or coin to be issued by the country in which the scientist spent most of his or her working life. 
    • Be sure to use the appropriate monetary symbol and any other markings typical to stamps/coins from the given country.
  2. A vanity plate which would unmistakably mark the scientist if he or she had lived in the era of the automobile. 
    • This should include the car's country/state, marked for the country in which he or she worked most of his or her life.
  3. A wedding invitation announcing the scientist's impending marriage. 
    • This should include date, location and maiden name of the bride. You can make up other details as needed.
  4. An editorial cartoon concerning the scientist.
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