Edmund Halley English conversation lesson

I can make the claim that I saw Halley's Comet.  Yes, it was in 1976, and this time the comet was not so spectacular as it must have been in 1910,  this comet makes its orbit around the sun every 76 years. But what about the man who we remember by its' name?  Edmund Halley who is known  as the discoverer of the comet did many other things as well.

This site gives an introduction to his life,
http://space.about.com/cs/kidshu1/a/edmundhalley58.htm

but this one has even more details, look down a about a fourth down the page and look up Edmund Halley.
http://www.3rd1000.com/history.htm

Questions

Where was he born?  What year was he born?

How old was he when he entered college?

What was his profession? 

What did he discover about the comets? 

Where did he do most of his work cataloging stars?

When did he die? 

When did the comet come back? 

Why do we call the comet by his name? 

Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher 

Count Alessandro Volta

Count Alessandro Volta invented the first battery.  He used the idea from Luigi Galvani who was working with frogs.  Nowadays, we are dependent upon our batteries, Whoops, I have to plug in the laptop, computer it is only at 10%!


Read this fun website about Count Alessandro Volta!
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/scientists/volta.html

Vocabulary

a noble family

pioneer

electrostatics, 

meteorology   

pneumatics

anatomist

dissecting

vicinity

 modified 

a current

a wet battery called a Voltaic Pile

 closed the circuit

Questions

What is a "volt?"

What is his most famous invention?

What other fields did he work in? 

Why did he work with frogs?

Explain the action of the Voltanic Pile. 

Why was it a pile?

Why was it filled salt water?

Why does it work?

How do you close a circuit?

Who made Volta a Count? Why?

How is this battery similar or different from our batteries?

What was this invention used for? 

Was this invention used to store power? 

Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher 

James Clerk Maxwell - Science English Lesson

James Clerk Maxwell was one of the giants of the 1800's his work formed one of the basis of the modern world.

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/scientists/jamesmaxwell.html

Questions

Where did Maxwell attend University?
What physical process do his equations describe?
Why are his equations important?
Which other physicist admired Maxwell's work?
Where was he appointed as a professor?
How did he describe the rings of Saturn?
Which other fields did he contribute?
What is his legacy to the modern world?





Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher