Course
and Materials Overview
This
page is a compilation of downloadable and online resources
that may be useful for instructors wishing to teach
a course on Mathematical and Scientific German at roughly
the fourth-semester college level. The course includes:
- 6
1-8 page texts accompanied by vocabulary lists and
detailed "Think Sheets"
- 2
visits to local scientific museums, with accompanying
worksheets
- Guest
lectures (varying from term to term), such as a Planetarium
show, a presentation on nutrition, or a review of
arithmetic and geometry
- "Schnitzeljagden"
on Astronomy and the Periodic Table
- Experiments
based on the German TV-Show "Knoff-Hoff,"
presented by students in groups at midterm
- Final
group presentations on topics students choose, such
as the basics of rocket science, beer, Newtonian vs
non-Newtonian fluids, dinosaurs, lasers, etc.
- A
"Basic Scientific Vocabulary" (with accompanying
exercises), which students must master in the first
month of the course
- Additional
vocabulary lists accompanying the readings and guest
lectures, and usage information on commonly used words
("Superwörter")
- Grammar
review using the "Interactive Grammar Tutor"
- Writing
assignments for which students assume the identity
of a real or imagined scientist, which they develop
in the course of the term
- Practice
in finding and reading scientific articles online
Only
resources used specifically for this course are listed
on this page; resources used more generally in our courses
such as the "Interactive Grammar Tutor," the
"German on the Web" link list, information
on learning strategies etc., are available on the general
resource page.
Please
use the "Contact/Feedback" link in the sidebar
for questions and comments, or to inquire about incorporating
any materials from this site in materials for commercial
use.
Downloadable
Resources
Click
on the links to download the Word files. Feel free to
use and edit them to suit your needs. Please use the
"Contact/Feedback" link in the sidebar if
you have trouble downloading something, if something
you'd like to download isn't here, or if you'd like
me to mail you a copy of one or more of the articles
listed below.
- Sample
Lesson Plans from Winter 2001
- Schnitzeljagden
- Astronomie
- Die
periodische Tabelle Works best in conjunction
with some laminated German-language periodic tables.
One possible source: Fluck, Ekkehard / Heumann,
Klaus Gustav. Periodensystem der Elemente.
3. Auflage. Weinheim: Wiley VCH, 2002. ISBN 3-527-30716-8.
Price is € 7.90 each plus shipping; 13 would
be enough for a class of 25 students. URL for
Wiley VCH is http://www.wiley-vch.de/publish/dt/
- "Think
Sheets" & Vocabulary Lists for Reading Assignments
- Warum
ist der Himmel blau?
- Der
versteinerte Wald (und die bemalte Wüste)
- Source:
German tourist brochure available from: National
Park Service, Petrified Forest National Park,
Arizona 86028
- Think
Sheet
- Vocabulary
List
- Mütter,
die niemals lebten
- Das
Gesetz von der Äquivalenz von Masse und Energie
(E = mc2)
- Der
Stern der Weisen und die Wissenschaft
- Miscellaneous
Vocabulary Lists
- Sample
Museum Worksheets
- Knoff-Hoff
Experiment Summaries
-
Bibliographic Information: Joachim Bublath. 100
x Knoff hoff. Die interessantesten Experimente,
Tricks und Kunststücke. München:
Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1995.
- "Other"
- Ewiger
Kalender These are instructions for doing
a "perpetual calendar trick," i.e. calculating
the day of the week for any date in the 20th century
(and instructions for a slight modification for
dates in the 19th or 21st century). This works
well on a day when you're discussing arithmetic
and "Textaufgaben." A natural assignment
once you've demonstrated how it works is to have
students figure out the day of the week on which
they were born.
- Kennenlernen
This transparency works well as an ice-breaker
on the first day. Includes questions like "Wer
ist ihr Lieblingswissenschaftler?" and "Würden
Sie gern geklont werden?"
- Wissenschaftliche
Zitate Miscellaneous provocative scientific
quotes, great as discussion starters. E.g.: "Wußten
Sie schon, daß Spinnen jahrelang ohne Marmelade
leben können, wenn man ihnen täglich
eine Traubenzuckerlösung injiziert?"
"Als Arzt an das Leben nach dem Tode glauben
muß schrecklich sein." "Der moderne
Mensch hat sich auf den Operationstisch der Wissenschaft
geschnallt; er ist jetzt Operierter und Operateur
zugleich." etc.
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Online
Resources
Course
Homepage
Homepages
of Related Courses
Vocabulary
Writing
Assignments for the Semester
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External
Links Used in the Course
Link
Lists
Invaluable
Resources
- LEO
Online Dictionary Excellent online dictionary
for scientific and technical terminology.
- APA
W&B-Kostprobe Science Week Click here
and then select "Science Week" in the left
hand menu bar. Fantastic site with a wide selection
of short and readable articles on current scientific
news updated daily. Sort of a National Enquirer for
science, presenting articles that will catch your
eye, like "Großer Hintern macht Affen unwiderstehlich"
or "Herzkranke brauchen keine Angst vor Sex zu
haben," but also lots of serious scientific news.
- idw
- Das idw Serviceangebot A great service providing
you directly with press releases with cutting-edge
research news from many of the major research institutions
in Germany. On your first visit, click on the right
hand side of the page on "persönlichen Zugang
anlegen & Abo abschließen" in order
to subscribe to their email listserv. Fill out the
form with your personal information; then check your
areas of interest on the following page--you'll only
be sent news releases relevant to those areas of interest.
I'd recommend you choose the option of receiving the
news in digest form. If you don't want to get regular
messages from them, just go to their archive (by entering
via your "persönlicher idw-Zugang"
and then clicking on "Recherche im Nachrichtenarchiv")
and browse the links there or search for a specific
topic.
Some
Other Great Sites
- Deutsches
Museum München This is a great museum,
and the site is very comprehensive. Click here
for a ready-made online worksheet on this site. Students
can work on this in pairs for one class hour.
- Windpower.org
Fantastic site about windpower, made in Denmark, but
the German is flawless. Includes a very well-made
28-minute
online video about wind power, in very clear German
that will be quite easily comprehensible for students
who have read a short introductory text about wind
power.
- Die
Geschichte des Kosmos in 200 oder weniger Worten
A great "Diskussionsanstoß": have
students expand on the terms listed here. Some will
be too complicated for the average student ("Dichtestörungen.
Rekombination. Schwarzkörperstrahlung. Lokale
Kontraktion."), but everyone will have something
to say about many of them (e.g. this sequence at the
end: "Mondlandungen. Ruecktritt. Computerisierung.
Welthandelsorganisation. Terrorismus. Internetausbreitung.
Wiedervereinigung. Auflösung. World-Wild-Web
Einrichtung. Zusammenstellung. Extrapolation.")
- Liste
berühmter Erfinder
- Frauen
in der Physik
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