Learning activity 4

Evidence: Consolidation activity

Stage 1: The person I admire the most

A. What to do?

Write a biography of the person you admire the most. This person can be, for
example, a public figure, a celebrity, a politician, a world leader or someone
close to you, a relative.

Note: The person you choose cannot be the same chosen for Evidence 3 of
this learning activity.

EVIDENCE WORLD LEADERS

ALBERT EINSTEIN
There are a number of points I'd like to make:
1. Early life and education.
2. All against Einstein
3. Scientific trajectory.
4. The articles of 1905.
5. Photoelectric effect.
6. The theory of relativity.
7. Political activity.
8. Death.
1. Early life and education.
Albert Einstein was born in the city of Ulm on March 14, 1879. He was the eldest
son of Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch, both Jews, whose families came
from Swabia. The following year they moved to Munich, where the father settled
down, along with his brother Jakob, like trader in the electrotechnical novelties of
the time. Little Albert was a quiet child, and had a slow intellectual development.
In 1894 he moved to Milan; Einstein remained in Munich to finish his secondary
studies. In the autumn of 1896, he began his studies at the Eigensystem
Technosphere Hochschule in Zurich, where he was a student of the
mathematician Hermann Makowski.
In 1903 he married Mileva Maric, a former classmate in Zurich, with whom he
had two children: Hans Albert and Eduard, born respectively in 1904 and 1910. In
1919 they divorced, and Einstein remarried with his cousin Elsa.
2. All against Einstein.
The controversial figure of the German scientist aroused bitter debates in his day.
A group of enemies of his theories in Nazi Germany came to create an
association against him, and even a man was accused of promoting his murder.
To make matters worse, the book entitled A hundred authors against Einstein,
whose purpose was evident, was published. Genius merely said, "Why a
hundred? If I were wrong, I would only have one”.
3. Scientific trajectory.
In 1901 appeared the first scientific work of Einstein: it was about the capillary
attraction. He published two papers in 1902 and 1903 on the statistical
foundations of thermodynamics, corroborating experimentally that the
temperature of a body is due to the agitation of its molecules, a theory still
discussed at that time.
4. The articles of 1905.
In 1905 he finished his doctorate presenting a thesis titled “A new determination
of the molecular dimensions”. That same year he wrote four fundamental articles
on small and large-scale physics. In them he explained the Brownian motion, the
photoelectric effect and developed special relativity and mass-energy
equivalence. Einstein's work on the photoelectric effect would provide him with
the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
5. Photoelectric effect.
The first of his articles of 1905 was titled "A heuristic point of view on the
production and transformation of light". In it Einstein proposed the idea of "how
much" light (now called photons) and showed how this concept could be used to
explain the photoelectric effect.
Why is this important? This article constituted one of the basic pillars of quantum
mechanics.
6. The theory of relativity.
In November 1915, Einstein presented a series of lectures at the Prussian
Academy of Sciences in which he described the theory of general relativity. The
last of these talks concluded with the presentation of the equation that replaces
Newton's law of gravity. The theory provided the basis for the study of cosmology
and made it possible to understand the essential characteristics of the Universe,
many of which would not be discovered until after Einstein's death.
7. Political activity.
The events of World War I pushed Einstein to engage politically, taking sides. He
feels contempt for violence, bullying, aggression, injustice. He was one of the
most well-known members of the German Democratic Party (DDP). Albert
Einstein was a convinced pacifist.
8. Death.
On April 16, 1955, Albert Einstein experienced an internal hemorrhage caused by
the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which had previously been
surgically reinforced by Dr. Rudolph Nissen in 1948. Einstein rejected the
surgery, saying, "I want to leave when I want. It is bad taste to artificially prolong
life. I've done my part, it's time to go. I will do it with elegance".
He died at Princeton Hospital early on April 18, 1955 at 76 years of age. On the
table was the draft of the speech before millions of Israelis for the seventh
anniversary of the independence of Israel that would never pronounce, and that
began: "Today I speak not as a US citizen, nor as a Jew, but as a being human”.
That's all I have to say about the life of the most important genius of the 20th
century.

B. How to do it?

You need to carry out some research in order to collect the necessary
information for writing the biography. If the person chosen is a public figure,
you can surf the web in order to get the details you are going to include. On
the contrary, if the person chose is someone you know personally, you can set
up an interview in order to ask the person the questions you may have about
his / her life.

Here is an outline we suggest following for writing the biography. We have

chosen Charles Darwin (public figure), an influential scientist of the
nineteenth century, as example for the outline.

Suggested outline
1. Early life and education.
2. Voyage of the Beagle.
3. Darwin's evolutionary theory.
4. Overwork, illness, and marriage.
5. Natural selection.
6. Geology books, barnacles, evolutionary research.
7. Publication of the theory of natural selection.
8. Responses to publication.
9. Descent of man, sexual selection, and botany.
10. Death and funeral.

Stage 2: My admiration for…

A. What to do?

In this section, you will record a tape or video in which you orally present the
person you chose in Section 1. For this part of the evidence you need to
 present the biography as well as explain and illustrate the reasons why you
admire this person.

B. How to do it?

Record an audio or a video in the device of your preference. Before start the
recording, you need to organize the information you are going to introduce.
Your presentation has to include the following aspects:

1. An introduction.
2. A description of the biography.
3. Arguments and illustrations supporting your admiration for this person.
4. A conclusion.
5. Sources (In the event you consulted any articles, the web, journals, etc.)

Note: During the presentation you need to include the appropriate

signpost language for oral presentations and also some of the
vocabulary related to responsibility and leadership.

Stage 3: Submitting my evidence

When you finish your work, send the files to your instructor through the platform
as follows:

1. Click the title of this evidence.

2. Click Examinar mi equipo and look for the files in your computer. Make sure
the files are attached.
3. Leave a comment for the instructor (optional).
4. Click Enviar.

Important: The platform will only allow you to submit your files once. Please,
make sure you upload the two (2) files when submitting your evidence.
Note: This evidence is an individual activity. Remember to check the learning
guide in order to know if you have done all the assigned activities, know how to
develop them and deliver them correctly.

Criterios de evaluación
 Expresa ideas sobre productividad y responsabilidad usando el
vocabulario requerido.

 Prepara presentaciones orales haciendo uso del vocabulario y las

diferentes estructuras gramaticales requeridas.

 Expresa ideas sobre liderazgo y responsabilidad usando el vocabulario

requerido.

 Combina diferentes tiempos verbales para expresar ideas, usando la

estructura y el vocabulario requerido.

 Usa expresiones idiomáticas teniendo en cuenta el vocabulario y contexto

requerido.

 Expresa reflexiones críticas sobre el pasado en el contexto requerido.