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MASTER CLASS II Building blocks from top to bottom (lessons 1-4)

Format: Open lecture with practical demonstrations on use of optical and electronic microscopes (lessons 1 and 2), polystyrene molecule models (lessons 2 and 3) and plasticine atomic structure models (lessons 3 and 4). Practical analogies involve water and brown sugar. PowerPoint support. General discussion.

Going smaller, going simpler from water in a glass to drops, dew, condensation, smallest amount of water possible: water molecules, atoms, protons and neutrons and the smallest electrons and quarks. The same happens with absolute everything else

The cosmic time sequence, smaller is simpler and uniform, smaller comes first. origin, energy to quarks. Concept of nothingness. All the energy from nothing. Early universe. the primordial tree. Forces as glue. Primordial assembly of protons and neutrons. The tree starts to grow.

Lesson Plans:

It is important that each pupil writes and draws on a personal note book A4, plain paper, hard cover, exclusive to this project.

BUILDING BLOCKS Seeding questions, encouraging curiosity

1.- Discover the invisible universe of the microscopic world I Aim: to become familiar with microscopes and to be amazed at the exploration and discovery of a new world. Samples: feathers, insects, clothes, Plastic ruler for scale.

2.- Discover the invisible universe of the microscopic world II Aim: to realise that complex is made out of simple. Small is simple and uniform . Big is complex and diverse. Samples: clothes as cells, cocoa powder (for chocolate molecule later on), live pond water, onion skin, all life is made out of cells, electronic screen, images made out of 3 colours.

3.- Going smaller, going simpler down to molecules (microscopes still??) from water in a glass to drops, dew, condensation, smallest amount of water possible: water molecules, popular atoms (specifically hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, gold. Popular molecules water, CO2, methane, ammonia (More complex sugar, chocolate later on tree section). Polystyrene balls models of simple molecules. Cells made out of complex molecules of hundreds and thousands of atoms.Seed question: where are molecules from? Where are atoms put together?

4.- Atomic structure, protons and neutrons and quarks structure of the previous molecules again, then their popular atoms hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, protons, neutrons and the smallest electrons and quarks. The same happens with absolutely everything else. Coloured polystyrene balls and plasticine. Make a little tree of assembly from quarks to popular atoms

5.- Summarise by building an interim time line, just a sequence backwards, from biological cells to proteins, simple molecules, atoms, quarks, as an introduction to the time line. Final seed questions: where do every building blocks come from? Where and when are they assembled? Relevant conclusion: everything visible made out of quarks and electrons. There is nothing smaller, hence they came first. Plenty of time to summarise and discussion.