1001i Saudi Teachers Pack

Science Activities for 11-16 year oldsFor the Science National Curriculum

9 full colour activities

Teachers’ notes for each activity

This pack contains:

Discover Our Past to Inspire Our FutureTeachers’ Pack

1001 inventions

www.1001inventions.com/eDUCAtion

Acknowledgements

Special thanks for the support of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives.

Special thanks are due to Marianne Cutler, the Director of Curriculum Development for the Association of Science Education for her work on the complementary set of posters, Cameron Buxton on the poster design, Elizabeth Woodcock and Dr Rabah Saoud for reviewing the text.

Produced by 1001 Inventions for the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK.

Published by the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK.

Copyright © 2014 by the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means except for downloading and printing for personal or classroom use only.

www.1001inventions.com/education

teacher writers Nigel Heslop Anne Cassell Christopher Clark Jane Vellacott Julie Smith

teachers and trial schools Bilkish Mohamed of Al-Hijrah School, Birmingham Shukla Kulkarni of Moseley School, Birmingham Lavkesh Lal of Moseley School, Birmingham Deane Narayn-Lee of The Grange School, Bradford Mark Simpkins of Levenshulme High School for Girls, Manchester Dennis Ashpole of Burnage Media Arts College, Manchester Caroline Wright of South Chadderton School, Oldham Bilgis Hassan of Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, Manchester Monwara Begum of Grange School, Oldham Jenny Gow of Burnage Media Arts College, Manchester Shilpa Karavadra of Saltley School, Birmingham Tahira Shabbir of Small Heath School, Birmingham

chief editor Professor Salim T S Al-Hassani, University of Manchester, Chairman of 1001 Inventions and the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC)

editors Tony Sherborne, Centre for Science Education, Sheffield Hallam University Philippa Hulme, Educational Consultant

production manager Samia Khan, Muslim Heritage Consulting

design and layout Linda Knight (Activities) Mukhtar Sanders, Inspiral Design (Pack Layout and Design)

consultants Dr Anne-Maria Brennan, London South Bank University Professor Mohammad El-Gomati, University of York Martin Bazley, ICT4learning Tony Sherborne, Centre for Science Education, Sheffield Hallam University

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teacher writers Nigel Heslop Anne Cassell Christopher Clark Jane Vellacott Julie Smith

teachers and trial schools Bilkish Mohamed of Al-Hijrah School, Birmingham Shukla Kulkarni of Moseley School, Birmingham Lavkesh Lal of Moseley School, Birmingham Deane Narayn-Lee of The Grange School, Bradford Mark Simpkins of Levenshulme High School for Girls, Manchester Dennis Ashpole of Burnage Media Arts College, Manchester Caroline Wright of South Chadderton School, Oldham Bilgis Hassan of Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, Manchester Monwara Begum of Grange School, Oldham Jenny Gow of Burnage Media Arts College, Manchester Shilpa Karavadra of Saltley School, Birmingham Tahira Shabbir of Small Heath School, Birmingham

ContentsTitle PageIntroduction 7Activity 1

Seeing in the Dark

10

Activity 2

Coffee

17

Activity 3

Perfume

24

Activity 4

Raising Water

32

Activity 5

Puzzling Plants

38

Activity 6

Pharmacy

47

Activity 7

Build it Strong

58

Activity 8

Figuring out Phenomena

63

Activity 9

Bird Man

72

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Introduction

T he main aim of this pack is to help science teachers teach science content in a fun and engaging manner while highlighting contributions by men and

women scientific scholars in Muslim Civilisation. By offering easily digestible historical facts and simple experiments to demonstrate key scientific and technological principles this resource offers an exciting opportunity to promote understanding and contributions of the Muslim civilisation in a hands-on and minds-on fashion that is accessible to younger audiences between the ages of 11 and 16.

How to use this PackThe activities are a result of collaboration between Foundation of Science, Technology and Civilisation, science teachers and consultants. Each activity is ready to photocopy and is accompanied by teacher notes including the areas of the curriculum which are covered, instructions on how to run the activity and relevant background material.

1001 InventionsThe 1001 Inventions Teachers’ Pack is part of a unique global educational initiative that promotes awareness of a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilisation, celebrating discoveries that have had a huge but hidden influence on the modern world. 1001 Inventions produces books, websites, films, teaching resources, conferences and events.

For more information visit www.1001inventions.com/education

Books:Packed with facts, excerpts and illustrations which have been recreated for the first time from ancient manuscripts and Arabic treatises, this will be your first and only reference guide to Muslim heritage.

To order your copies of the book, please contact [email protected] or visit www.1001inventions.com/book

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Educational Poster Sets:A set of 10 high quality educational posters aimed for 11-16 year olds. A wonderful way to learn about Muslim Civilisation’s contribution to Science and brighten up the classroom!

To order the posters, please contact [email protected] or visit www.1001inventions.com/shop/posters

www.1001inventions.com

Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in Our WorldDiscover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in Our WorldDar al-Islam, or the Muslim world, stretched over three vast continents, from Toledo inSpain, through Arabia, Indonesia to China and as far south as East Africa. It reached itspeak in the 12th century under the Abbasids.

Cities in the Middle East and Spain became global centres of culture, trade and learning.Their atmosphere of tolerance and creativity stimulated groundbreaking Muslim advancesin medicine, engineering, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and architecture, so explorethe map below to see what happened, where - and when!

London

Paris

Tangier

Moscow

ToledoGranada

Tunis

Timbuktu

Cairo

Mombasa

Jerusalem

Damascus Baghdad

Istanbul

Mecca

Kabul

Delhi

Canton

Khawarizm

Cordoba

Kufa

Patna

Diyarbakir

Mokka

Surgical InstrumentsAl-Zahrawi (936-1013)Cutting edge surgeon al-Zahrawi introduced overtwo hundred surgical tools that revolutionisedmedical science. These wouldn’t look out of placein our 21st century hospitals.

Coffee(8th century)Khalid the goat herder noticed hisexcitable animals had eaten redberries which led to coffeeproduction and the early Arabicdrink al-qahwa. This surfaced in thefirst Venice coffee house in 1645.

Water raisingmachineAl-Jazari (early 13th century)As the first person to use a crank,which transmits rotary motion intolinear motion, al-Jazari’s machineswere able to raise huge amounts ofwater without lifting a finger.

AlgebraAl- Khwarazmi (780-850)Al-Khwarazmi introduced the beginnings of algebra and it was developedinto a form we still use today by many Muslims who followed him.

CryptologyAl-Kindi (801-873)Second World Warproblem solvers werecarrying on the code-breaking tradition firstwritten about bypolymath al-Kindi fromBaghdad when hedescribed FrequencyAnalysis and laid thefoundation ofcryptography.

Blood circulationIbn Nafis (1210-1288)Ibn Nafis of Egypt first described pulmonary circulation(transit) of venous blood passing into the heart and lungsvia the ventricles, becoming oxygenated and arterial blood.He was only accredited with this discovery in 1957.

Pointed arch(9th century)This arch, on which Gothic architecture is based, came to Europefrom Egypt’s beautiful Ibn Tulun mosque of Cairo via Sicily withAmalfitan merchants. It enabled European architects to overcomeproblems in Romanesque vaulting.

DistillationJabir Ibn Hayyan (722-815)Jabir Ibn Hayyan devised andperfected the distillation processusing the alembic still which isstill used today. Muslims wereproducing rosewater, ‘essentialoils’ and pure alcohol for medicaluse. Today distillation has givenus products from plastics topetrol.

ShampooingSake Dean Mohamed (18th century)Shampooing was introduced into the UK atBrighton by Sake Dean Mohamed who becamethe ‘Shampooing Surgeon’ to both King GeorgeIV and William IV.

Foundation of sociologyand economicsIbn Khaldun (1332-1406)This man traced the rise and fall of human societiesin a science of civilization, recording it all in hisfamous al-Muqaddimah or ‘Introduction [to aHistory of The World]’, which forms the basis ofsociology and economic theory.

Fez

Sicily

Chemistry(722-815)This was a period when chemical instruments and processes , thatform the basis of today’s chemistry, were created and developed.Jabir Ibn Hayyan discovered vitally important acids like sulphuric,nitric, and nitromuriatic acid, while al-Razi set up a modern laboratory,designing and using more than twenty instruments like the crucibleand still.

First GlobeAl-Idrisi (1099-1166)Al-Idrisi was commissioned by the Norman King of Sicily,Roger II to make a map. He produced an atlas of seventy mapscalled the ‘Book of Roger’, showing the earth was round whichwas a common notion held by Muslim scholars. Al-Idrisi madea silver globe to stress the point.

ExplorerIbn Battuta (1304-1377)Ibn Battuta travelled over seventy fivethousand miles in twenty nine years throughover forty modern countries, compiling oneof the best eye-witness accounts of thecustoms and practices of the medieval world.

Puppet Show(The 14th century)

Al-Nuri Hospital(1156)Muslim hospitals provided free healthcareto all. Al-Nuri was an immense andsophisticated hospital where druggists,barbers, orthopaedists, oculists andphysicians were all examined by ‘marketinspectors’ to make sure they were of thehighest standard.

Horseshoe Arch(715)Resembling a horseshoe, this archwas first used in the UmayyadGreat Mosque of Damascus. InBritain, it is known as the Moorisharch and was popular in Victoriantimes, used in railway stationentrances.

Trick Devices(9th century)Three brothers, the Banu Musabrothers, were greatmathematicians and translatorsof Greek scientific treatises, butthey also invented fabulous trickdevices which, some would say,are precursors to executive toys.

House of Wisdom(8th - 14th century)This immense scientific academy was the brainchildof four generations of Caliphs who drew togetherthe cream of Muslim scholars. It was an unrivalledcentre for the study of humanities and for sciences,where the greatest collection of worldly knowledgewas accumulated and developed.

Gothic Rib Vaulting(1000)The gothic ribs of the Toledo and Cordoba Mosquevaults inspired European architects and their patronsto adopt them in the Romanesque and Gothicmovements.

Castles(12th century)The invincible design of the castlesof Syria and Jerusalem wereimitated in western lands with keyfeatures like round towers, arrowslits, barbicans, machicolations,parapets and battlements.

Camera ObscuraIbn al-Haitham (965-1039)In a darkened room (qamara in Arabic), Ibn al-Haitham observed light coming through asmall hole in the window shutters producing an up-side down image on the opposite wall.This early pin hole camera has led to the camera we know today.

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Production Sponsors Associates

Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, town, school, hospital, market, universe and world.Dar al Islam - full extent of Muslim World across various centuries

Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our Home Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our HomeFrom the 8th Century, Muslim tradition and culture set trends in eating,music and style that still influence us today. Their experiments, discoveriesand inventions with liquids, light and time opened the door to a myriad ofnew chemical compounds, measurements of time in precise and minute detailand devices used in space observation and deep sea exploration.

Coffee1,200 years ago in Ethiopia, an Arab called Khalid boiled coffeeberries to create al-qahwa. Sufis in Yemen drank it to concentrateduring late night prayers.

Pasqua Rosee, a Turkish merchant in 1650, first brought coffeeto England. By 1700, there were about 500 coffee houses inLondon, and nearly 3,000 in England.

Cappuccino was inspired by a Capuchin priest fighting the Turksin Vienna in 1683. The Viennese mixed Turkish coffee with creamand honey to create cappuccino.

Sound SystemDo 21st Century artists and singers know how much of theircraft lay in the hands of 9th Century Muslims? The musicalscale - do, re, mi, far sol, la and ti - originates from letters inthe Arabic alphabet!

Al-Farabi invented the rababah, an ancestor of the violinfamily, and qanun, a table zither. The military band andinstruments like the guitar (qitara in Arabic), and the naker(from naqqara), a goatskin covered wooden drum, allhave roots in the Muslim civilisation.

In the 9th Century, talented al-Kindi used musicalnotation, the system for writing down music. He wasalso one of the first to realise the healing values ofmusic and tried to cure a patient using musicaltherapy.

ClocksThe 13th Century inventor al-Jazari from Diyarbakirin south east Turkey had made numerous water clocks.His Elephant Clock, an elaborate timepiece, celebratedthe diversity of humanity and Islam. Al-Jazari usedGreek Archimedean water-floating technology, anIndian elephant, an Egyptian phoenix, Arabian roboticfigures, a Persian carpet and Chinese dragons. Thefigure on the top of the castle is thought to be Saladinthe Magnificent. Standing over 7 metres tall, theElephant Clock’s brilliance lies in its elaborate perforatedwater bowl, which regulated the timing of the clock. TheElephant Clock was recently recreated a themedshopping mall in Dubai.

CleanlinessIn the 10th Century, Islamic hygienepractices and bathroom cabinets werestrikingly similar to what we have today.

Al-Zahrawi, the famous 10th Centuryphysician and surgeon of Cordoba in Southern Spain, wrote ofperfumed stocks rolled and pressed in special moulds, a bit liketoday’s roll on deodorants. For centuries, Muslims made soap bymixing oil (usually olive oil) with al-qali (a salt or alkali). This wasboiled, left to harden and used in the hammams or bath houses.Teeth were cleaned with a twig of miswak. A Swiss pharmaceuticalcompany later discovered that this medieval toothbrush containsantibacterial substances.

In 1759 Sake Dean Mahomed opened 'Mahomed's Indian VapourBaths' on Brighton's seafront. Britons were able to luxuriate in atreatment of champi (shampooing) or therapeutic massage (fromthe Arabic word massa, to touch). Later he was appointed‘Shampooing Surgeon’ to both George IV and William IV.

Ibn al-Haitham10th Century Ibn al-Haitham’s most influential work was: Kitabal-Manazir or ‘The Book of Optics’ which formed the foundationsfor the science of optics. The Latin translation had enormousimpact on Roger Bacon, Witelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Descartesand Johan Kepler centuries later.

Ibn al-Haitham revolutionised optics, taking the subject frombeing discussed philosophically to a science based onexperiments. He rejected the Greek idea that an invisible lightemitting from the eye caused sight and instead rightly statedthat vision was caused by light reflecting off an object and enteringthe eye.

Vision and CamerasBy using a dark room with a pinhole on one side and a whitesheet on the other, Ibn al-Haitham in the 10th Century providedthe evidence for his theory. Light came through the hole andprojected an inverted image of the objects outside the room onthe sheet opposite. He called this the ‘qamara’, and it was theworld’s first camera obscura.


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the school, market, hospital, town, world and universe.

Did You Know?10th Century Ibn al-Haitham produced scientific evidence on the workings of the eye andhow we see. He carried out his meticulous experiments in a dark room and produced thefirst pinhole camera, or camera obscura.

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Our Schools Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our SchoolsThe House of WisdomThe House of Wisdom started a worldwide scientific revolution.1,200 years ago, the caliphs of Baghdad envisioned the city asa melting pot of intellectual activity. Here, the House of Wisdombecame one of the greatest academies where Muslims and non-Muslims met every day for translation, reading, writing, discourse,dialogue and discussion in a multitude of languages.

Art and the ArabesqueMuslims are famous for the intricate and elegant geometricaldesigns decorating their ceilings, walls, carpets, furniture andtextiles. Some designs convey religious messages and codes.

Arabesque is a pattern of many units joined and interlacedtogether, each flowing from the other in all directions in a ‘divineunity’ that grows from a circle. Arabesque can also be floral,using a combination of stalks, leaves and flowers and geometricpatterns.

These designs had an enormous influence on European artistsand can be seen in the works of Baroque, Rococo and in ModernArt.

Arabic in the English LanguageThis small selection of English words have their origin in Arabic.

ChemistryDistillation (boiling and condensation) separates liquids by usingdifferences in their boiling points. Muslim chemists of the 8thCentury were the first to produce rosewater and ‘essential oils’by distillation.

The word alembic comes from the Arabic al-anbiq which means‘the head of the still’. This is the part that cools and collects theresulting liquids in the distillation process. Jabir ibn Hayyan(known in the West as Geber) was the first to develop the alembicstill in the 8th Century. Modern laboratories continue to use it tothis day.

MathematicsArabic numerals, the 1 to 9 we use today in English, are said tobe based on the number of angles contained in each numeral.The famous 13th Century mathematician, Fibonacci, learnt aboutthese numerals and brought them to the rest of Europe on hisreturn from the city of Bougie, Algeria, where he was sent to studymathematics.

The arithmetic of Arabic numerals and fractions was developedby Muslims from an Indian version. They were transformed bythe introduction of the decimal place-value system and the zero.

Al-Khwarizmi (Ahl Kah-wa-reez-mee), after whom 'algorithm' isnamed, formed the basis of algebra - a revolutionary shift fromthe Greek concept of mathematics, which was based on geometry.Born in 780, he developed the sine, cosine and trigonometrictables.

Al-Biruni, who worked in North India, defined the trigonometricfunctions of tangent and cotangent from a tentative form inheritedfrom the Indians. It would be another 500 years before Copernicuswas aware of the trigonometry of tangents.

Fatima al-FihriFatima al-Fihri, a well educated young princess of the 9th Century,vowed to spend her entire inheritance on building an educationalcomplex in Fez, Morocco.

Al-Qarawiyin in Fez, built in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, was fullyequipped, and became an institution for discussions, graduallyextending its education on all subjects, particularly the naturalscience. And so it earned its name as one of the first universitiesin history.

It was here that Pope Sylvester II came across Arabicnumerals and the use of the zero, which he later tookto Rome.


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, market, hospital, town, world and universe.

Did You Know?The word ‘baccalareus’ comes from degree certificates awarded to students, known as ijazasor bi-haq al-riwayeh in Arabic, meaning 'the right to teach on the authority of another'.

Islam's emphasis on education is regarded as a major driving force in thetremendous growth of early Islamic Civilisation. A thousand years ago thefirst universities emerged within mosques where religion and science satcomfortably side by side. Building on knowledge from Babylonian, Egyptian,Greek, Chinese and Indian Civilisations, Muslims developed a learning culturewhere enquiring minds searched for truths based on scientific rigour andexperimentation. In almost every field of knowledge, Muslims made newinventions and discoveries with practical outcomes that helped developsociety.

AdmiralFrom amir-al - 'commander of...’, like amir al-bahr‘commander of the seas’.

BarbicanFrom the Arabic bab al-baqarah, ‘gate with holes’.

CrimsonFrom qirmizi which is related to the qirmiz, the insectthat produced the red dye qirmizi.

LilacFrom the Arabic lilak which was taken from the Persiannilak meaning indigo.

OrangeFrom the Persian naranj or narang.

SofaFrom the Arabic suffah, meaning 'long bench' or ‘divan’.

SugarFrom the Arabic sukkar.

TulipSome people believe the word comes from dulbandwhich means turban, as people used to wear it on theirturban. Others say the word is an anglicized version ofthe Farsi word dulab.

VizierFrom Arabic wazir meaning 'porter’ from the verbwazara, to carry.

ZenithFrom the Arabic word samt, meaning path.

MassageFrom the Arabic massa, meaning to touch.

MagazineFrom the Arabic mahazin, meaning to store.

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Our Markets Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our MarketsAgricultural Revolution9th Century Muslim farmers were undertaking an agriculturalrevolution. Agricultural production was subjected to scientificmethods, enabling Muslims to rear the finest cattle, cultivatethe best fruit and vegetables, fight pests, use fertilisers, graftand cross-breed plants.

Andalusian Muslims introduced crop rotation techniques andnew crops. Bananas were grown on the coasts, while otherproduce such as rice and citrus fruits were also cultivated.

Farmers had labour rights and could work more forthemselves and the community, rather than for big

landowners. Anyone could buy, sell, mortgage or inheritland.

Raising WaterMuslims were experts in raising water using pumps andwaterwheels. In the Valencia area, around 8,000 norias(waterwheels) carried water to rice plantations.

Al-Jazari designed a machine with a flume-beam that waspowered by an animal that operated a system involving gearsand a slider crank mechanism. He was the first to use a crankin this utilitarian way. The crank is considered one of the mostimportant mechanical discoveries ever made, because it convertscircular motion into linear motion.

Taqi al-Din was another inventive engineer whose 6 cylinderpump created a vacuum, so water was sucked through one wayvalves and pushed by six pistons to delivery pipes. The motionsof the pistons were synchronised by a cam shaft, thus providinga constant supply of water.

TradeThe vast network of trade stretched over a realmthat featured a vivid collection of merchants andgoods, which helped transfer science, technologyand knowledge of people's cultures andtraditions.

Gold and white gold, as salt was known, travelledNorth of the African Sahara into Morocco andSpain, and East into Egypt and Syria. Cowrie shells(a form of money in the 14th Century) went from theMaldives to West Africa; pottery and paper money cameWest from China.

The land trade passing on the Silk Route was the heartbeat ofmedieval economies. Sea trade was mainly along theMediterranean shores of Africa and Europe. The Port of Malagain Southern Spain was a centre of immense traffic, visited bytraders from all countries, especially those from the mercantilerepublics of Italy, like the Genoese.

Cash, coins and chequesAs it grew, the Muslim world used gold and silver coins asinternational currency. The first Caliph to make his own dinarcoins was Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who ruled in Damascusfrom 685 to 705. These dinars were the first gold coins withArabic inscriptions and helped unify the Caliphate.

Another method of payment common to our day was the cheque.The word comes from the Arabic s’aqq, a written vow to honourthe payment of merchandise when its destination was reached.

King Offa of Mercia, the 8th Century Anglo-Saxon monarch,ordered a coin - now in the British Museum - called the GoldMancus, to be minted. His coin is 1,230 years old and has Arabiccharacters declaring that “There is no Deity but Allah, The One,Without Equal, and Mohammad is the Apostle of Allah.” KingOffa stamped OFFA REX (Latin for ‘Offa the King’) on the coin.Scholars have a number of theories of why an English King wouldmake this imitation Arabic coin.

Al-JazariAl-Jazari was an early 13th Century engineer from Diyarbakir,south east Turkey. His most distinguished work was his ‘Book ofKnowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices’ which described50 mechanical devices. His manuscripts stood apart from therest because he used technical terminology, and providedmanufacturing instructions that were often omitted by engineersof his time.

WindmillsOne force the vast deserts of Arabia had was wind. The windmillspread fast across the world from its 7th Century Persian origins.

Early windmills were two-storey buildings built on castletowers, hill tops or their own platforms. Driven by six

or 12 sails, the millstones height were adjustable sothat grains could vary in size. This was an engineeringmarvel at the time.


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, school, hospital, town, world and universe.

Did You Know?Cheque comes from the Arabic S’aqq, a written vow to honour the payment for merchandisewhen the destination is reached. In the time of Harun al-Rashid in the 9th Century, undera highly developed ‘banking system’, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in Canton,China, drawn on his bank account in Baghdad. In doing this, Muslims made inter-continentaltrade possible.

From the 7th Century, Muslim ideas and culture set trends in eating, buying and sellinghabits which still influence us today. The capital surplus generated by maximising returnsfrom agriculture helped foster inter-continental trade. Wise men and pilgrims bought andsold jewellery, ivory and silk, ceramics, glass and pottery, paper, wool, wax, gold and melons- all part of the rich tapestry of Medieval trade. Their windmills, waterwheels and experimentswith plants and crops opened the way for revolutions in agriculture, engineering andautomated machinery that made a prospering civilisation. They created a scaleableproduction cycle that catered not only for small villages, but also for three continents!

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Our Universe Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our UniverseLunar Landscape LuminariesWhen viewed with the naked eye, the surface of the Moonappears unevenly bright, with dark and light patches. Thesefeatures are called ‘lunar formations’. Of the 672 lunarformations, that were agreed upon at a conference of theInternational Astronomical Union in 1935, 13 were given thenames of major Muslim astronomers, since then more have beenadded. Some of these names include:

Albategnius is named after al-Battani who was born in 858. Hedetermined many astronomical measurements with greataccuracy and wrote ‘The Sabian Tables’, which remained as theastronomical handbook for centuries after him. He alsopopularized, if not discovered, the first notions of trigonometricratios used today.

Thebit complements Thabit ibn Qurra, who died in Baghdad in901. He was the first to translate into Arabic a large number ofGreek and Syrian works on science. He also made majorcontributions of his own to pure mathematics.

Nasireddin is a crater 30 miles in diameter named after Nasiral-Din al-Tusi. He was a minister to the ruler of Persia in the mid-13th Century.

Islamic CalendarFor Muslims the Moon is incredibly important because thecalendar they use, the Hijri calendar, is determined by the cycleof the Moon. Year one marks the migration of ProphetMohammed (pbuh) and his companion from Mecca to Medinawhich took place in 622.

Al-Biruni was the greatest mathematical astronomer in theMuslim world. Born in Persia in 973, he spent a great deal oftime working in India. Amongst his 146 books, he wrote one onthe determination of the location of moon's position in its orbitaround the earth during a whole year.

ObservatoriesThe Samarkand Observatory was equipped with a huge meridianand the finest instruments available, including a Fakhri sextantwith a radius of 40.4 metres. It not only showed the degrees andminutes, but seconds too.

Uleg Beg, an astronomer and Ruler of the Timurid Empire,calculated that the stellar year was 365 days, 6 hours, 10 minutesand 8 seconds. Remarkably, he was only 62 seconds more thanthe present estimation – an accuracy of 0.0002%! He alsocommissioned the Samarkand Observatory to be built.

A major task of such observatories was to construct astronomicaltables. These helped in the calculation of planetary positions,lunar phases, eclipses and information for calendars.

Astronomical InstrumentsMuslims pioneered the use of huge instruments for observations,because their large size reduced error margins of calculationsconsiderably. For example, 10th century Persian al-Khujandi’ssextant, with a radius of 20 metres, improved accuracy.Instruments included celestial globes to measure coordinates,and sextants and quadrants to measure the height of celestialobjects above the horizon.

Quadrant design was particularlyimproved by Muslims to include the9th century sine quadrant fortrigonometry, the 14th centuryuniversal quadrant for use at anylatitudes and the horary quadrantto find the time using the sun.

Meriam al-AstrulabiMeriam, daughter of al-Ijli al-Astrulabi was born in 944, Aleppo,Syria. She is the first known female engineer who designed andmade astrolabes.

AstrolabeThe origin of the word astrolabe comes from the Arabic wordasturlab. The instrument was fully developed and its usesexpanded by Muslim astronomers. In the Muslim world,astrolabes remained popular until the 19th Century.

Imagine the sky above projected onto a flat circular disc,draw the trajectories of the stars during the year and youhave an astrolabe. Astrolabes normally have many discs,one for each city. By taking the altitude measurements ofthe sun, the astrolabe could predict sunrise and sunset. Itcould also be used to determine one's location on the earth.

Pocket sized astrolabes became popular from China to Spain.Some astrolabes were huge with diameters of several metres.

The earliest surviving Islamic instrument dates from the early10th Century, built by an apprentice to Àli ibn Ìsa’ in Baghdad.


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, school, market, hospital, town and world.

Did You Know?600 years before Galileo, al-Biruni discussed the theory of the earth rotating about is own axis. Heaccurately calculated the earth's circumference and fixed scientifically the direction of Mecca fromany point of the globe.

Since Islam began the muezzin, or timekeeper for prayers, has called the faithful to prayerfive times a day. Their daily prayers are astronomically determined by the sun’s positionin the sky, so it was vital to exactly predict its position and at any location on earth. Muslimsalso needed to know the direction of Mecca from every geographical location. This theydid by observing the position of the sun and moon using new sophisticated instrumentswhich they had invented. The Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, contains numerous revelationsabout the heavens and celestial objects, and invites people to explore them.From all these religious motivations, astronomy and celestial objects were studied intenselyby Muslim scholars a 1000 years ago.

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Our World Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our WorldEarth FiguresMuslim astronomers are credited with increasingly accuratefigures about the Earth, including its ‘precession of equinoxes’due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to the Sun.

Ibn Yunus, who died in 1009, said it was 1o in 70 years, or 51.43 seconds per annum, for a complete rotation in 25,175 years.This compares amazingly well with the present-day figure ofabout 50.27’ per annum, or about 25,787 years for a completerotation.

Discovering the exact angle of tilt of the Earth towards the Sunbecame a matter of intense deliberation for astronomers andmathematicians. Today, we know this tilt is approximately 23o34', thanks to late 10th Century Persian mathematician andastronomer al-Khujandi. He measured it as being 23o32'19”, sohe was pretty close.

Natural Phenomena9th Century Muslim scientists investigated and produced novel ideas aboutnatural phenomena.

Al-Kindi said blue skies were due to the “mixture of the darkness of the skywith the light of the atoms of dust and vapour in the air, illuminated by thelight of the Sun”. It was evident then that there was something morethan meets the eye. His explanation is very similar to Einstein’sexplanation; Sunlight reaches the Earth's atmosphere. The light isscattered in all directions by nitrogen and oxygen particles in theair. Blue light is scattered more than other colours, so the skylooks blue.

The gravitational pull of the moon causes the rise and ebbof the tides, as described in the 11th Century by al-Biruni.

Kamal al-Din al-Farisi explained the formation of primaryand secondary rainbows as the splitting of white lightby a prism.

FlightThe first Muslim to make asuccessful attempt at flightwas Abbas bin Firnas in 9th CenturyCordoba, Spain. His greatest fame was forconstructing a flying machine made from silk andeagle feathers. It was the first of its kind, capableof carrying a human into the air.

His flight took place, between 875 and 880 on the outskirts ofCordoba. He glided with his flying machine to a significant heightand managed to hang on in the air for a considerable time beforelanding badly, as his flying machine had no tail to create a stall.

WeaponryThe most important book on military technology was ‘The Bookof Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices’ by Syrian scholaral-Hasan al-Rammah, published in 1295. Packed full of weapondiagrams, it included the first description of a military rocket. Henoted many recipes for making exploding gunpowder, withoutwhich, cannons could not have been developed.

The book also described the first ever torpedo. It was a cleverlymodified rocket designed to skim along the surface of the water,propelled by a jet from the burning fuel, it was guided by tworudders.

Muslims developed numerous ballastic devices, the most famousbeing the split barrel gun of Mehmet II, the conqueror ofConstantinople in 1453.

Zheng HeZheng He sailed throughout the Indian Ocean, navigating to Mecca, thePersian Gulf, East Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Arabia and throughout theIndian Ocean decades before Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama -with ships five times bigger.

Zheng He was a Muslim who helped transform China into the regional, andperhaps the world, superpower of his time. Within 28 years of travel, hevisited 37 countries in the course of seven monumental sea voyagers. Hisseven great Treasure Ship voyages were motivated by scientific curiosityand the search for gems, minerals, plants, animals, drugs and medicine.Zheng He died in India on his way back to China in 1433. Inscribed on topof Zheng He’s tomb are the Arabic words Allahu Akbar (God is Great).

Ibn BattutaIbn Battuta was only 21 when he set out on his donkey on a 3,000 mileoverland journey to Mecca from Tangier in Morocco. Then he went to allcorners of the Muslim world by walking, riding and sailing over 75,000miles, through over 40 present day countries, and many know him as theMuslim Marco Polo.

He returned to his native city three decades later as a famous wayfarer,recounting stories of distant, exotic lands. Some simply would not believehim when he talked of these places. His lasting legacy is Al Rihla (MyTravels).


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Did You Know?Al-Kindi was the first to write about, and study, code-breaking when he wrote a manuscript on ‘DecipheringCryptographic Messages’ in the 9th Century. A famous case of encryption occured during World War IIwhen the Germans used a typewriter-like machine, called Enigma, to encrypt military messages.A major breakthrough in communications, probably like the Internet is today, occured in Baghdad underthe Àbbasid Caliphs. They used carrier pigeons because they saw how certain pigeons flew straight homefrom wherever they were. A fast one-way postal service, always back to base, became possible.

Muslim explorers journeyed to the far-flung corners of their world in spectacular voyagesof discovery. From Ibn Battuta walking, riding and sailing over 75,000 miles, to Zheng Hesailing the oceans and navigating to Mecca, Muslim explorers predated ChristopherColumbus and Vasco da Gama in their quests.Their world was made more visible thanks to map-making men like Piri Re'is, the greatTurkish admiral. On their journeys, Muslim travellers devised unique navigational devices,tools for defence - and attack - and learnt about the natural wonders of their world.

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

VERNAL EQUINOX

WINTERSOLSTICE

SUMMERSOLSTICE

Medieval Muslim's Calculation: Today’s Calculation:

Earth Circumference - 40,253.4km Earth Circumference - 40,068.0km

Precession Equinox - 25,175 years Precession Equinox - 25,787 years

Earth’s Tilt towards the Sun - 23o32'19” Earth’s Tilt towards the Sun - 23o34

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Our Towns Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our TownsLush Lawns andFabulous FountainsToday the influence of the Muslim garden can be seen all overEurope from the Stibbert garden in Florence to the Royal Pavilionin Brighton, England. Flowers that migrated from the East includethe carnation, tulip and iris.

The word tulip comes from dulband which means turban, aspeople wore it on their turban. Or it could be the anglicisedversion of dulab, which is Farsi for tulip.

From the 9th Century, gardens with geometrical flowerbeds,canals and fabulous fountains appeared across the Islamic world,including India (the Taj Mahal) and Spain (the Alhambra inGranada).

Architectural FeaturesMany European buildings today have features like domes, vaultsand rose windows, especially in cathedrals and churches, whilearches dominate train stations and palaces.

An architectural vault is a stone arch that forms a ceiling orcanopy, making it possible to have a roof over a large space withfewer columns. A ribbed vault was a canopy of stone that wasstrengthened by single semi-circular arches beneath for extrasupport. They were called ‘ribbed’ because they looked like ribsand supported the weakest points of the vault. They firstappeared in the great mosques of Muslim Toledo and Cordoba.

Arches are essential in architecture because they span largespaces while bearing huge weights. Muslims were the first tointroduce new arch designs which allowed higher ceilings inmosques, churches, palaces and bridges. The pointed archconcentrated the thrust of the vault onto a narrow line supportedby a ‘flying buttress’. It became a major feature of EuropeanGothic architecture.

Town PlanningMost medieval Muslim towns were originally designed with localpeople's needs in mind. Just as towns today have shops, a marketsquare, church and park, Muslim pioneered the art of townplanning.

Religion was vital to cultural life so the mosque, like a church, hada central position. Around the mosque grew narrow, winding,quiet streets that led away from the busy public places into privatelife and calm retreats.

Paper IndustryMuslims learnt to manufacture paper in Baghdad from Chineseprisoners captured in the battle of Tallas in 751. Manufacturingspread rapidly West to Damascus, Tiberias and Syrian Tripoli,then to Spain and the rest of Europe.

The expansion of paper manufacturing kick-started otherprofessions such as dyers, ink makers, manuscript craftsmen andcalligraphers. Consequently the production of books becameeasier and cost effective, accelerating the diffusion of knowledgeinto Europe.

The first paper mill in Europeoutside Muslim Spain wasestablished in Bologna in1293, and it was only in 1309the first use of paper inEngland was recorded.

SinanA staggering 477 buildings were designed and built by Sinanduring his long service under three Sultans in Turkey during the15th Century. His Selimiye Mosque in Edirne has the highest,earthquake-defying minarets in the whole of Turkey. HisSuleymaniye Mosque had filters to clean the smoke from thenumerous oil lamps inside before it was expelled into the sky.The collected soot was then used as ink.

The DomeDomes are 3D arches which gained greater height and

overall proportions under the influence of 15th centuryarchitect Sinan. Renowned English architect, Sir Christopher

Wren appreciated Muslim architecture and his greatest building,St. Paul’s cathedral in London (completed in 1710) illustratesdomes and another essential feature of Muslim architecture, theminaret or spire tower. Incidentally the spire tower first appearedin the UK in an earlier St. Paul’s cathedral in 1221, which wasdestroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 after the spire washit by lightning in 1561.


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Did You Know?The bath was known to Europe in Roman times, but it fell out of use. For centuries, thehammam was a unique social setting for Muslims, playing an important role in the community.The hammam was reintroduced to Europe in the 17th Century as ‘Turkish baths’. The firstopened in 1679 off Bath Street, London.

Life, in cities like 9th and 10th Century Cordoba in Spain and Baghdad in Iraq, was apleasurable experience. This was high civilisation with public amenities like baths,bookshops and libraries lining the paved streets that were lit at night. Rubbish wascollected on a regular basis and some sewage systems were underground.Neighbourhoods were peaceful, and all business and trade was kept to the main streetsand public squares. Gardens, both public and private, flourished, and advances inarchitecture were so impressive that returning crusaders took these ideas, and sometimesthe Muslim architects themselves, with them to build on European soil.

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Our Hospitals Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our HospitalsPharmacyPharmacies emerged in Baghdad, Iraq 1,100 years ago. Just likethe hospitals and clinics of today, they had their own dispensariesand manufacturing units, producing various drugs like syrups,electuaries, tablets, capsules and ointments.

Pharmacies were inspected by a government official, al-Muhtasib.He checked the accuracy of weights and measures, for the purityof the drugs used, stopping any bad and deteriorating drug andbanishing impostors and charlatans.

Al-Zahrawi of Spain pioneered the preparation of medicines bysublimation and distillation. He also administered drugs bystoring them in dissolvable catgut parcels which were ready forswallowing. So when you take a drug capsule today rememberits forerunner is over 1000 years old.

VaccinationVaccination is where a person is given a weak dose of a disease-causing organism to produce antibodies to that disease.

Anatolian Ottoman Turks discovered that if they inoculatedtheir children with cowpox from cattle, they would not developsmallpox. This vaccination technique came to England thanksto Lady Montagu, wife of the English ambassador in Istanbul,who consented to have her son inoculated between 1716 - 18.On her return to England she continued to spread the Turkishtradition of vaccination. She encountered fierce opposition, notonly from the Church authorities but from physicians too. Buther determination won through and inoculation becamewidespread.

In 1967, Turkey commemorated the250th anniversary of the firstsmall-pox vaccinationwith a stampshowing a childbeing inoculated.

Blood CirculationThe earliest descriptions of pulmonary blood circulation weremade by Ibn Nafis, 300 years before they were known in Europewhen Andrea Alpago of Belluno translated them into Latin. It wasonly in 1957 that Ibn Nafis was accredited with the discovery.

In 1924, Egyptian physician Dr. Muhyo al-Deen Altawi, uneartheda manuscript in the Prussian state library in Berlin. He discovereda 700 year old treatise called ‘Commentary on the Anatomy ofCanon of Avicenna’.

Written by Ibn Nafis, a Muslim scholar born in Damascus, Syriain 1210, the work described the pulmonary circulation (transit)of the blood. Almost four centuries later, Sir William Harveydescribed the full blood circulatory system as we know it today.

Notebook of the OculistMuslim eye surgeons of the 10th to 13th Centuries were performingoperations, dissecting, investigating and documenting theirfindings in books and monographs. Advanced terms wereintroduced to describe the anatomy of the eye, such as conjunctiva,cornea, uvea and retina. Operations on diseases, like trachoma(hardening of the inside of the lid) were also common practice.

The greatest single contribution to ophthalmology came in thetreatment of cataracts. To restore vision al-Mosuli designed ahollow needle and inserted it through the limbus, where the corneajoins the conjunctiva, to remove the cataract by suction. This typeof 10th Century operation is still carried out today with additionalmodern techniques, such as freezing the lens before suction.

10th Century Ali ibn Isa from Baghdad, Iraq, wrote the ‘Notebookof the Oculist’, the most complete text book on eye diseases; itdescribes 130 eye diseases, including trachoma and ophthalmia.This was translated first into Persian, then Latin, and printed inVenice in 1497.

Al-Zahrawi and hisSurgical InstrumentsIf we journeyed back to 10th Century Southern Spain we couldlook over the shoulder of a ‘cutting-edge’ surgeon called AbulQassim al-Zahrawi, known in the West as Abulcasis. Al-Zahrawi,Spanish Muslim surgeon, was way ahead of his time. His medicalencyclopaedia, al-Tasrif, included a treatise called ‘On Surgery’,which introduced a staggering collection of over 200 surgicaltools. It became the handbook for surgeons for centuries to come.

The range of instruments he devised included al-mishàb (thedrill) for crushing urethral stones, an early lithotripter (a machineused to shatter kidney stones and gallstones) and a special knifeto perform cystolithotomy (removal of kidney stones).

He also developed advance cauterisation tools of various shapesand sizes - scalpels, very sharp knives used for making a varietyof incisions and hooks, usually with a sharp or blunt semi-circularends that are still in use today.


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, school, market, town, world and universe.

Did You Know?The instruments used in hospitals today, like forceps, scalpels and hooks, have changedvery little from when they were first described and made by al-Zahrawi in 10th CenturySouthern Spain. Al-Zahrawi was on a constant search for the perfect instrument for thesake of extreme accuracy, a rule within Muslim science, and this is still the principal ruleof modern science today.

Did you know that hospitals as we know them today, were first established by early Muslims?They offered the best available medical service at that time and cared for all people free ofcharge. Muslims are honour-bound to provide treatment for the sick, whoever they may be.The first organised hospital was built in Cairo in 872. The Ahmad ibn Tûlûn Hospital treatedand gave free medicine to all patients. It provided separate bath houses for men and women,a rich library and a section for the insane.Hospitals like these flourished as Muslim rulers competed to see who could construct the mostadvanced centres. They spread all over the Muslim world reaching Sicily and North Africa.

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Seven Zone Posters

Three General Posters


Our History Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our HistoryThe first Quranic verse revealed onto Prophet Muhammad (aged 40) - 610

Start of Islamic Hijri (Migration) Calendar - 622

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) dies and Abu-Bakr becomes the first Caliph - 632

A windmill powering a mill stone is built in the Persian province of Sistan - 644

Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abdel-Malik in Jerusalem - 691

Jabir Ibn Hayyan is born in Iran and becomes ‘the father of chemistry - 722

Mathematician al-Khwarizmi is born and contributes algebra, algorithm and the use of zero - 780

First mention of a paper mill in Baghdad - 795

Caliph Harun al-Rashid presents Charlemagne with a clock that strikes the hours - 800

Al-Kindi discovers the science of decryption or cryptanalysis - 801

Byat al-Hikma is established by Caliph Al-Ma’mun in Baghdad - 813

Banu Musa brothers publish their most renowned engineering - 850 treatise Kitab al-Hiyal (Book of Ingenious Devices)

Al-Battani is born and determines astronomical measurements with fine accuracy - 858

The world’s first observatory at al-Shammasiyya of Abi Mansur, near Baghdad, opens - 828

Fatima al-Fihri builds Al-Qarawiyin University/Mosque in Fez, Morocco - 860

Al-Rhazi is born (dies in 925) and discovers the difference between - 865 measles and smallpox and also writes the first soap recipe

Al-Farabi one of the greatest Islamic Philosophers is born - 874

Abbas ibn Firnas dies in Cordoba, after building a flying machine, - 887 manufacturing glass and establishing a crystal industry

Al-Zahrawi is born in Cordoba and introduces cat gut and instruments into surgery - 936

Ibn al-Haitham is born to explain vision, optics and the scientific, experimental method - 965

Al-Biruni is born; prolific scholar of mathematic, mechanics, - 973geography, pharmacology, astronomy, history,

religion and philosophy. Wrote 146 books.

Al-Biruni is considered as a key founder of modern trigonometry - 973

Leading physician Ibn Sina is born, discovering disease spreads through - 980 contaminated water and tuberculosis is contagious

Al-Azhar University in Egypt opens - 988

Ibn Bassal’s ‘Book on Agriculture’ revolutionises farming. He is from Toledo, Spain - 1085

1096 - The First Crusades begin providing a good opportunity of contact wth Muslim learning and civilisation

Al-Idrisi is born and produces a world map plus the - 1099first known globe for Norman King Roger II of Sicily

Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), known as Averroes is born in Cordoba, and is best known for - 1126 his critique on Aristotle which laid the foundation of the European Renaissance.

1140 - Translation of Aristotle's works into LatinDaniel of Morley travels to Cordoba to learn mathematics and astronomy, returning to England to lecture at Oxford

1145 - Robert of Chester translates works of al-Khwarizmi and introduces algebra. He also translates a treatise on the astrolabe, and compiles tables for the longitude of London (1149) from those of al-Battani and al-Zarqali

1180 - Windmill introduced from the East

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi is born; mathematician, astronomer founds a great Observatory in Maragha - 1201

1202 - Leonardo Fibonacci introduces Arabic numerals and mathematics to Europe. He learnt about them in Bejaia (Algeria)

Al-Jazari makes mechanical clocks plus water raising devices using a crank shaft - 1206

Ibn Nafis is born and discovers the pulmonary blood circulation - 1210

1260 - Roger Bacon publishes his ‘Epistol’’ showing influences of Muslim scholars

1267 - Marco Polo starts his twenty four year journey

1290 - Mechanical clocks appear

1293 - The first paper mill in Christian Europe is established in Bologna

1309 - The first use of paper in England

Ibn Battuta leaves Tangier on his twenty nine year global journey - 1325

Black Death reaches Alexandria and Cairo - 1347

Zheng He starts his epic seven sea voyages from China - 1405

Ulugh Beg publishes his star catalogue after building - 1437the Samarkand observatory in 1420

1452 - Leonardo da Vinci is born. Drawing from the achievement of Muslim scholars, he lays the foundations of the European Renaissance

1492 - Columbus lands in the New WorldThe Christians take Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Europe

1497 - Venice publishes a translation of ‘al-Tasrif’ by al-Zahrawi

The Ottomans make Constantinople their new capital - 1453

1473 - Nicolas Copernicus born (1473 – 1543)

Piri Reis presents his world map complete with America and Antarctica - 1513

Great Suleymaniye Schools Complex built in Istanbul - 1557

1558 - The first German, and probably European, observatory is built in Kassel

1571 - Johannes Kepler is born. Drawing from the works of Ibn al-Haitham, he becomes a leading optician of the Renaissance

The Istanbul observatory of (Taqi) al-Din is finished - 1577

1593 - The Canon of Ibn Sina is printed in Rome and will soon become a staple in European medical curriculum

1628 - William Harvey explains the circulatory system without mentioning Ibn Nafis

Lagari Hasan Celebi flies the first manned rocket - 1633

Turkish scientist Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi takes off from Galata - 1638 tower with eagle feather wings and flies over the Bosphorus.

1642 - Birth of Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)

1710 - Sir Christopher Wren designs St. Paul using the duality of dome and minaret depicted in Muslim mosques. The dome was raised on squinches, another Muslim tradition

Islamic Events European Events

We tend to think of life a thousand-years-ago as difficult and dark, but nothing couldbe further from the truth! For some, 600 to1600 was a golden age of civilization becausesociety was improved by innovation,education and creativity, all backed up byrigid scientific experimentation.

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Fatima al-FihriFatima al-Fihri, a well educated young princess of the 9th Century,vowed to spend her entire inheritance on building an educationalcomplex in Fez, Morocco.

Al-Qarawiyin in Fez, built in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, was fullyequipped, and became an institution for discussions, graduallyextending its education on all subjects, particularly the naturalscience. And so it earned its name as one of the first universitiesin history.

It was here that Pope Sylvester II came across Arabic numeralsand the use of the zero, which he later took to Rome.


Our Scholars Discover the Muslim Scientific Heritage in

Our ScholarsAl-KindiBorn in 801, al-Kindi was an encyclopaedic man, working as aphysician, philosopher, mathematician, geometer, chemist,logician, musician and astronomer. A son of the governor ofKufa, he studied there and at Baghdad’s House of Wisdom wherehe gained a high reputation at the caliphs’ court for translation,science, and philosophy. Caliph al-Mutassim also chose him astutor to his son Ahmad.

His contributions include an introduction to arithmetic, eightmanuscripts on the theory of numbers, and two measuring

proportions and time. He was the first to develop sphericalgeometry and used this in his astronomical works. Hewrote on spherics, the construction of an azimuth on asphere, and how to level a sphere. As a musician he used

musical notation and played a part in the development ofthe ‘ud (lute).

Al-JazariAl-Jazari was an early 13th Century engineer from Diyarbakir,south east Turkey. His most distinguished work was his ‘Bookof Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices’ which described50 mechanical devices. His manuscripts stood apart from therest because he used technical terminology, and providedmanufacturing instructions that were often omitted by engineersof his time.

Al-ZahrawiIf we journeyed back to 10th Century Southern Spain we couldlook over the shoulder of a ‘cutting-edge’ surgeon called AbulQassim al-Zahrawi, known in the West as Abulcasis. Al-Zahrawi,Spanish Muslim surgeon, was way ahead of his time. His medicalencyclopaedia, al-Tasrif, included a treatise called ‘On Surgery’,which introduced a staggering collection of over 200 surgicaltools. It became the handbook for surgeons for centuries to come.

The range of instruments he devised included al-mishàb (thedrill) for crushing urethral stones, an early lithotripter (a machineused to shatter kidney stones and gallstones) and a special knifeto perform cystolithotomy (removal of kidney stones).

He also developed advance cauterisation tools of various shapesand sizes - scalpels, very sharp knives used for making a varietyof incisions and hooks, usually with a sharp or blunt semi-circularends that are still in use today.

SinanA staggering 477 buildings were designed and built by Sinanduring his long service under three sultans in Turkey during the15th Century.

His Selimiye Mosque in Edirne has the highest,earthquake-defying minarets in the whole of Turkey.

His Suleymaniye Mosque had filters to clean the smokefrom the numerous oil lamps inside before it was expelled

into the sky. The collected soot was then used as ink.

Zheng HeZheng He sailed throughout the Indian Ocean, navigating toMecca, the Persian Gulf, East Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Arabiaand throughout the Indian Ocean, decades before ChristopherColumbus or Vasco da Gama - with ships five times bigger.

Zheng He was a Muslim who helped transform China into theregional, and perhaps the world, superpower of his time. Within28 years of travel, he visited 37 countries in the course of sevenmonumental sea voyagers.

His seven great Treasure Ship voyages were motivated by scientificcuriosity and the search for gems, minerals, plants, animals,drugs and medicine. Zheng He died in India on his way back toChina in 1433CE. Inscribed on top of Zheng He’s tomb are theArabic words Allahu Akbar (God is Great).


Discover more Muslim scientific heritage in our other posters,featuring the home, town, school, hospital, market, universe and world.

We tend to think of life a thousand-years-ago as difficult and dark, butnothing could be further from thetruth! For some, 600 to 1600 CE wasa golden age of civilization becausesociety was improved by innovation,education and creativity, all backedup by rigid scientific experimentation.No area of study was too obscure tomiss the scrutiny of enquiry byMuslim scholars, whose experiments,discoveries and inventions are stillinfluencing modern science andtechnology today.

Meriam al-AstrulabiMeriam, daughter of al-Ijli al-Astrulabi was born in 944, Aleppo,Syria. She is the first known female engineer who designed andmade astrolabes.

© 2006 Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation. All images are the copyright of their respective owners. All rights reserved.


World Map

Timeline Scholars

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Website:www.1001inventions.com is the online destination for information, news, downloads, educational products and press coverage about 1001 Inventions.

www.MuslimHeritage.com contains peer-reviewed articles and short reports on news and events related to Muslim heritage research.

Exhibition:The state-of-the-art 1001 Inventions exhibition, designed for the YouTube generation, is both educational and entertaining. It highlights enormous advances, made by men and women of different faiths and backgrounds, during the Golden Age of Muslim civilisation. Within the exhibition you will meet pioneers like master engineer Al-Jazari, whose crank mechanisms can be found in every machine on the planet, Fatima Al-Fihri, who founded the world’s first modern University, and Al-Zahrawi, who invented hundreds of medical instruments and techniques, many of them still being used today.

The 1001 Inventions exhibition has already attracted more than 3.3 million visitors on its international tour, which launched at the London Science Museum in January 2010. Further residencies in Istanbul, New York, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Dhahran, Doha, Washington DC, Kuala Lumpur and Sweden have seen blockbuster audiences. The 1001 Inventions Book has sold more than 200,000 copies and has been made available in Arabic and Turkish

The award-winning educational film, 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets, starring Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley, has secured more than 20 prestigious international awards – including Best Film at Cannes and the New York Film Festivals – and has been downloaded more than thirty three million times online.

The global touring exhibition will soon arrive in Jeddah and display from 15 January to 15 February as part of Saudi Aramco Ithra Knowledge Programme at the Saudi Aramco Training Centre.

1001 Inventions is a leading and award-winning international science and cultural heritage brand reaching over 70 million people around the world.

1001 Inventions uncovers a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim Civilisation from the 7th century onwards, and how those contributions helped create the foundations of our modern world.

Through its award-winning educational programmes, books, block-buster exhibitions, live shows, films and learning products, 1001 Inventions showcases the contributions of inspirational men and women of different faiths and cultures in a civilisation that spread from Spain to China.

For more information visit: www.1001inventions.com

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Seeing in The Dark

T he camera is not a modern invention! It was invented around a thousand years ago by Muslim scientist Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haitham. Ibn al-

Haitham did a great deal of revolutionary and influential work on optics through meticulous experimentation and evidence collection, creative explaining and thorough recording. He proved that light travels in straight lines, and that we see things when light reflects off an object and enters the eye. Ibn al-Haitham’s ‘Book of Optics’ had a profound impact on the work of Roger Bacon (13th century) and da Vinci (15th century).In this activity, students re-create some of Ibn al-Haitham’s ex-periences through constructing pinhole cameras. They reinforce their knowledge of light by examining some of Ibn al-Haitham’s work and comparing modern digital to pinhole cameras.

Curriculum link• Describe a logical procedure for undertaking a simple or controlled

experiment• Undertakesfirst-handinvestigations• Identifythetwoformsofenergy,active(Kinetic)andstored• Makeandrecordobservationsandmeasurementsaccuratelyovera

number of trials and evaluate results to draw a conclusion• Conductinvestigationstoexplorerefraction,reflection,absorptionand

dispersion• Researchandrelatethepropertiesoflighttoapplicationsinsociety.

(eg. Cameras, microscopes, car lights, eyes, glasses, contact lenses, solar heating, periscopes and others)

Learning objectivesStudents will learn:How Ibn al-Haitham changed ideas about important optical phenomenaHow to construct and use a pinhole camera About the similarities and differences of pinhole and digital cameras

Book Reference: Vision and Cameras, page 26.

Activity 1

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Running the activity

Activity 1

Starting the activity A really exciting way to start this lesson would be to set the whole teaching room up as a camera obscura (instructions on how to do this later). Then set the scene by displaying Activity 1a (either projected or as an OHT) and getting groups of students to do the two short tasks on this page.

Running the main part of the activity Display Activity 1b, and take students through the work and findings of Ibn al-Haitham. Stress the way he worked – very like modern scientists – through making observations, collecting evidence and creating explanations. Emphasise box 4 – Ibn al-Haitham’s room, with its hole in the window shutter – it was his camera obscura.

Then ask students to follow the instructions in Activity 1c to construct pinhole cameras.

Each group needs:An A4 sheet of black cardA piece of black card about 12 cm × 12 cmA piece of tracing paper about 12 cm × 12 cmScissorsSellotapeA drawing pinAccess to a lighted candleThe cameras work best in a dark room, looking towards a candle. Warn students not to look directly at the Sun.

Running the plenaryGive each group a copy of Activity 1d. Ask them to compare their pinhole camera to the mobile phone one on the sheet by completing the table. Finally, display Activity 1a again to remind students just how long cameras have been around, and to emphasise the contributions of the work of Ibn al-Haitham to our knowledge and understanding of optics.

Activity 1

10

How to make your classroom into a camera obscuraThis will work best if:Your classroom has an interesting view – particularly if there is something

moving outsideThe Sun shines on a windowThe students can become part of the picture by standing in the view outsideIf you can meet all of these prerequisites then go ahead by:1. Make the room completely blacked out. 2. Cover all of the windows with something opaque like thick cardboard

boxes or aluminium foil. Tape together small sections to make it more manageable using something like masking or parcel tape. Use black electricians’ tape to plug any holes.

3. Make an opening in the centre of a window covering in which to trial different apertures. This needs to be a square of about 5 cm across. If you wish, make more than one pilot hole, so that several groups of students can work at the same time.

4. Make apertures out of black paper, or thick aluminium foil. The shapes and sizes of the apertures can vary, but a small, round hole will give the sharpest image. Any jagged edges produced when making the aperture need to be sanded off for safety and to prevent a blurred image. The apertures can be stuck across the hole made in the window blackout. Light must only come through the aperture, so it needs to be sealed carefully when placing it across the hole. It is better to mount the aperture onto some thick card with a hole cut in the centre for placing and fixing across the pilot hole.

5. Images can be projected onto opposite walls, or onto viewing screens. If the screen is made out of translucent material, then the images produced can be seen from both sides.

Web linkswww.paintcancamera.com/cameraobscura.html A very detailed website on how to construct a camera obscura.

www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/pringles_pinhole.html A good Pringles pinhole camera site with explanations of how the images are formed.

www.charlesedisonfund.org/experiments/HTMLexperiments/Chapter5/5-Expt6/p1.html Really nice, simple pinhole camera instructions.

www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/pinholeCamera/pinholeCanBox.shtml A more sophisticated pinhole camera from Kodak that uses real film!

www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Al-Haytham.html Nice, concise pieces about the life of Ibn al-Haitham.

Activity 1

11

See

ing

in

th

e d

ark

Wha

t a

shot

!C

amer

as m

ust

be

one

of t

he

grea

test

mod

ern

in

ven

tion

s.

Not

tha

t m

oder

n

for

year

s!

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ow m

any

year

s ag

o do

you

thin

k th

e fi

rst p

inho

le c

amer

a w

as in

vent

ed?

a

100

b 15

0

c

500

d 10

00

� C

an y

ou s

how

how

this

firs

t pin

hole

ca

mer

a –

the

cam

era

obsc

ura

– m

ade

an im

age

of a

tree

? (d

raw

2 li

nes)

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w.10

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nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 1a

12

Th

e re

flec

ted

ray

s tr

avel

in

stra

igh

t lin

es a

nd

go

thro

ugh

th

e sm

all h

ole.

33

Ibn

al-H

aith

am in

vent

ed t

he p

inho

le c

amer

a in

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pt, 1

00

0 y

ears

ago

.

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ere'

s a

tiny

im

age

of a

tre

e on

m

y w

all.

1

4

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e da

y, a

s th

e su

nlig

ht

stre

amed

th

rou

gh a

sm

all

hol

e in

th

e sh

utt

er

of h

is r

oom

.

Th

e tr

ee r

efle

cts

the

ligh

t ray

s

22

Wh

en th

ey h

it th

e w

all t

hey

mak

e an

im

age

of a

tree

.

8 Fo

un

dati

on fo

r Sc

ien

ce, T

ech

nol

ogy

and

Civ

ilisa

tion

Her

e's

how

…

Th

ey h

it th

e tr

ee

Lig

ht r

ays

from

the

Sun

tr

avel

in s

trai

ght l

ines

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ink

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can

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lain

my

obse

rvat

ion

s lik

e th

is

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s.co

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Thi

s ro

om is

m

y ca

mer

a!

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is e

xpla

ins

how

ou

r

eyes

wor

k to

o! L

igh

t is

ref

lect

ed

from

obj

ects

. It

tra

vels

into

ou

r ey

es.

Activity 1b

13

Ma

ke y

our

own

pin

ho

le c

amer

a

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008

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nda

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for

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nce

, Tec

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on

Mak

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your

cam

era

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you

r cam

era

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dow

n th

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be

tow

ard

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aper

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his

is th

e sc

reen

.

2 P

oin

t th

e p

inh

ole

at a

b

righ

tly

lit o

bje

ct –

p

erh

aps

a ca

nd

le fl

ame.

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do

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not

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ab

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imag

e?

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ens

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oles

?

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tick

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n fi

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side

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see

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join

. If

it is

, use

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lota

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over

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ole.

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e a

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ircl

e.

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2St

and

the

tube

on

a s

mal

l pie

ce o

f bl

ack

card

.

Gen

tly

draw

rou

nd

the

end

of t

he

tube

.

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w a

cir

cle

abou

t 1

cm b

igge

r al

l rou

nd

you

r fi

rst

circ

le.

1R

oll y

our

blac

k ca

rd in

to a

tu

be.

Stic

k Se

llota

pe r

oun

d ea

ch e

nd.

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re t

he

stra

igh

t ed

ge w

ith

a lo

ng

piec

e of

Sel

lota

pe.

sello

tape

blac

ktu

be

4C

ut

a ci

rcle

from

tra

cin

g pa

per

th

at is

2 c

m

bigg

er a

ll ro

un

d th

an t

he

oth

er e

nd

of t

he

tube

.

Hol

d th

e tr

acin

g pa

per

tigh

tly

over

th

e em

pty

end

of t

he

tube

an

d st

ick

it d

own

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h S

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tape

.black card

black tubebl

ack

tube

trac

ing

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r

blac

k ca

rd

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Activity 1c

14

Pin

ho

le c

amer

a ...

© 2

008

Fou

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for

Scie

nce

, Tec

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Scre

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age

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ores

th

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age

Imag

e on

scr

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lens

es

ww

w.10

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tion

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s fo

r pi

nhol

e ca

mer

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ile p

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cam

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ters

th

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mer

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rou

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imag

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n t

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re li

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th

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ligh

t ra

ys r

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cted

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len

ses

to

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pen

th

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age?

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ow is

th

e im

age

stor

ed: d

igit

ally

(e

lect

ron

ic 1

s an

d 0s

) or

in a

nal

ogu

e fo

rm (

diff

eren

t sh

ades

of

ligh

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ow s

mal

l cou

ld t

his

typ

e of

cam

era

be?

Activity 1d

15

Coffee

W hen was the world’s favourite drink first discovered? About a thousand-years-ago by an observant Ethiopian goat-herd, who wondered

why his goats became livelier after eating berries from a certain plant. In this activity, students learn about coffee’s discovery before devising and doing an investigation to test the hypothesis “does caffeine increase alertness, and if so, by how much?”

Curriculum link• Select and use an appropriate medium to present data and information• Make and record observations and measurements accurately over a

number of trials and evaluate results to draw a conclusion• Explain using examples the interdependent relationship between

endocrine system and nervous system by investigating blood pressure

Learning objectivesStudents will learn:How an Ethiopian Arab – Khalid – discovered coffee more than 1000 years

agoTo devise and do an investigation to test the hypothesis that caffeine

increases alertness

Book Reference: Coffee, page 12.

Activity 2

16

Running the activityStarting the activity Display Activity 2a (either projected or as an OHT). Ask small groups of students to discuss these questions: How do you like your coffee? How do caffeine drinks make you feel? Then get students to guess when and where coffee was first discovered.

Running the main part of the activity Display Activity 2b, and take students through the story of how Khalid discovered the stimulant properties of coffee. Emphasise the scientific skills he used: careful observation; wondering why; devising an investigation to find out more.

Then give each group copies of Activity 2c and 2d, which set the main investigation task and give an outline to guide students through the process. A failsafe alertness test is to get one student to drop a metre ruler and another to catch it. Use the data in the table on the right to calculate reaction times.

You may need to demonstrate the alertness test:

Student A holds the top of a vertical ruler, with the 100 cm mark at the top.Student B places their finger and thumb over (but not touching) the zero at

the bottom of the ruler. Student B lets go of the ruler.Student A catches the ruler between their finger and thumb. The reading

under their finger and thumb is the distance the ruler has fallen. Some groups may well need help with considering how to make their investigation fair and reliable, and with working out what data to collect for strong evidence. Some groups will need help in designing a suitable results table, too.

Once students have completed their plans, ask them to carry out their investigation. Each group will need:

A metre rulerCaffeine drinks (cola is a good alternative to coffee, as it can be served

cold!)Clean cupsClean measuring jugs/cylinders – perhaps borrowed from food technologyRunning the plenaryDiscuss students’ investigation results and evaluations, and come to a class conclusion about whether caffeine increases alertness.

Activity 2

17

Web linkswww.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=108&TaxonomySubTypeID=126&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=277&ArticleID=1286 More information on the history of coffee.

Activity 2

Distance the ruler falls before it is caught/cm

Reaction time/ milliseconds

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

107

108

114

121

128

135

142

149

156

163

170

177

184

191Current research suggests that caffeine definitely helps to keep you awake and that it also may increase your reaction time. However, it probably hinders performance on complex analytical tasks. Caffeine also speeds up the heart and raises blood pressure, so interfering with sleeping. It can also be addictive.

18

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

� H

ow d

o yo

u lik

e yo

ur

coff

ee?

� H

ow d

o ca

ffei

ne d

rink

s (c

offe

e, c

ola,

tea,

ch

ocol

ate)

mak

e yo

u fe

el?

Sh

ould

you

lim

it y

our

inta

ke o

f caf

fein

e?*

Ca

fé C

os

tab

uc

ks W

hat

can

I

get

you

?

Iced

latt

e

Fair

tr

adeCap

pucc

ino

Frap

pucc

ino,

pl

ease

!

Dou

ble

ex

pres

so –

I n

eed

to b

e al

ert

for

my

driv

ing

test

!St

ron

g –

I've

got

an

exa

m la

ter!

Who

di

scov

ered

th

e w

orld

's

favo

urit

e dr

ink?

Whe

n?

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

* W

AR

NIN

G: C

affe

ine

spee

ds u

p th

e he

art a

nd ra

ises

blo

od

pres

sure

, int

erfe

ring

wit

h sl

eepi

ng. I

t can

als

o be

add

icti

ve.

Activity 2a

19

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Cof

fee

was

in

vent

ed m

ore

than

10

00

yea

rs

ago,

by

an

Ethi

opia

n

goat

-her

der

and

his

goat

s.

Wha

t the

y do

n't t

ell y

ou in

Ca

fé C

os

tab

uc

ks

Shou

ld I

gi

ve u

p m

y da

y

job

to g

row

an

d

sell

coff

ee b

ean

s?

How

can

I b

e

sure

that

cof

fee

mak

es h

um

an

s

mor

e al

ert?

I n

eed

som

e

scie

nti

fic

ev

iden

ce!

Kha

lid n

otic

ed h

is

anim

als

beco

min

g m

ore

livel

y af

ter

eati

ng b

erri

es

from

a c

erta

in p

lant

. H

e w

ante

d to

kno

w if

the

berr

ies

had

the

sam

e ef

fect

on

hum

ans.

So

he

boile

d so

me

up w

ith

suga

r an

d w

ater

to

crea

te th

e w

orld

's fi

rst

cup

of c

offe

e.

Activity 2b

20

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Plan

a

scie

ntifi

c in

vest

igat

ion

to fi

nd o

ut.

To s

tart

wit

h,

mak

e up

an

aler

tnes

s te

st.

Doe

s c

aff

ein

e in

crea

se a

lert

ness

? If

so,

by

how

muc

h?

Our

ale

rtne

ss te

st:

We

will

col

lect

this

dat

a so

that

our

evi

denc

e is

str

ong

and

relia

ble:

To m

ake

our

test

fair

we

will

:

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 2c

21

© 2

008

Fou

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tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

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y an

d C

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on

Res

ults

:

Eval

uati

on�

D

id o

ur te

sts

mea

sure

wha

t the

y w

ere

supp

osed

to?

�

How

cou

ld w

e m

ake

our

resu

lts

mor

e re

liabl

e?

Con

clus

ion:

mes

sage

to K

halid

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w.10

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tion

s.co

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Doe

s c

aff

ein

e in

crea

se a

lert

ness

? If

so,

by

how

muc

h?

Activity 2d

22

Book References: Cleanliness, page 20; Chemistry, page 72; Commercial Chemistry, page 130.

Perfume

P eople have enjoyed perfume for centuries. More than a thousand years ago, Muslims chose from a wide range of scents, thanks to the hard work of two talented

chemists: al-Kindi (born 801, Iraq) and Jabir ibn Hayyan (born 722, Iraq). Al-Kindi created a vast number of ‘recipes’ for a wide range of perfumes, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Jabir ibn Hayyan – often known as the ‘father of chemistry’ – devised many techniques, including sublimation, crystallization, distillation, oxidation, evaporation and filtration, some of which were used to prepare the perfumes.This activity introduces students to the Muslim world’s perfume expertise before getting them to plan – and (optionally) produce – their own perfume from orange peel, using steam distillation. Also included are suggestions for testing their finished products.

Curriculum link• Safely and efficiently construct, assemble and manipulate identified

equipment• Outline that substances have different properties (e.g. solubility, density,

melting/boiling, magnetic properties) that can be used to separate them in mixtures

• Conduct experiments to investigate the processes/methods of separating the components in mixtures: filtration, use of magnetism, chromatography, evaporation, crystallisation, distillation and decanting

• Identify three common place applications of separation techniques• Use particle theory of matter to explain change of state of matter:

melting/freezing, boiling/condensing, sublimation• Specify the dependent and independent variables in planning controlled

experiments

Learning objectivesStudents will learn:

• How Muslim scientists developed the techniques to make – and the recipes for – a wide range of perfumes

• To devise a method to extract perfumed oil from orange peel

Activity 3

23

Starting the activity Display Activity 3a (either projected or as an OHT). Ask small groups of students to discuss these questions: What’s you favourite perfume? How does it make you feel? Why do people wear perfume? Then get students to speculate how long perfume-making has been around.

Running the main part of the activity Display Activity 3b, and take students through the story of how al-Kindi and Jabir ibn Hayyan developed recipes for – and techniques to make – a wide range of different perfumes more than a thousand years ago.

Display Activity 3c, which sets the task – ‘Can you work out how to make a perfume using only the materials shown on the page?’ Tell small groups to use the chart on Activity 3d to help them plan their method (each group will need a copy of this page). Many students will need guidance with this task – you might like to set up and show students the steam distillation set-up below, and ask students to imagine replacing each part of the apparatus with one piece of the equipment shown.

If you wish, ask students to make perfume from orange or lemon peel. The set-up for steam distillation shown below works well – it is obviously not safe to use the equipment pictured on Activity 3c! Make sure the room is well-ventilated, as the perfume has a strong smell. Warn students to be very careful not to spill any of their perfume, as it is very slippery and difficult to clean up.

Activity 3e describes optional tests to help students evaluate their perfumes, and includes space to record judgements and – if you wish – particle explanations for some of their findings.

Suggested answers to Activity 3d:Column 1:Use the string and straight sticks to make a tripod-like contraption.Rest one of the cups on the tripod and half fill it with water.Place the candles under the tripod.Rub some sticks together to make a flame.Use the flame to light the candles.

Research: Try making a fragrance yourself. You need to extract the oil with the smell, from itsraw material. We've found two di�erent methods see below.

It makes scents – research

d a e r h t

gauze bucketcontainingthe orangepeel

r e t a w

e c i

e b u t t s e t


Activity 3

24

Running the activity continued...

Column 2:Make a hole through the centre of the cork. The bent end of the wooden

tube should fit snugly in the top of the hole. Wrap some orange peel in part of the fabric.Use string to attach the fabric-wrapped orange peel to the cork.Push the cork into the top of the cup, so the fabric-wrapped orange peel

hangs above the surface of the water.

Column 3:Insert the bent end of the wooden tube into the hole in the cork, so the tube

slopes down to the side.Surround the tube with ice – hold it there by tying cloth round the ice and

tube.

Column 4:Collect the liquid in a cup placed under the lower end of the wooden tube.The oil will float on the water. Collect the scented oil by skimming it off the

surface using the small flat piece of wood.Running the plenaryDiscuss students’ plans, products and tests. Emphasise that – in the Muslim world – chemists working twelve centuries ago had sophisticated techniques for making a wide range of perfumes and pharmaceuticals.

Web linkswww.healthy.net/scr/article.aspx?Id=1712 More information on the history of perfume and al-Kindi

www.parfumsraffy.com/faqs.html Commonly asked questions about perfumes.

Activity 3

25

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

� W

hat'

s yo

ur fa

vour

ite

perf

ume?

� H

ow d

oes

it m

ake

you

feel

?

� W

hy d

o pe

ople

wea

r pe

rfum

e?

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Mak

ing

perf

ume

is b

ig b

usin

ess.

But

is it

a n

ew o

r anc

ient

sci

ence

?

Gre

at s

cen

t!

Mm

mm

– g

orge

ous

...

wh

at's

th

at p

erfu

me?

Activity 3a

26

Jabi

r ib

n H

ayya

n

(722

– 8

15, I

ran

).

Als

o ca

lled

Geb

er –

th

e 'fo

un

der

of m

oder

n

chem

istr

y'.

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

� P

eopl

e ha

ve e

njoy

ed p

erfu

me

fo

r ce

ntur

ies.

� M

ore

than

a th

ousa

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ears

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Activity 3b

27

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Activity 3c

28

1

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23

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Activity 3d

29

© 2

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Activity 3e

30

Raising Water

N ext time you’re sucking up your milkshake in the local takeaway, spare a thought for al-Jazari. Over 800 years ago, in South East Turkey, he invented a

double-acting reciprocating suction pump with a clever sliding crank to convert circular motion of a water wheel into a linear motion to drive the piston. Pulling up water using a plunger in a tube was probably a Roman invention. In this activity, students will figure out how this early pump worked, in order to learn about hydraulics and simple machines.

Curriculum links• Identify the two forms of energy, active (Kinetic) and stored

(Potential)• Investigate types of energy and classify as kinetic and

potential• Conduct experiments and recognise the energy

transformations in common devices/appliances• Identifies a problem and independently produces an

appropriate investigation plan• Propose possible sources of data and/or information relevant

to the investigation

Learning ObjectivesStudents will: Explain how difference in air pressure can move liquidsApply this idea to construct an argument for how a water pump works

Book Reference: Raising water, page 114.

Activity 4

31

Activity 4Running the activityStarting the activityDisplay Activity 4a (either projected or as an OHT). The context for the activity is related to a simple form of al-Jazari’s invention 800 years ago for drawing water from rivers to irrigate the fields above, using a suction pump. Get students to brainstorm ways they can think of moving liquids. Lead them to the idea of using the force of air pressure to move a liquid.

You can demonstrate this using a manometer.

Set up a manometer (U-tube) filled with liquid and made visible with ink. Attach a piece of flexible clear plastic tubing to it, to allow water to be sucked up (Get the technician to soak the end in sterilising solution)

With the help of the students, show how gentle sucking on one side of a manometer changes the levels. On the sucked side the level goes up, while it goes down on the othe side that is exposed to atmospheric pressure. Take care to make sure water is not sucked all the way up or blown out!

Ask pupils to see if they can find similarities between the U-tube being sucked on one side and sucking up liquid out of a glass. You can get pupils to demonstrate the latter in two ways: one, sucking water out of a glass with a straw and two, by using a syringe to suck water up a piece of clear tubing.

Give pupils a few moments to discuss in pairs their explanations of why the levels change. Direct the discussion towards the idea that ‘sucking’ is actually atmospheric pressure that is pushing the water up. Discussion can bring in the particle model and/or the weight of air to explain where atmospheric pressure comes from.

32

Running the main part of the activityDisplay Activity 4b, which shows a simpler form of al-Jazari’s water pump invention. Instead of his double-acting reciprocating pump, this activity relates to a single piston pump. Set them the task of constructing an argument of how it works, using air pressure. Students can work in groups and are supported by the statement cards on Activity 4c. They can cut these out, select the most relevant ones, and re-order them to build their explanation. Less able students will need help with this activity. You might like to ask more able students to work out and explain how the pump works without giving them the statement cards.

One possible correct answer is:

Cards G, F, I, E, A, B, C, H, J, D

1. Animals or people pull up the handle.2. The plunger moves up the copper cylinder.3. Air pressure drops inside the tube, making the flap of the inlet valve

open.4. Water starts to rise from the river, and into the cylinder.5. The cylinder becomes full of water. 6. Animals or people push down the handle.7. Water begins to flow out of the cylinder.8. The flap of the outlet flap is pushed open. The flap of the inlet valve falls

closed.9. Water goes through the pipe and watering heads, over the fields.10. The cylinder empties and the flap of the outlet valve falls closed.


Web Linkswww.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=110 More information about al-Jazari’s inventions, including an animation of ‘al-Jazari’s water pump’ which you can download

www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%202.htm Details of the invention of the suction pump

Activity 4

33

100

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Activity 4b

35

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Activity 4c

36

Puzzling Plants

M any hundreds of years before Linnaeus developed our current system of classification (back in 1753), Muslim scientists were collecting

vast numbers of plant species and sorting them according to their uses. Their knowledge of herbal medicines was extensive and impressive, and coupled with access to information on earlier attempts to classify plants, they developed sophisticated methods of classifying the living world. One Muslim scientist – Ibn al-Baytar of Malaga, Muslim Spain – studied 3000 plant species and their medical properties, and recorded his findings in a vast encyclopedia. The scientific skill of ‘try it and write what it does’ goes back a long way! In this activity, students classify useful plants before exploring the pros and cons of herbal medicine in today’s world.

Curriculum links• Undertakes first-hand investigations• Investigate the diversity of life (special focus on plants)• Develop a classification scheme for common objects• Use a given key to classify given animals or plants• Analyse generalised diagrams of plant and animal cells to explain the

difference in structure including the organelle function• Investigate some infectious and non-infectious diseases (treatment and

control)• Identifies a problem and independently produces an appropriate

investigation plan

Book Reference: Herbal Medicine, page 180.

Activity 5

37

Starting the activity Display Activity 5a (either projected or as an OHT). Point out the differences in plant knowledge between pre-Enlightenment Europeans and scientists from the Muslim world.

Ask students, in small groups, to

discuss the three questions at the bottom of the pageclassify the plants on cards made from Activity 5b into sensible groups.

Ideally, make the cards before the lesson.Encourage students to draw out these points in their discussions: plants were used as remedies, for food, clothing and building; Muslim scientists were particularly interested in recording the medicinal properties of plants; they used the skills of collecting, observing, recording data and classifying. Ideally, make the cards before the lesson.

Encourage students to try different methods of classifying the plants on the cards; part way through this activity, reveal that Muslim scientists were particularly interested in classifying plants according to remedy, and get students to try doing this themselves.

Running the main part of the activity Ask students – either individually or in small groups – to read the information ‘from the packets’ of herbal and conventional remedies (Activity 5c, 5d, 5e), decide which ones they would choose if required, and justify their choices. Their answers can be used to discuss issues such as:

1. How do we know the remedies are effective (what evidence is there)?2. Perceptions about herbal remedies being more natural or ‘better’ than

artificial ones, especially with the sleeping pills example where the active chemicals in both the herbal and the conventional medicine are essentially the same (alkaloids)

3. Should we always use drugs (natural or artificial) anyway?4. Whether there is enough information on the sheets to make informed

decisions.Ask students to prepare for the debate, as described on Activity 5f. Make sure you have some students planning to speak for each ‘side’! Then run one large debate or get students debating in small groups.

Running the plenaryLead a discussion to bring out the following points:

Much of what scientists do today involves trial and error Hundreds of years ago Muslim medics and plant scientists gathered vast

amounts of knowledge about plants. Many of their findings are still useful in today’s world

Activity 5Learning objectivesStudents will:Learn about the pioneering work of Muslim scientists on plant

classificationExplore the pros and cons of herbal medicine in today’s world


38

Activity 5Running the activity continued...

Possible extensionAsk students to carry out research to investigate how people of different cultures use plants in their everyday lives. You could ask student to focus on just one plant, and to produce some or all of the following:

A fact file about the plant, including a description of its properties and uses.A map showing where the plant grows and how different cultures use it.A timeline showing how the uses of the plant have changed.An modern advertisement for a remedy containing extracts from the plant.A giant model of the plant for display, incorporating information about

how and why the plant is used today.

Web linkswww.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=525 More details about the work of the Muslim scientists in this activity

www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=515 An article about agricultural developments in the Muslim world

39

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use

d: s

ap fr

om

leav

esU

ses:

�

sp

eed

s w

oun

d

hea

lin

g�

lax

ativ

e�

tre

ats

skin

p

rob

lem

s li

ke

sun

burn

Part

use

d: r

hiz

ome

Use

s:

� h

elp

s d

iges

tion

� r

edu

ces

nau

sea

� r

edu

ces

cold

an

d

flu

sym

pto

ms

� f

lavo

uri

ng

Part

use

d: s

eed

hea

dU

ses:

�

mak

ing

fib

res

for

wea

vin

g in

to c

loth

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 5b

41

Her

bal m

edic

ine

My

com

men

ts

Con

vent

iona

l med

icin

eG

arlic

cap

sule

sA

tra

diti

onal

rem

edy

for

the

sym

ptom

s of

cou

ghs

and

cold

s. C

an a

lso

ben

efit

th

e h

eart

an

d ci

rcu

lato

ry s

yste

m. H

as a

nti

-ba

cter

ial p

rope

rtie

s to

o.

Con

tain

s So

ya b

ean

oil

and

garl

ic o

il in

a g

elat

ine

caps

ule

.

All

nat

ura

l in

gred

ien

ts –

no

know

n s

ide

effe

cts.

Ana

din

para

ceta

mol

For

the

effe

ctiv

e re

lief

of m

ild to

m

oder

ate

pain

incl

udi

ng

hea

dach

e,

mig

rain

e, to

oth

ach

e, p

erio

d pa

ins,

ach

es

and

pain

s, r

heu

mat

ic p

ain

, fev

eris

hn

ess

and

sym

ptom

s of

col

ds a

nd

infl

uen

za.

Con

tain

s Pa

race

tam

ol a

nd

hydr

oxyp

ropy

l met

hyl

cellu

lose

(E

464)

. Do

not

tak

e w

ith

any

ot

her

par

acet

amol

-con

tain

ing

prod

uct

s.

Imm

edia

te m

edic

al a

dvic

e sh

ould

be

sou

ght

in t

he

even

t of

an

ove

rdos

e, e

ven

if

you

feel

wel

l.

Do

not t

ake

if:

� y

ou a

re s

uff

erin

g fr

om

ki

dney

or

liver

dis

ease

.

� y

ou a

re a

llerg

ic to

par

acet

amol

or

any

of t

he

oth

er in

gred

ien

ts li

sted

.

If I

wer

e su

ffer

ing

from

co

ld a

nd

flu

sym

ptom

s,

I w

ould

tak

e

beca

use

…

In th

e 21

st c

entu

ry, w

ould

you

sti

ll ch

oose

her

bal m

edic

ine?

1

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 5c

42

Her

bal m

edic

ine

My

com

men

ts

Con

vent

iona

l med

icin

e

In t

he 2

1st c

entu

ry, w

ould

you

sti

ll ch

oose

her

bal m

edic

ine?

Nee

mis

a p

ower

ful a

nti

-bac

teri

al

and

anti

-fu

nga

l her

b th

at is

ex

trem

ely

bitt

er, w

ith

pow

erfu

l de

toxi

fyin

g ch

loro

phyl

l, an

d ac

ts a

s

an in

valu

able

ski

n a

nd

bloo

d cl

ean

ser.

It is

ver

y ef

fect

ive

for

nor

mal

isin

g gu

t ba

cter

ia.

Con

tain

s E

xtra

ct a

nd

pow

der

of N

eem

Lea

f.

Do

not u

se if

pre

gnan

t

PanO

xyl B

arH

elps

cle

ar e

xist

ing

ac

ne

blem

ish

es a

nd

h

elps

pre

ven

t th

e de

velo

pmen

t of

new

ac

ne

pim

ples

, bla

ckh

eads

an

d w

hit

ehea

ds.

Con

tain

s 10

% B

enzo

yl P

erox

ide.

Cet

oste

aryl

al

coh

ol, c

ocam

idop

ropy

l bet

ain

e, c

orn

st

arch

, gly

ceri

n, h

ydro

gen

ated

cas

tor

oil,

min

eral

oil,

PE

G-1

4M, s

ilico

n d

ioxi

de,

sodi

um

pot

assi

um

lau

ryl s

ulf

ate,

tit

aniu

m

diox

ide,

wat

er.

Side

eff

ects

Th

is p

rodu

ct m

ay c

ause

irri

tati

on,

char

acte

rize

d by

red

nes

s, b

urn

ing,

itch

ing,

pe

elin

g, o

r po

ssib

le s

wel

ling.

Kee

p aw

ay

from

eye

s, li

ps, a

nd

mou

th. A

void

con

tact

w

ith

hai

r an

d fa

bric

s.

2

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

If I

wer

e su

ffer

ing

from

sp

ots,

I w

ould

tak

e

beca

use

…

Activity 5d

43

Her

bal m

edic

ine

Con

vent

iona

l med

icin

e

In th

e 21

st c

entu

ry, w

ould

you

sti

ll ch

oose

her

bal m

edic

ine?

Slee

ping

pill

s

e.g.

zop

iclo

neIf

th

ey h

aven

't be

en p

resc

ribe

d to

you

pe

rson

ally

th

en it

is il

lega

l to

take

th

em.

Con

tain

s Z

opic

lon

e, la

ctos

e, h

ydro

xypr

opyl

m

ethy

l cel

lulo

se, m

icro

crys

talli

ne

cellu

lose

an

d so

diu

m s

tarc

h g

lyco

llate

.

Side

eff

ects

Day

tim

e dr

owsi

nes

s an

d a

bitt

er t

aste

in

the

mou

th.

War

ning

sD

epen

den

ce c

an d

evel

op a

fter

as

littl

e as

on

e w

eek

of c

onti

nu

ous

use

.

Slee

ping

pill

s

e.g.

zop

iclo

neIf

th

ey h

aven

't be

en p

resc

ribe

d to

you

pe

rson

ally

th

en it

is il

lega

l to

take

th

em.

Con

tain

s Z

opic

lon

e, la

ctos

e, h

ydro

xypr

opyl

m

ethy

l cel

lulo

se, m

icro

crys

talli

ne

cellu

lose

an

d so

diu

m s

tarc

h g

lyco

llate

.

Side

eff

ects

Day

tim

e dr

owsi

nes

s an

d a

bitt

er t

aste

in

the

mou

th.

War

ning

sD

epen

den

ce c

an d

evel

op a

fter

as

littl

e as

on

e w

eek

of c

onti

nu

ous

use

.

3

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Cal

ifor

nian

pop

pyC

onta

ins

alka

loid

s an

d

in p

arti

cula

r on

e ca

lled

ca

lifor

nid

ine.

Th

is p

lan

t is

a

nat

ura

l hyp

not

ic: i

t pr

epar

es

for

peac

efu

l sle

ep a

nd

redu

ces

slee

pin

g pr

oble

ms,

par

ticu

larl

y n

igh

tmar

es,

wak

ing

duri

ng

the

nig

ht

and

diff

icu

ltie

s in

falli

ng

asle

ep. I

t is

als

o an

an

xiol

ytic

an

d a

seda

tive

: it

hel

ps a

nxi

ous

peo

ple

of

all a

ges

reco

ver

and

hav

e a

calm

life

w

ith

out

stre

ss.

Con

tain

s C

alif

orn

ian

pop

py a

eria

l flo

wer

ed, p

art

pow

der?

Do

not u

se if

pre

gnan

t

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

My

com

men

ts

If I

wer

e ha

ving

di

ffic

ult

y in

sle

epin

g,

I w

ould

tak

e

beca

use

…

Activity 5e

44

Plan

to p

lay

a pa

rt in

the

deba

te.

Cho

ose

one

of th

ese

role

s:�

are

vita

l to

prot

ect

citi

zen

s

� t

he

dire

ctor

of

a sh

op c

hai

n t

hat

sel

ls

her

bal m

edic

ines

.

The

EU is

deb

atin

g ne

w la

ws

to c

ontr

ol h

erba

l med

icin

es

I'm

con

vin

ced

I

esca

ped

a co

ld t

his

yea

r as

a

resu

lt o

f ta

kin

g th

ose

garl

ic s

upp

lem

ents

Wit

hou

t la

ws,

som

e m

anu

fact

ure

rs c

ould

mak

e fa

lse

clai

ms

abou

t pr

odu

cts

Th

e pr

odu

cts

for

sale

mu

st

be p

rove

n to

be

safe

Ch

emic

als

are

chem

ical

s –

they

can

be

dan

gero

us

wh

eth

er h

erba

l or

syn

thet

ic

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

and

food

sup

plem

ents

.

Dai

ly N

ews:

New

law

s m

ay h

it h

erb

al r

emed

ies

New

Eu

rope

an r

egu

lati

ons

may

soo

n p

reve

nt

the

sale

of

man

y of

B

rita

in's

favo

uri

te fo

od s

upp

lem

ents

. Opi

nio

n a

bou

t th

e n

ew

regu

lati

ons

is s

har

ply

divi

ded.

Som

e be

lieve

th

em to

be

a vi

tal s

afet

y m

easu

re, a

nd

say

that

th

ey w

ill p

reve

nt

the

sale

of

subs

tan

ces

that

may

be

har

mfu

l. O

ther

s be

lieve

th

e la

ws

are

yet

anot

her

exa

mpl

e of

th

e E

U

un

nec

essa

rily

inte

rfer

ing

wit

h p

eopl

e's

lives

.

Figh

tin

g si

ckn

ess

In t

he

UK

, we

real

ise

that

die

t is

dir

ectl

y lin

ked

to o

ur

hea

lth

.

We

rega

rd v

itam

in a

nd

min

eral

su

pple

men

ts a

s fo

ods,

not

med

icin

es.

Man

y pe

ople

buy

th

ese

supp

lem

ents

– a

nd

her

bal m

edic

ines

– a

s pa

rt

of t

hei

r fi

ght

agai

nst

illn

ess.

Res

tric

ted

list

So

on, o

nly

th

ose

vita

min

s an

d m

iner

als

liste

d by

th

e E

uro

pean

Un

ion

Fo

od S

upp

lem

ents

Dir

ecti

ve w

ill b

e ab

le to

be

sold

lega

lly. T

o st

art

wit

h, t

his

will

mea

n t

he

loss

of

at le

ast

270

nu

trie

nt

supp

lem

ents

. Lat

er,

all n

utr

itio

nal

su

pple

men

ts w

ill b

e sc

ruti

nis

ed.

Her

bal

med

icin

es h

it to

o T

he

EU

pla

ns

to r

estr

ict

the

sale

of

her

bal m

edic

ines

, too

. It

pro

pose

s a

regi

ster

of

her

bs w

hic

h h

ave

been

'in

saf

e u

se fo

r

30 y

ears

'. It

will

not

be

poss

ible

to u

se n

ewly

dis

cove

red

her

bal

med

icin

es im

med

iate

ly.

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 5f

45

Book Reference: Pharmacy, page 184.

Pharmacy

E ight hundred years ago, the Muslim world had sophisticated pharmaceuticals and regulated strict rules for their sales. The earliest inspector was a woman

appointed by Caliph Umar, 640 CE, in the city of Medina. In this activity, students take on the role of a government inspector (al-Muhtasib) checking pharmacists and their medicines in 12th century Baghdad. They are charged to check out a rumour that a local pharmacy is selling a cheap imitation of a stomach medicine, and to use practical techniques to come to an evidenced conclusion.

Curriculum link• Identify pure substances called elements and research the uses of

common elements in society (No detail required about properties)

• Describe the properties of solids, liquids and gases in terms of arrangement and movement of particles

• Outline that substances have different properties (e.g. solubility, density, melting/boiling, magnetic properties) that can be used to separate them in mixtures

• Conduct experiments to investigate the processes/methods of separating the components in mixtures: filtration, use of magnetism, chromatography, evaporation, crystallisation, distillation and decanting

• Given a mixture of 2 components, identify and explain an appropriate technique (s) to separate the components of the mixture

• Undertakes first hand investigations with safety and competence • Identifies a problem and independently produces an appropriate

investigation plan• Propose possible sources of data and/or information relevant to the

investigation• select and use an appropriate method to acknowledge sources of

information

Learning objectivesStudents will learn • ThattheMuslimworldhadsophisticatedpharmaceuticalsandstrict

rules for their sales eight hundred years ago• Toevaluateaproductusinganeutralisationreaction

Activity 6

46

Activity 6Running the activityStarting the activity Display Activity 6a (either projected or as an OHT). Ask small groups of students to discuss which stomach cure they would buy – and why.Then get them to discuss what they expect out a visit to the pharmacy. Encourage them to come up with answers such as ‘Nothing that’s going off ’; ‘a pharmacist who knows what s/he is doing’ and ‘to be told the correct dosage’, as well as those already given on Activity 1.

Then emphasize the point that shoppers in 12th century Baghdad had the same high standards, and that government inspectors (al-Muhtasib) made sure that regulations were adhered to.

Running the main part of the activityActivity pages 6b, 6c and 6d – stomach-ache powdersDisplay Activity 6b. Emphasise the reference books and the wide variety of medicines that were available in the Islamic world more than 1000 years ago. Use this page to set the task – to find out which one of five pharmacists at the market is selling a contaminated stomach-ache cure. Ask small groups to suggest ways of tacking the task. You might like to ask groups to devise – and follow – their own method of identifying the culprit. Alternatively, continue as suggested for Activities 6b and 6c below.

Give each group a copy of Activities 6c and 6d. Groups follow the instructions to identify the contaminated sample. It is well worth quickly working through the practical yourself before the lesson.

Equipment and materials needed:Per group:5 100 cm3 beakers0-10 cm3 measuring cylinderSpatula5 containers in which to collect powders A, B, C, D and EStirring rodAccess to:Powder samples labelled A, B, C, D, EThere is just one powder that is different from the rest – a 50:50 mixture

of baking powder and salt. The other four samples are simply baking powder with a small quantity of salt added so that the difference in powders is not obvious just by looking at them.

0.5 mol/dm3 hydrochloric acidUniversal indicatorBalance

47

Activity 6Running the activity continued...

Activity pages 6e, 6f, 6g and 6h – drug capsulesDisplay Activity pages 6e and 6f to describe blood capsules – ancient and modern – to students. Then display Activity 6g. Ask students to use your school investigation planning sheets to plan how to find out how squashing the ‘drug capsule’ (teabag) affects how quickly the ‘drug’ comes out.

A very effective way of doing this investigation is to use light sensors with data logging equipment, as pictured on Activity page 6h. If you decide to do this, you will need to demonstrate the use of the light sensors before asking students to plan their investigations. Students will then record the transmission of light on a graph over about 2 minutes. Depending on the type of teabags used, students may need to pierce the teabag and tie a piece of string through the hole so that they can immerse the teabag in hot water, and then move the teabag around so it doesn’t block the light sensor.

Running the plenaryAsk groups to compare their findings – are their conclusions consistent? Then get small groups to discuss – or lead a class discussion about – other circumstances in which measuring might have been a useful part of Muslim pharmacists’ work to develop and test new medicines.

Web linkswww.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=18&TaxonomySubTypeID=77&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=221&ArticleID=1004 More information on Muslim contribution to chemistry

www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=226 How drugs were made a thousand years ago

48

Wh

ich

wo

uld

yo

u b

uy?

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

To b

e gi

ven

th

e am

oun

t I'

m

payi

ng

for

–

no

less

!

Mu

slim

sh

opp

ers

in tw

elft

h c

entu

ry B

agh

dad

, Ira

q, e

xpec

ted

the

sam

e h

igh

st

and

ard

s. A

nd

, ju

st li

ke in

twen

ty-f

irst

cen

tury

Eu

rop

e, th

ey s

ent o

ut q

ual

ity

con

trol

in

spec

tors

(al

-Mu

hta

sib

) to

ch

eck

that

ph

arm

acis

ts w

ere

obey

ing

the

regu

lati

ons.

Safe

med

icin

es

Med

icin

es

that

do

wh

at t

hey

sa

y th

ey'll

do

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 6a

49

Bag

hd

ad

Cit

y C

oun

cil

You

r w

ork

toda

y, a

l-M

uh

tasi

b, is

to

test

th

e po

wde

rs a

nd

fin

d th

e cu

lpri

t. T

hen

we

can

th

ink

of a

su

itab

le p

un

ish

men

t…

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Ibn

Sina

'sac

ne

oint

men

tS

ab

ur

ib

n S

ah

l's

co

ug

h

syru

p

Al-

Raz

i'sH

eada

che

Com

poun

d

Her

bs

Th

ere'

s a

rum

our

that

on

e of

th

e m

arke

t ph

arm

acis

ts h

as m

ixed

a c

hea

p an

d u

sele

ss

pow

der

wit

h h

is s

tom

ach

-ach

e cu

re.

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 6b

50

Test

ing

sto

ma

ch

po

wd

ers

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

� T

oday

, you

wil

l tes

t sto

mac

h-a

che

cure

s fr

om 5

ph

arm

acis

ts.

� O

ne

stom

ach

-ach

e cu

re is

con

tam

inat

ed w

ith

a u

sele

ss p

owd

er.

� F

ollo

w th

e in

stru

ctio

ns

to fi

nd

ou

t wh

ich

…

1 C

olle

ct a

sam

ple

of s

tom

ach-

ache

po

wde

r fr

om e

ach

phar

mac

y st

all.

3 Pu

t 5 c

m3 o

f dilu

te h

ydro

chlo

ric

acid

in e

ach

beak

er.

2 W

eigh

eac

h sa

mpl

e. W

rite

the

mas

ses

in th

e ta

ble

(col

umn

2).

4 A

dd 4

dro

ps o

f uni

vers

al

indi

cato

r to

eac

h be

aker

.

6 W

eigh

wha

t is

left

of

you

r sa

mpl

e of

st

omac

h-ac

he

pow

der

A. W

rite

th

is m

ass

in th

e ta

ble

(col

umn

4).

AB

CD

E

5 A

dd o

ne s

patu

la-f

ull o

f sto

mac

h-ac

he p

owde

r A

to th

e ac

id in

bea

ker

A.

Stir.

Kee

p ad

ding

the

pow

der,

one

spat

ula

at a

tim

e, u

ntil

yo

u se

e a

gree

n co

lour

. The

sto

mac

h-ac

he p

owde

r ha

s

now

neu

tral

ised

the

acid

. W

rite

dow

n th

e nu

mbe

r of

sp

atul

as y

ou h

ave

adde

d.A

8 R

epea

t ste

ps 5

to 7

for

pow

ders

B, C

, D a

nd E

.

7 C

alcu

late

the

mas

s of

sto

mac

h-ac

he p

owde

r yo

u ad

ded

by

subt

ract

ing

the

mas

s in

col

umn

4

from

the

mas

s in

col

umn

2.

Activity 6c

51

Res

ult

s

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Mas

s of

sa

mpl

e ad

ded

to a

cid,

in g

(c

olum

ns

2– 4

)

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

HIN

T:

Th

e co

nta

min

ated

sam

ple

co

nta

ins

less

sto

mac

h-a

che

cure

.

So y

ou n

eed

to u

se m

ore

of th

is

sam

ple

to n

eutr

alis

e th

e ac

id in

th

e b

eake

r.

�

Wh

ich

pow

der

is

con

tam

inat

ed?

�

How

do

you

kn

ow?

�

How

su

re a

re y

ou th

at y

our

answ

er is

cor

rect

? H

ow c

ould

yo

u m

ake

you

r an

swer

mor

e re

liab

le?

Col

umn

5M

ass

of

sam

ple

left

in

g

Col

umn

4N

umbe

r of

spat

ulas

of

sam

ple

adde

d to

ac

id

Col

umn

3M

ass

of

sam

ple

at

star

t, in

g

Col

umn

2Sa

mpl

eC

olum

n 1

A B C D E

Activity 6d

52

Get

tin

g m

edic

ines

into

yo

ur

blo

od

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Th

ere

are

lots

of

way

s of

get

tin

g m

edic

inal

d

rugs

into

you

r b

lood

stre

am…

Tabl

ets

Inje

ctio

n

Cap

sule

Syru

p

Gel

cap

sule

s

Oin

tmen

t

Activity 6e

53

Dru

g c

apsu

les:

o

lder

th

an y

ou

th

ink!

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

�

Al-

Zah

raw

i in

ven

ted

dru

g ca

psu

les

arou

nd

a th

ousa

nd

yea

rs a

go.

H

e p

acke

d s

ingl

e d

oses

of

dru

gs in

cat

-gu

t par

cels

, rea

dy

for

swal

low

ing.

T

he

dru

g gr

adu

ally

see

ped

ou

t of

the

par

cel,

all d

ay.

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Insi

de a

mod

ern

drug

cap

sule

Cap

sule

(o

r cat

gut

a hu

ndre

d ye

ars

ago)

Smal

l 'be

ads'

of

med

icin

e w

ith

coat

ing

whi

ch

diss

olve

slo

wly

so

med

icin

e ge

ts in

to

bloo

d du

ring

the

who

le s

choo

l day

.

Smal

l 'be

ads'

of m

edic

ine

wit

h co

atin

g w

hich

dis

solv

e qu

ickl

y so

med

icin

e ge

ts in

to th

e bl

ood

quic

kly.

Activity 6f

54

Dru

g c

apsu

les:

get

tin

g t

he

med

icin

e o

ut

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

War

m w

ater

Fold

ed o

ver

tea

bags

Tea

bag

�

How

qu

ickl

y d

oes

med

icin

e co

me

out o

f a

cap

sule

?

�

Doe

s it

mak

e a

dif

fere

nce

if y

ou s

quas

h u

p th

e m

edic

ine?

�

Use

the

equ

ipm

ent t

o p

lan

an

d d

o an

inve

stig

atio

n to

fin

d o

ut.

�

Use

teab

ags

inst

ead

of

catg

ut p

arce

ls.

Activity 6g

55

Usi

ng

teab

ags

to in

vest

igat

e d

rug

cap

sule

s

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Dat

a lo

gger

Strin

g

Teab

ag, f

olde

d us

ing

pape

r clip

Ligh

t Sen

sor

Activity 6h

56

Build it Strong

W e take structures like bridges and tents for granted. In fact they were advanced technologies in their day – 1000 years ago. The Muslim inventors

combined knowledge of maths, geometry and engineering to improve existing tent designs, Their innovations centred on the strength of the triangle. They also overcame the challenge of supporting huge weights by building arches of new shapes. In this activity students appreciate how these shapes can create extremely strong structures. First they are challenged to build a model tent out of match sticks. Then they have to design an arch bridge, using the addictive Bridge Builder software simulation (a free download).

Curriculum links• investigate a range of contact and non-contact forces (including friction,

air/water resistance, gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic• Safely and efficiently construct, assemble and manipulate identified

equipment• Identifies a problem and independently produces an appropriate

investigation plan

Learning ObjectivesStudents will: Recognize the triangle as a strong shape in structures from Muslim tents to

modern bridgesUse the principle of arches for an efficient bridge design

Book References: Arches, page 200; The Tent, page 224.

Activity 7

57

Running the activityStarting the activityDisplay Activity 7a (either projected or as an OHT). Set students the two simple problems (5 minutes each) to arrange (already burned) matches and blu tack, to make the structure for a tent that can’t easily be blown over. Either they can build the structures or just sketch their answers. The rules are: they can stick the blobs to the table but not break them up into a larger number of smaller pieces.

Show the solutions on Activity 7c Point out the ‘did you know?’ highlighting the use of the tent by Muslims and Bedouins, and get students to notice how the triangle shape is repeated many times throughout the design of a Bedouin tent – to get as much strength from limited materials.

Running the main part of the activityActivity 7b (30-45 mins) builds on the idea of triangles. Here students are challenged to build an arch bridge, using a software simulation. First they are encouraged to think about why arches are so strong. Muslim architects mastered the art of using arches 1000 years ago. They developed various kinds that gave buildings more strength, stability and good looks. (Their pointed arches didn’t push out sideways so much, and so were much less likely to flop in the middle). Muslim architects also put arches on arches to give maximum strength with minimum materials for very large buildings.

Students can try out their ideas about strong structures using the ‘Bridge builder’ simulation game. In the game, they have to create a structure to span the water. The simulation has a graded series of levels, to develop students’ understanding of maximising strength and minimising weight. When a bridge is complete, it can be tested by ‘running a train across it’. This easy to use, addictive software simply needs to be downloaded and installed on each computer (see website below).

Web Linkswww.bridgebuilder-game.com The free Bridge builder simulation for the main activity

www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=260 Information on the use of arches in Muslim architecture

Activity 7

58

Bu

ild it

str

on

g

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Tim

e: 1

000

year

s ag

o

Plac

e: A

rabi

an d

eser

t

Scen

ario

: You

bel

ong

to a

Bed

ouin

tri

be.

Aft

er a

san

dsto

rm, y

ou lo

se y

our

shel

ter.

Yo

u m

ust

now

bu

ild a

sh

elte

r to

su

rviv

e th

e n

igh

t.

Th

e st

ruct

ure

mu

st b

e st

ron

g en

ough

to w

ith

stan

d th

e de

sert

win

ds.

1

Wh

at's

the

stro

nge

st

stru

ctu

re y

ou c

an

bu

ild

wit

h 3

sti

cks?

(u

se m

atch

es a

nd

bl

ue-

tack

).2

You

fin

d tw

o co

mp

anio

ns.

W

hat

's th

e b

igge

st, s

tron

gest

st

ruct

ure

you

can

mak

e w

ith

7 st

icks

?

Ch

alle

nge

no

1

� W

hat

sh

ape

are

you

r st

ruct

ure

s b

ased

on

?

Activity 7a

59

Bu

ild it

str

on

g

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Did

yo

u

kn

ow

?

Mu

slim

arc

hit

ects

m

aste

red

the

art o

f b

uil

din

g ar

ches

10

00 y

ears

ago

. T

hey

wer

e

insp

ired

by

the

grac

efu

l cu

rve

of

pal

m tr

ee b

ran

ches

.

Ch

alle

nge

no

2 –

Bri

dge

Tim

e: P

rese

nt

Plac

e: U

KSc

enar

io: Y

ou a

re a

n a

rch

itec

t, an

d h

ave

been

as

ked

to b

uild

an

arc

h b

ridg

e th

at w

ill c

arry

hea

vy

traf

fic

load

s ac

ross

a r

iver

. How

str

ong

an

d co

st

effe

ctiv

e ca

n y

ou m

ake

it?

Why

are

arc

hes

so

str

ong?

Activity 7b

60

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

Did

yo

u

kn

ow

?

1000

yea

rs a

go,

ten

ts w

ere

use

d

as m

eeti

ng

pla

ces

for

Mu

slim

s an

d

Bed

ouin

s.

Bu

ild it

str

on

gw

ww

.100

1inv

enti

ons.

com

Des

ert

chal

len

ge s

olu

tio

n

Activity 7c

61

Figuring out Phenomena

M ore than a thousand years ago, Muslim scientists were curious about their surroundings and gathered evidence from observations to explain

phenomena that still stimulate debate amongst scientists: Why is the sky blue? Why does the Moon look bigger nearer the horizon? What makes rainbows? This card-based activity asks students to evaluate evidence and arguments in order to choose the best of three possible scientific explanations for each phenomenon. This is followed by an optional activity: students prepare a talk for a scientific conference to argue the case for a particular explanation for one of the phenomena.

Curriculum links• Select and use an appropriate medium to present data and information• Undertakes first-hand investigations• Use models and diagrams to explain the phases of the moon • Describe a problem, hypothesis or question that can be tested or

researched• Make and record observations and measurements accurately over a

number of trials and evaluate results to draw a conclusion

Learning ObjectivesStudents will: Consider observations and evidence about three natural phenomenaEvaluate evidence and arguments to choose the best explanation for each

phenomenonPrepare to argue for a particular explanation of a natural phenomenon at a

scientific conference

Book Reference: Natural Phenomena, page 246.

Activity 8

62

Running the activityStarting the activityDisplay Activity 8a (either projected or as an OHT). Ask students what they think the answer to the question might be, and get them to consider al-Kindi’s explanations from a thousand years ago. Students may notice two misconceptions in al-Kindi’s views: that the Earth emits light and that there are atoms of dust and vapour in the air. These, though, should not distract from the explanations’ main ideas.

Display Activity 8b. Emphasize the ‘observation, evidence, explanation’ circle. Ask groups of students to identify al-Kindi’s observations and evidence – as well as his explanation – in the thought bubbles on Activity 8a.

Note that early scientists did not have the benefit of current technology but often came up with explanations and measurements that are incredibly close to the currently accepted values. For example, in the 9th century Muslim astronomers measured the earth’s circumference at 40 253.4km, which is within 1% of today’s figure of 40 000.6 km (through the poles).

Running the main part of the activityGive each group of students a set of cards made from Activity 8c or Activity 8c or 8d or 8e. Ask students to use the evidence from observation cards to decide which of the three explanation cards provides the best explanation for the natural phenomenon they are considering.

Students are likely to need guidance to go through the process of ‘testing explanations’ by trying to disprove them:

Lay out the three competing explanationsTake each piece of evidence in turn. Does this contradict – and therefore

eliminate – any of the explanations?Which explanation are you left with, that is consistent with the evidence?This table below may help students with the process:

Evidence Eliminates?ABCDE Explanation 2FG Explanation 1

Activity 8

63

Another way of getting pupils started in this activity is to start an argument yourself, by saying for example ‘the Sun sinks into the sea everyday,’ and getting students to respond.

Having completed the task for one phenomenon, ask students to repeat the process for a second phenomenon, if appropriate. The question about the size of the Moon is probably the most difficult, and has not yet been fully resolved.

During the activity, you may need to explain – or get students to look up – some of the following terms:

Wavelength, cones (in the eye), spectrum, refracted, illusion.

Follow-on activityAsk each group to prepare an argument to support a particular explanation for one of the questions, checking that all three questions are addressed by the class overall. As each group presents and supports their choice at a ‘scientific conference’, other students may ask questions.

Running the plenaryDisplay Activity 8f. This reveals the identity of the scientist who originally proposed each explanation, and highlights the currently accepted explanation for each phenomenon. Point out to students that Muslim scientists have been observing, collecting evidence and devising explanations for phenomena for at least a thousand years. Often, their explanations are very close to those accepted by scientists today.

Web Linkswww.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blue_sky.html Why is the sky blue? Ideas and evidence including those from Tyndall, Rayleigh and Einstein

www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/blue_sky.html An experiment to model how light is scattered on its way to earth.

www.spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/misrsky/misr_sky.shtml Gives a very clear explanation of the currently accepted view of why the sky is blue

www.eo.ucar.edu/rainbows Rainbows: Descartes’ explanation and very detailed descriptions of all you ever need to know about rainbows!

www.newsfinder.org/more.php?id=812_0_1_0_M Info on Ibn al-Haitham

www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Al-Farisi.html Kamal al-Din al-Farisi – information on his rainbow experiments, and how he developed Ibn al-Haitham’s work

www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/3d/moonillu.htm Lots of theories and ideas about the Moon illusion – for the hardy scientist only! Very interesting if detailed.


Activity 8

64

Fig

uri

ng

ou

t p

he

no

me

na

Is th

e sk

y re

ally

blu

e, o

r is

it a

n ill

usio

n?

Th

e ai

r ab

ove

us

is d

ark.

I r

ecko

n t

his

da

rk a

ir m

ingl

es w

ith

ligh

t fr

om t

he

Ear

th

and

star

s. S

o w

e se

e a

colo

ur

mid

way

be

twee

n d

arkn

ess

and

ligh

t –

blu

e!

An

d th

e Su

n il

lum

inat

es

atom

s of

du

st a

nd

vapo

ur

in t

he

air.

May

be t

his

lig

ht

mix

es w

ith

th

e da

rkn

ess

abov

e, to

o.

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 8a

65

Go

fig

ure

!H

ow

sc

ien

tis

ts

wo

rkW

hat m

akes

a

rain

bow

?

Why

doe

s th

e M

oon

seem

to g

et b

igge

r as

it

drop

s to

war

ds th

e ho

rizo

n?

Is th

e sk

y re

ally

blu

e,

or is

it a

n ill

usio

n?

�

For

each

qu

esti

on, u

se t

he

card

s to

dec

ide

the

best

exp

lan

atio

n.

�

For

one

ques

tion

, pla

n w

hat

to s

ay a

t a

scie

nti

fic

con

fere

nce

to c

onvi

nce

oth

ers

that

yo

u h

ave

chos

en t

he

best

exp

lan

atio

n. U

se

the

evid

ence

car

ds to

su

ppor

t yo

ur

opin

ion

.

Th

ey m

ake

care

ful

obse

rvat

ion

s to

get

evi

den

ce.

Th

ey t

hin

k cr

eati

vely

abo

ut

ev

iden

ce to

dev

elop

ex

plan

atio

ns.

obse

rvat

ions

evidenceexplanation

In t

he

ten

th c

entu

ry, p

eopl

e be

lieve

d th

e E

arth

w

as fl

at. B

ut

Ibn

Haz

m h

ad a

dif

fere

nt

expl

anat

ion

: th

e E

arth

is s

pher

ical

.

His

evi

den

ce?

T

hat

th

e Su

n is

alw

ays

pe

rpen

dicu

lar

to a

par

ticu

lar

s

pot

on E

arth

. 90º

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 8b

66

A

Is t

he

sk

y r

ea

lly

blu

e,

or

is i

t a

n i

llu

sio

n?

Expl

anat

ion

3Ex

plan

atio

n 2

Expl

anat

ion

1Ev

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Evid

ence

from

ob

serv

atio

ns

BEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

CEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

DEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

EEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Sun

ligh

t re

ach

es t

he

Ear

th's

atm

osph

ere.

T

he

ligh

t is

sca

tter

ed in

al

l dir

ecti

ons

by

nit

roge

n a

nd

oxyg

en

part

icle

s in

th

e ai

r.

Blu

e lig

ht

is s

catt

ered

m

ore

than

oth

er

colo

urs

, so

the

sky

look

s bl

ue.

Th

e bl

ue

colo

ur

of

th

e sk

y is

du

e to

du

st a

nd

drop

lets

of

wat

er

vapo

ur

in t

he

atm

osph

ere.

T

hes

e sc

atte

r su

nlig

ht.

Blu

e is

th

e

mid

way

col

our,

betw

een

th

e da

rkn

ess

of t

he

sky

and

the

brig

htn

ess

of

sun

ligh

t.

FEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

G

Th

e co

lou

r of

th

e sk

y on

a h

um

id o

r h

azy

day

is n

ot v

ery

diff

eren

t to

th

e co

lou

r of

th

e sk

y on

a

brig

ht

sun

ny d

ay.

T

he

amou

nt

of w

ater

va

pou

r do

es n

ot m

ake

mu

ch d

iffe

ren

ce to

th

e co

lou

r of

th

e sk

y.

Con

es a

re c

ells

in t

he

eye

that

are

sen

siti

ve to

di

ffer

ent

wav

elen

gth

s of

ligh

t. R

ed a

nd

gree

n

con

es a

re s

tim

ula

ted

equ

ally

by

ligh

t fr

om

the

sky.

Blu

e co

nes

are

st

imu

late

d m

ore.

Sun

ligh

t ill

um

inat

es a

ir

and

wat

er

vapo

ur

part

icle

s, a

nd

dust

.

Th

e w

avel

engt

h o

f bl

ue

ligh

t is

sh

orte

r th

an

mos

t of

th

e ot

her

co

lou

rs o

f th

e ra

inbo

w.

Th

ere

is d

ust

an

d w

ater

va

pou

r in

th

e ai

r.

Th

ese

scat

ter

ligh

t.

Re

d

Blu

e

Th

e sh

orte

r th

e w

avel

engt

h, t

he

mor

e th

e lig

ht

is

scat

tere

d by

wat

er

drop

lets

or

air

part

icle

s.

So b

lue

ligh

t is

sc

atte

red

mor

e th

anre

d lig

ht.

Dar

knes

s is

du

e to

an

ab

sen

ce o

f lig

ht.

Wh

ite

ligh

t co

nsi

sts

of

fl

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 8c

67

A

Wh

at

ma

ke

s a

ra

inb

ow

?

Expl

anat

ion

3Ex

plan

atio

n 2

Expl

anat

ion

1Ev

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Evid

ence

from

ob

serv

atio

ns

BEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

CEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

DEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

EEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Rai

nbo

ws

hap

pen

w

hen

ligh

t ra

ys

pass

th

rou

gh w

ater

dr

ople

ts, b

ecau

se

red

ligh

t an

d bl

ue

ligh

t ar

e re

frac

ted

by d

iffe

ren

t am

oun

ts.

Wat

er d

ropl

ets

refr

act

and

refl

ect

ligh

t, ca

usi

ng

rain

bow

s.

Rai

nbo

ws

form

w

hen

su

nlig

ht

is

refl

ecte

d by

cl

ouds

bef

ore

reac

hin

g th

e ey

e.

FEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

G

Ligh

t of

di

ffer

ent

wav

elen

gth

s h

as d

iffe

ren

t co

lou

rs.

Ligh

t of

dif

fere

nt

wav

elen

gth

s is

ref

ract

ed

by d

iffe

ren

t am

oun

ts.

It is

not

al

way

s ra

inin

g w

hen

you

see

a

rain

bow

.

Th

e su

n is

beh

ind

you

w

hen

you

see

a r

ain

bow

, an

d th

e ra

in is

in fr

ont.

Con

es a

re c

ells

in

th

e ey

e th

at

are

sen

siti

ve to

di

ffer

ent

wav

elen

gth

s of

lig

ht.

You

can

use

a p

rism

to

spl

it w

hit

e lig

ht

into

all

the

colo

urs

of

the

rain

bow

.

Gla

ss

Air

Gla

ss

Air

Lig

ht

r

ay

Lig

ht

is r

efra

cted

as

it p

asse

s fr

om o

ne

mat

eria

l to

anot

her

. Fo

r ex

ampl

e, it

ch

ange

s di

rect

ion

wh

en it

tr

avel

s fr

om a

ir in

to w

ater

.

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 8d

68

A

Why

doe

s th

e M

oon

appe

ar to

get

big

ger a

s it

dro

ps to

war

ds th

e ho

rizo

n?

Expl

anat

ion

3Ex

plan

atio

n 2

Expl

anat

ion

1Ev

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Evid

ence

from

ob

serv

atio

ns

BEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

CEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

DEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

EEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

Th

e ey

e fo

cuse

s on

th

e la

rges

t ob

ject

it c

an s

ee,

mak

ing

dist

ant

obje

cts

look

sm

alle

r.

Th

e br

ain

has

a

mec

han

ism

for

proc

essi

ng

info

rmat

ion

as

the

eye

chan

ges

shap

e du

rin

g fo

cusi

ng.

Th

is

expl

ain

s th

e M

oon

ill

usi

on.

Th

e ef

fect

of

the

atm

osph

ere

mak

es t

he

Moo

n lo

ok b

igge

r as

it

nea

rs t

he

hor

izon

. It

also

look

s bi

gger

be

cau

se it

is n

eare

r a

visu

al c

lue

(th

e h

oriz

on).

FEv

iden

ce fr

om

obse

rvat

ions

G

We

do n

ot p

roce

ss

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut

thin

gs

that

are

far

away

as

wel

las

we

do n

ear

Th

e M

oon

look

s sl

igh

tly

bigg

er

wh

en it

is n

eare

r to

th

e E

arth

in it

s or

bit

than

wh

en

it is

furt

her

aw

ay.

Wh

en t

her

e ar

e n

o re

fere

nce

poi

nts

(n

earb

y ob

ject

s)

the

brai

n fi

nds

it

diff

icu

lt to

in

terp

ret

size

an

d di

stan

ce.

We

can

qu

ickl

y pr

oces

s vi

sual

clu

es fr

om n

earb

y.

Th

is h

elps

us

to s

urv

ive.

If y

ou lo

ok fr

om 'u

psid

e do

wn

' (sa

y th

rou

gh

you

r le

gs)

you

do

not

se

e th

e M

oon

illu

sion

.

Old

er p

eopl

e do

not

fo

cus

clea

rly

beca

use

th

eir

eye

len

ses

do n

ot

chan

ge s

hap

e en

ough

. Ev

en s

o, t

hey

see

th

e

In t

he

dark

, ou

r ey

es fo

cus

at

abou

t 1

met

re.

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 8e

69

Figu

ring

out p

heno

men

a: w

hose

exp

lana

tions

did

you

cho

ose

Al-K

indi

was

bor

n in

Ku

fa in

801

.

Is th

e sk

y re

ally

blu

e?W

hat m

akes

a ra

inbo

w?

Why

doe

s th

e M

oon

look

bi

gger

nea

r the

hor

izon

?

Expl

anat

ion

1

Tynd

all a

nd R

ayle

igh

lived

in B

ritai

n in

the

1800

s.

Expl

anat

ion

2

Eins

tein

was

bor

n in

G

erm

any

in 1

879.

Expl

anat

ion

3

Ibn

al-H

aith

am (a

lso

know

n as

Alh

azan

) w

as b

orn

in 9

65 in

Ba

sra,

Iraq

Expl

anat

ion

1 Kam

al a

l-Din

al

-Far

isi w

as b

orn

in Ir

an (d

ied

1319

)

Expl

anat

ion

2

Rene

Des

cart

es w

as

born

in 1

596

in

Fran

ce.

Expl

anat

ion

3

Ibn

al-H

aith

am (a

lso

know

n as

Alh

azan

) w

as b

orn

in 9

65 in

Ba

sra,

Iraq

Expl

anat

ion

1 Lune

berg

is fr

om

Ger

man

y. H

e w

as

wor

king

on

this

prob

lem

in th

e 20

th

cent

ury.

Explan

ation

2

Whe

atst

one

was

Brit

ish,

and

was

wor

king

on

this

prob

lem

in 1

852.

Expl

anat

ion

3

No-

one

is s

ure

who

se

expl

anat

ion

is b

est!

© 2

006

Foun

datio

n fo

r Sci

ence

, Tec

hnol

ogy

and

Civ

ilisa

tion

ww

w.10

01in

vent

ions

.com

Activity 8f

70

Bird Man

P erhaps the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and take it into the air was Muslim scientist Abbas ibn Firnas in the 9th century in

the city of Cordoba, Spain. He gained knowledge of flight by studying birds.The activity is in two parts. First, pupils use ideas of drag and balancing forces to explain how birds control their landing speed. Second, they can investigate different designs for a glider using straws and tissue.

Curriculum links• Select appropriate equipment (including appropriate safety equipment)

and/or resources to perform the task• Investigate a range of contact and non-contact forces (including friction,

air/water resistance, gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic)• Make and record observations and measurements accurately over a

number of trials and evaluate results to draw a conclusion• Carry out experiments to illustrate Newton’s third law, e.g. balloon

rockets, students on skateboards/frictionless surfaces• Research the application of Newton’s three laws of motion to describe

and explain any familiar situation. Examples: free fall and roller coaster rides in amusement parks; action of seatbelts in a car crash; motion of astronauts on a spacewalk or your chosen sport or recreation

Learning ObjectivesStudents will: Be able to use the concepts of drag and lift to explain how flight occursRecognise factors that affect the drag/lift on a glider

Book References: Flight, page 308.

Activity 9

71

Running the activityStarting the activityDisplay Activity 9a (either projected or as an OHT). Ask pupils to read the deliberately anachronistic newspaper article of the year 875, announcing what may have been the first human flight.

Display Activity 9b and use the ‘how does flight work?’ box to reinforce the idea of balanced forces. Pupils are asked to create an explanation of a bird’s flight in terms of forces. The activity is set in the context of helping Abbas ibn Firnas improve his glider design. You might like to get students to flap their arms and role-play how birds fly – or even demonstrate it yourself!

One ‘correct’ version of the card sort reads:

“When birds take off they need as much lift as possible. Birds create extra lift by turning the bottom of their wings into the air. In flight, birds use their streamlined shape to create as little drag as possible. Low drag means birds can fly fast to catch prey or escape predators. When birds are about land they need to reduce their speed. Birds are clever. Just as they land they create a ‘stall’ situation. Birds control the amount of drag from their wings by spreading out their tail. They drop their legs and tails down. Their wings open and this creates more drag. Just above their perch, their lift also drops to nothing – they fall the last few centimetres.”

Card numbers: 1,8,3,5,9,6,7,1,4

Running the main part of the activityDisplay Activity 9c. The main activity is an open-ended activity where pupils can investigate what factors affect the drag on a glider. They build their designs from straws according to the instructions on the sheet. This will involve some practical challenges, including how to add a simulated ‘pilot’ of the glider. There are three independent variables to test: length of the support bars, angle between support bars, and mass of pilot. The dependent variable is the time of the glider’s flight.

Running the plenaryDiscuss pupils’ findings from the investigation. As a class, decide how each of the three independent variables affects the dependent variable.

Materials and equipmentEach group needs:Straws – at least 12 per group (art straws work well)A3 sheets of tissue paperSellotape (ideally 1 roll per group)Stapler (ideally 1 per group!)Modelling clay or plasticine for the pilotStopwatch Light card to make glider tails (optional)Access to a set of steps (to stand on when launching the hang gliders)Access to a balance

Activity 9 Activity 9

72

Web Linkswww.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas An article about Abbas ibn Firnas, from an online encyclopaedia

www.uh.edu/engines/epi1910.htm The story Abbas ibn Firnas’s first flight

www.willswing.com/articles/Hang-Glider-Design-and-Performance.pdf Details of hang glider wing geometry to support the investigation

Activity 9Activity 9

73

Civ

ilisa

tion

Cor

doba

Dai

ly N

ews

It s

tart

ed t

wen

ty y

ears

ago

whe

n h

e

saw

a d

ared

evil

jum

p fr

om a

hig

h

tow

er –

an

d su

rviv

e –

usi

ng

a si

mpl

e

para

chu

te.

Now

Abb

as h

as t

aken

the

idea

furt

her.

He

has

built

a 'f

lyin

g gl

ider

'

that

can

car

ry a

per

son

.

AD

875

AD

875

Lo

cal

ma

n f

irst

to

fly

Lo

cal

ma

n f

irst

to

fly

Am

azin

gly,

the

flig

ht w

as a

su

cces

s! A

bbas

stay

ed u

p fo

r n

earl

y a

min

ute

. Bu

t th

e

lan

din

g w

as n

ot s

o go

od. H

e ba

dly

inju

red

his

back

an

d w

ill n

ot b

e re

peat

ing

his

feat

.

Abb

as e

xpla

ined

"I

stu

died

the

way

bir

ds

fly,

bu

t ob

viou

sly

I di

d n

ot t

ake

enou

gh

acco

un

t of

the

way

the

y sl

ow d

own

an

d

lan

d."

Abb

as I

bn F

irn

as h

as li

ved

in o

ur

city

all

his

life.

Yes

terd

ay w

e sa

w t

he in

cred

ible

flyi

ng

mac

hin

e he

has

inve

nte

d.

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Activity 9a Activity 9a

74

Lear

ning

from

the

bird

s

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

How

doe

s fl

ight

wor

k? F

lyin

g re

quir

es a

b

alan

ce b

etw

een

forc

es. T

he

glid

er's

wei

ght i

s p

ull

ing

it d

own

war

ds.

Wh

en it

mov

es, a

ir

flow

ing

over

the

win

gs c

reat

es 'l

ift'.

Th

is u

pwar

ds

forc

e b

alan

ces

the

wei

ght a

nd

kee

ps

the

glid

er u

p.

Se

qu

en

ce

th

e c

ard

s t

o d

es

cri

be

ho

w b

ird

s c

on

tro

l th

eir

la

nd

ing

sp

ee

d

Just

ab

ove

thei

r p

erch

, th

eir

lift

al

so d

rop

s to

n

oth

ing

they

fa

ll th

e la

st fe

w

cen

tim

etre

s.

Th

ey d

rop

thei

r le

gs a

nd

tail

s d

own

. Th

eir

win

gs o

pen

an

d

this

cre

ates

m

ore

dra

g.

Low

dra

g m

ean

s b

ird

s ca

n fl

y fa

st to

ca

tch

pre

y or

es

cap

e p

red

ator

s.

Bir

ds

are

clev

er. J

ust

as

they

lan

d th

ey

crat

e a

'sta

ll'

situ

atio

n.

Bir

ds

con

trol

th

e am

oun

t of

dra

g fr

om

thei

r w

ings

by

spre

adin

g ou

t th

eir

tail

.

Bir

ds

crea

te

extr

a li

ft b

y tu

rnin

g th

e b

otto

m o

f th

eir

win

gs in

to th

e ai

r.

Wh

en b

ird

s ar

e ab

out t

o la

nd

th

ey n

eed

to

red

uce

thei

r sp

eed

.

Wh

en b

ird

s ta

ke o

ff th

ey

nee

d a

s m

uch

li

ft a

s p

ossi

ble

.

In fl

igh

t, b

ird

s u

se th

eir

stre

amli

ned

sh

ape

to c

reat

e as

litt

le d

rag

as

pos

sib

le.

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

I kn

ow a

lot

abou

t bir

d fl

igh

t.

Can

I u

se th

is

know

led

ge a

nd

des

ign

a

glid

er th

at w

ill l

and

m

ore

safe

ly?

12

6

3

78

9

5

4

Activity 9bActivity 9b

75

Des

ign

your

ow

n gl

ider

© 2

008

Fou

nda

tion

for

Scie

nce

, Tec

hn

olog

y an

d C

ivili

sati

on

ww

w.10

01i

nven

tion

s.co

m

Len

gth

of

supp

ort

bars

/cm

An

gle

betw

een

su

ppor

t ba

rs

/deg

rees

Tota

l mas

s of

gl

ider

an

d pi

lot

/gT

ime

of fl

igh

t fr

om

ceili

ng

to fl

oor

/ se

con

ds

Des

crip

tion

of

flig

ht

Now

test

the

hang

glid

ers.

Rec

ord

your

res

ults

in a

tabl

e. W

hat p

atte

rns

did

you

find

?

Inst

ruct

ion

s�

M

ake

seve

ral h

ang

glid

er fr

ames

from

str

aws.

U

se s

tapl

es to

hol

d th

e fr

ame

toge

ther

.�

Fo

r ea

ch h

ang

glid

er, m

ake

a

diff

eren

t an

gle

for

the

poin

t at

th

e fr

ont.

U

se a

ngl

es b

etw

een

60˚

an

d 10

0˚.

�

Cov

er t

he

fram

es w

ith

tis

sue

pap

er.

�

Fin

d th

e m

ass

of y

our

han

g gl

ider

. M

ake

a pi

lot

from

th

e sa

me

mas

s of

pla

stic

ine

or

cla

y. U

se t

hre

ads

to h

ang

the

pilo

t fr

om

the

glid

er.

Activity 9c Activity 9c

Teachers’ Pack for 1001 Inventions

Produced by 1001 Inventions for the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK.

Published by the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK.

Copyright © 2011 by the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK

This teachers’ pack is available from www.1001inventions.com/education

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