In my 8th grade Physical Science class we are currently exploring the history of the atomic model, which naturally leads to some thought-provoking discussions about the ever-evolving epistemology of the subatomic world as well as some mind-bending realizations of and wonder at the level of detail and order that exists at such a small, small scale.  I just love teaching this unit.  For many of these students, this is their first time every thinking about particles on a subatomic scale, where the rules of Newtonian physics fall apart and forces that are 100 undecillion (that’s 1 followed by 38 zeroes) times stronger than gravity exist.  The rabbit trails are always plentiful and I will gladly entertain some of them for days at a time.  It is during this particular unit of study that my class most closely resembles the format and atmosphere of a book discussion group versus a classroom lecture.  And I think this atmosphere is born out of the fact that we are encountering some of the really Big Questions, some of the most fundamental ideas of creation – we are getting a sneak peek into the very mind of God.

I love watching the faces of the students when they learn that all matter in the universe, from a hunk of gold to a zebra, is made up of the same three basic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.  The diversity of creation that comes from just those three particles is fascinating.

Today our particular topic centered around the nucleus of the atom, which contains both protons and neutrons.  We learned that, much like a fingerprint is the unique identifier of a human being, the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is the unique identifier for an element.  Every atom in the universe that contains 79 protons in its nucleus is gold.  Add one more proton to the nucleus and you get something completely different: mercury.  (In fact, many historians believe that, due to many reports of his erratic and eccentric behavior in the years leading up to his death, Isaac Newton actually suffered from (and may have even died from) mercury poisoning.  It was well known that he spent quite a bit of time behind closed doors practicing the “art” of alchemy, trying to turn mercury into gold).  In the midst of this discussion, one student blurted out in disbelief, “Wait, are you telling me that the only thing that determines which of these elements (pointing to the Periodic Table) we have in our hand is the number of protons in the nucleus?!?”  “Yes.  That’s it.”  And his face was filled with pure wonder.

And I was struck.  The palpability of his amazement gave me pause.  Suddenly I realized that over 25 years of holding these ideas in my head and 7 years of teaching them had sort of numbed me a bit to their wondrous beauty.  I knew I had met with a moment that demanded contemplation.  So I literally just paused and thought about the fact that adding one proton to the nucleus of an atom of carbon (a black, brittle solid) would instead give us nitrogen (an inert, colorless gas).  And then it hit me.

“Students, do you find it fascinating that God used the extremely simply concept of quantity to differentiate all the elements of creation?!?  By simply counting out a different number of protons he created a completely different element with completely different properties!!”

The more I thought about it the more excited I became.  Sure, once you get to bigger things like molecules, the arrangement of atoms comes into play (like I discussed here), and sure, chemical bonding takes the complexity to a whole new level.  But the fact that the fundamental building blocks of all creation – the elements – can be differentiated and uniquely identified by a simple count of protons . . . I don’t know, that is beautiful to me.

Eventually I could tell that my students were ready to move on (yes, Mr. F, that’s amazing, now let’s learn something else please), but I have to believe that it makes an impression on them when we, their teachers, are able to model wonder and amazement at God’s creation – especially as math and science teachers.  I’m glad that one of my students caused me to pause and reflect so that I could retrieve that wonder that God’s creation and creativity demands.  Oh that we could borrow the eyes of a child on days that we shrug at a sunset . . .

More on the wonder of a child in a future post – Alice has recently given me much to write about in this regard, not to mention my 6th grade science students (a discussion about the Aurora Borealis today evolved into 30 minutes of playing with magnets – by running a magnet through iron filings you would have thought I was juggling fire.  “Whoa!!  Do it again!”).  Until then, recommended reading on recovering wonder in the classroom: Beauty for Truth’s Sake by Stratford Caldecott.