KS3 / KS4 Physics - Sir Isaac Newton and the scientific method

This film is from the series Science Britannica availabel on BBC Teach.

Professor Brian Cox outlines the historical context of the era in which Newton began to be interested in the nature of the visible spectrum obtained using a prism.

He recreates Newton’s simple experiment that proved that colours were the pure components of white light, rather than being impurities.

He explains that Newton observed aspects of the world, came up with theories to explain them and then tested them with experiments.

He then looks at Newton’s ‘Principia Mathematica’, before concluding that science is about simplifying the complex world around us, creating controllable and repeatable experiments to test hypotheses, and then transferring understanding to the complex world outside the laboratory.

Teacher Notes

Before showing this film, ask your students to share and write down in groups what they already know about Sir Isaac Newton.

During the film, students should write brief notes to explain the contribution that Newton made to the nature of science and scientific enquiry.

Curriculum Notes

This film will be relevant for teaching physics at KS3, GCSE/KS4 and National 4/5 and Higher.

The topics discussed will support OCR, Edexcel, AQA,WJEC GCSE in GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 and Higher in Scotland.

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