Name:
Date:
Period/Class:
Newton and Copernicus: Lesson #22
1: What background information shows you that Newton is leading them away from the
cage?
2: Who is the author and what is the title of the book Copernicus is walking across in panel
two?
3: What do you thinking operant conditioning might be?
4: From the context of what Newton and Copernicus say to one another in panels two and
three, what do you think happened in that “little maze incident”?
5: Would finding a piece of cheese at the end of a maze be a positive reinforcement or a
negative reinforcement for a rat?
A Newton and Copernicus Companion: Copyright August 2007, J.C. Olson.
Newton and Copernicus: Lesson #22
LESSON GUIDE:
Vocabulary: implication, “touchy” in this context (sensitive, resentful)
Academic Vocabulary: operant conditioning, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement
You should reacquaint yourself with B.F. Skinner and operant conditioning before leading
any discussion on this activity.







A: Have students read the text silently and carefully observe the background of
the drawing to look for supporting information. (V)
B: Have students read through the questions and circle the number of each question
they feel they would be able to respond to.
Pair/Share.
C: Give each student about half a minute to explain to their partner what they think
is happening based on what they see and read. (A)
D: The pair discusses questions 1-5, then each student draws a box around the
number (or circled number) of each question they would be able to respond to.
E: Select sets of volunteers to act out the strip in front of the class.
F: Students individually write out their responses to questions 1-5.
Answers for 1-5
1: They are walking past a book that wasn’t in the previous strips.
2: B.F. Skinner “On Operant Conditioning”
3: Operant conditioning is the use of positive or negative stimulus, or the use of
rewards and punishments, to reinforce a lab animal’s natural behavior so it will
repeat it more often (or less often).
4: Since Newton says, “If you got lost out here I’d never find you again,” the
implication is that Copernicus got lost in the maze and that Newton had to find him.
5: A positive reinforcement. When the rat is conditioned to find cheese at various
stages through a maze, it will modify its behavior and search harder to find it, until
at last it will search the whole maze looking for cheese. (operant conditioning)
A Newton and Copernicus Companion: Copyright August 2007, J.C. Olson.