A Great Book of
Great Thinkers
Project 11
Project Duration About 8-10 Hours
CURRICULUM LINKS
This project is aligned to the Revised National Curriculum Statement for
Senior Phase. It could also be used as enrichment for Grade 6 learners. See
Appendix A: Curriculum Links, for detailed explanations.
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Technology
Social Sciences
Life Orientation
English Language
 Arts and Culture
In this project, learners examine the history and purpose of the Nobel Prize. First
they discover information about the categories in which the prizes are awarded,
and then they investigate South Africans who have won Nobel Prizes. Learners
have the opportunity to choose several individuals who have won the prize in
different categories and then research the lives and work of these Nobel
laureates. As the learners work on the research and tasks for this project, they
make connections between social studies, mathematics, science and language
to create a children’s book that illustrates the lives of some of the world’s great
thinkers.
Integrating ICT Skills into Teaching and Learning 11-1
Project Objectives
In this project, learners will:
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discover the history of the Nobel Prize
evaluate South African Nobel Prize winners and choose four Nobel
laureates they believe contributed to society
research the lives of Nobel Prize winners
create biographies of laureates
write a children’s book that includes the biographies as a brief
history of the Nobel Prize and appropriate illustrations
cite information included in the biographies correctly
discuss the importance of the Nobel Prize and Nobel laureates in
society.
Challenge for Learners
You can give this challenge directly to learners or read it to them. A copy of the
challenge (Project 11 Challenge) is also included on the CD-ROM.
You are a children’s book author and illustrator. Your publisher has given you an
assignment to create a children’s book about South African Noble Prize winners.
You will write the book for children ages eight to eleven and should include
information about the purpose and history of the Nobel Prize. Your book should
be a minimum of six pages long and include biographies of at least four Nobel
laureates. The publisher also wants to make sure that the children who read the
book learn about heroes and leaders who have made contributions in a variety of
areas, so be sure you choose winners in different categories. You will work with a
partner to complete these tasks:
1. Research South African Nobel Prize winners to help you decide which four
Nobel laureates you want to include in your book.
2. Write their stories in a way that will keep children interested. Include
photographs or other artwork in your book. Use Microsoft Word to create
the pages of the book.
3. Create an eye-catching cover design with a title.
4. Make sure you include a works cited page that lists all the sources you used
to write the stories and create your book. All text in the book should be
typed.
When you are finished creating your books, you may have the chance to share
them with some children age eight to eleven to introduce them to the lives of
Integrating ICT Skills into Teaching and Learning 11-2
these South African Nobel laureates and see if your book does a good job of
holding their interest.
Project Details
Learners will work in teams of two to complete the children’s books. Pair the
learners yourself for this assignment rather than letting them decide who their
partners will be. First, teams must research to find out information about South
African Nobel laureates and then they decide which four people they will spotlight
in their book. Learners should find out about all the categories in which Nobel
Prizes are awarded.
As learners complete their research and begin to write the biographies for the
book, they should organise the material into a book format using Microsoft Word.
Then they can simply create a cover in Microsoft Word, print it out, and then cut
and glue it into a blank book.
Learner Prerequisites
Internet
 Web navigation skills
 Using a search engine
Microsoft Word
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Opening a document
Saving a document
Printing a document
Inserting graphics
Classroom Technology Resources
 Internet access
 Microsoft Word
Materials for Teachers
 Copies of the challenge (above) for each learner, also located on the CDROM (Project 11 Challenge)
 The Children’s Book Assessment Tool located on the CD-ROM (Project
11 Children’s Book Assessment Tool)
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Suggested Web Sites
This list includes several comprehensive Web sites about the Nobel Prizes and
many Nobel laureates to help learners with their research. Provide learner teams
with a list of the Web sites or bookmark the sites using the Internet Explorer
Favorites feature. If learners do not have Internet access or if access is limited,
much of this information is available in textbooks and other reference books.
http://www.nobelchannel.com/
 This Web site provides learners with audio and video clips about many
recent Nobel Prize winners. This site has great graphics, is easy to use
and will provide an excellent look at the categories in which Nobel Prizes
are awarded as well.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/great-safricans/nobel-prize-history.htm
 This site provides information specifically about South African Nobel
Laureates.
http://nobelprize.org/
 This site provides information on all the Nobel Prize winners and includes
audio of speeches, photos, etc.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/nobel.100/index.html
 The CNN site offers video clips about the Nobel Prize, as well as
information about Alfred Nobel and selected prize winners. The site also
has an excellent photo library of Nobel winners.
http://www.s9.com/biography/index.html
 This is a site that has short biographical information on over 19,000
individuals.
http://www.biography.com/
 This is a comprehensive site that includes biographies of thousands of
people. The site is easy to use.
Additional Materials and Resources
For Learners
 Encyclopaedias, either online, such as Microsoft Encarta, or in hard copy
format
 Biographical dictionaries available online or in hard copy format
Integrating ICT Skills into Teaching and Learning 11-4
For Teachers
 For background material and as an additional resource for learners, you
may want to find a copy of the book The Nobel Prize: The First 100 Years
edited by Agneta Wallin Levinovitz and Nils Ringertz, World Scientific
Pub Co., 2001.
Assessment Ideas
Read through this project carefully before you introduce it to your learners.
Adapt and adjust it so that it is viable for the learners, in both your school and
community. Select which aspects you will complete and which assessment
tools you will therefore need. Make sure that your learners are always clear
about what they need to do and how they will be assessed before you begin.
 Use the Children’s Book Assessment Tool located on the CD-ROM
(Project 11 Children’s book Assessment Tool) to assess the books the
learners create.
Enrichment Activities
As a follow-up activity, arrange for learners to visit a local primary school to read
their books to learners there. Learners might prepare a brief introduction about
the Nobel Prize and why it is important. Learners could also prepare a set of
general questions about their books that they could ask the Foundation or
Intermediate Phase learners after they finish reading.
Another enrichment activity would be to have learners contact some South
African Nobel Prize winners by e-mail. Learners could interview them before
writing their book and could then send them a copy of the finished product.
This project could also be extended to include research on African Nobel
laureates.
Support Strategies
You will need to guide and assist learners through the process of writing the
book. Remind learners of their audience (children eight to eleven) and help them
break down the material into a simple format so that younger children will
understand it. If there are learners who are weak writers, teachers might adjust
the group size to include three or four learners. In these groups, stronger writers
could assist those who find writing difficult.
In-Class Steps
1. As an introductory activity, ask learners if they know what the Nobel Prize
is. Teachers may have to assist learners and provide them with examples.
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Have them think of as many Nobel Prize winners as they can. List these
on the board or on chart paper. Let learners watch the video on Alfred
Nobel, from the CNN site at
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/nobel.100/index.html as part of the
introductory material for this project. If you have the technology available,
use an LCD projector attached to a computer with Internet access to show
the video. If this is not possible, let learners read the article from the same
CNN Web site.
2. If you watch the video, you should still distribute copies of the Overview
article from the CNN site to each learner. Learners should read the article
and discuss the following questions:
a. Why did Alfred Nobel develop the Nobel Prize?
b. Who selects the prize winners?
c. Why is the Nobel Prize sometimes controversial?
3. Have learners explore the Nobel E-Museum at http://www.nobelprize.org/
This site has interactive games that illustrate science and other topics.
Learners should investigate the games and the sections on the history of
the award and the winners.
4. Tell learners to browse the Nobel E-Museum site and evaluate it. Learners
should focus on how much information is available, how easy it is to
navigate through the site, the graphics and quality of information found at
the site. If Internet access is limited and it is difficult or impossible to allow
all learners to browse the site, print some of the information from the site
and have learners work with a partner to look through the handouts.
5.
After learners become familiar with some of the winners and the
background of the award, present learners with a copy of the challenge,
as well as a copy of the assessment tool (above and on the CD-ROM).
Allow learners to discuss and comment on the challenge and the
assessment tool. Make sure that they understand the assessment
criteria and what is expected of them in the challenge.
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6. Pair the learners in your class to create a children’s book of South African
Nobel laureate life stories. Structure the pairs carefully, considering
learner strengths and abilities. They will create a six-page children’s book
that includes biographies of four laureates as well as a history of the
award. Remind learners that the books should be written for children eight
to eleven years old and should explain what each laureate did. Learners
should also explain the significance of each laureate’s contributions.
Encourage learners to include illustrations and photographs that enhance
the book’s content. They should also create a works cited page that lists
the sources they use in their research and a colourful cover that includes
the book’s title.
7. After learners complete their children’s books, discuss the significance
and importance of the Nobel Prize in our society today. You may want to
use these questions to launch the discussion:
a. What is the significance of the Nobel Prize in our society?
b. Is it still as important today as when Alfred Nobel originally developed
the idea of awarding these prizes?
c. Why does the global community need awards such as the Nobel
Prize?
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