SUBJECTS — Biography; Science-Technology; U.S./1945 – 1991 & Diversity/African-American;
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Self-esteem; Education; Families in Crisis;
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Trustworthiness; Caring.
AGE: 8 – 13; No MPAA Rating;
Drama; 1997; 55 minutes; Color.
Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide:
TWM offers the following worksheets to keep students’ minds on the movie and direct them to the lessons that can be learned from the film.
Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction and
Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects.
Teachers can modify the movie worksheets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project.
Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) was interested in young people and tutored at least one child in math. The film presents a fictional story of a friendship between Einstein and a young black girl. In the film, he helps her to find the self-confidence to succeed after her teachers have classified her as a slow learner. The movie also describes the problems faced by her family, which is trying to make its way in the face of overt and covert racism. Finally, the film shows Einstein’s decision to come to the defense of his friend and colleague, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, whose security clearance was being revoked because of his past association with Communists. This film is one of the Inventors’ Specials, an award-winning series designed to introduce children to great scientists and inventors.
Selected Awards:
1998 Alliance for Children & Television – Award of Excellence for Best Drama; 1998 SciFest – APASE Award – (Association for the Advancement of Science – Education); 1998 SciFest – Youth Jury Award for Most Inspiring Film; Winner of a 1998 Parents’ Choice Recommendation; 1997 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival – Best Live Action Short Film or Video; 1997 Atlantic Film Festival – Children’s Choice Award for Best Program; 1997 KIDS FIRST! Endorsement from the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media.
Featured Actors:
Paul Soles, Lataye Studwood, Chris McKinney, Sybil Walker, and Linda Sorensen.
Director:
David Devine.
“Albert Einstein: Light to the Power of 2” introduces children to Albert Einstein, some of his scientific theories, the Red Scares of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and some of the problems faced by economically disadvantaged minority families.
While Einstein did tutor a young girl in arithmetic, she was not black. The story elements relating to the girl’s family are fictional, however, they ring true and give added dimension to the film.
None.
Before watching the film, talk to your child about some of the accomplishments of Albert Einstein. See the Helpful Background. Immediately after the movie, or at odd times over the next week (for example at the dinner table or in the car on the way to school) bring up some of the Discussion Questions, starting with the Quick Discussion Question in the sidebar. Don’t worry if you can only get through a few questions. Just taking the film seriously and discussing it is the key. Allow your child to watch the movie several times and continue to bring up Discussion Questions relating to the film.
Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity have contributed more than any other scientific discovery to the modern vision of physical reality. E = mc2 is well known throughout the world as one of the basic equations of science. (The speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second.) Einstein and Newton were the two scientists who did more than any others to shape our view of the physical universe.
Einstein was a slow starter, not learning to speak fluently until after the age of nine. He had trouble in school. When he graduated from the equivalent of college, intent on a career in teaching and research, no one would hire him. To a great extent, this was because he had alienated teachers who did not accept the latest discoveries in physics. Einstein was without a permanent job for two years after graduation. He finally secured a position as a low-level clerk in the Swiss patent office, not due to merit, but through a favor from a school friend whose family had political influence. Einstein’s genius was only recognized years later when, while still employed at the patent office, he published scientific papers that described the theory of relativity and changed the modern view of the world.
Einstein was always concerned with helping others and with politics. He took independent and sometimes controversial positions on political and social issues. There are a number of examples of this. In 1896, then only sixteen years old, Einstein became so disgusted with the Prussian militarism that had swept Germany that he renounced his German citizenship. He later became a Swiss citizen. Einstein returned to Germany when he was offered a prestigious post at the University of Berlin which would require little teaching and leave him free to conduct his scientific research. Einstein lived in Germany during WWI but, unlike most German scientists, he refused to help the German armed forces. His opposition to the war was not open but was well-known. He told friends in Switzerland that he wished for an Allied victory. To his German friends he would ask Socratic questions to disturb their complacency. Einstein was very critical of the mindset of the German people during the war, but his feelings ameliorated somewhat during the post-war inflation and starvation caused, in part, by the onerous peace imposed by the Allies. In 1933, Einstein saw the coming Nazi menace to Jewish scholars and left Germany forever.
Einstein considered himself a pacifist. He revered Mahatma Gandhi (see Learning Guide to “Gandhi”). As the Second World War began, Einstein saw that “organized power can be opposed only by organized power…. Much as I regret this, there is no other way.” In 1939, fearing that Germany would develop an atomic weapon and use it against the Allies, Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt alerting him to the possibility that a bomb harnessing the energy of the atom could be built. During the Second World War, Einstein consulted for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance, helping to design weapons.
Einstein was willing to risk public disapproval by standing up for the principles in which he believed and by supporting his friends when they were attacked. This is shown in the movie when he writes a statement in support of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the chief scientist at the Manhattan Project. In the early 1950s, Oppenheimer’s security clearance was being revoked because of his past associations with Communists. For more on Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, see Learning Guide to “Fat Man & Little Boy”.
Einstein was an active Zionist and supporter of the State of Israel, although he never lived there.
Another fascinating fact about Einstein’s life is that he continued working and contributing until 1950, when he was more than 70 years of age. At that time he published an attempt to find a single law describing the relationship between the various forces of the universe. His conclusions have not been accepted by the scientific community.
We don’t pretend to understand Einstein’s theories of relativity. However, a couple of phrases in the descriptions have caught our eye and might peak the interest of children. The Special Theory of Relativity (1905) shows that both time and motion are relative to the observer. This theory holds that mass and energy can be changed into one another and that their relationship is E = mc2. The General Theory of Relativity (1916) describes gravity not as a force, but as a property of space itself. Put another way, gravity is a curved field in the space-time continuum created by the presence of mass. This is the reason that the effect of gravity on objects far away is instantaneous.
A fascinating question relates to the differences between Newton’s method of computing gravitational pull and the method developed by Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity. Newton viewed gravity as a force, but could never account for its instantaneous effects on objects very far away from the source of the gravitational pull. Einstein solved this problem by realizing that gravity was not a force, but rather a property of space in the presence of an object. The amazing thing is that Newton’s equations, despite being based on an erroneous view of gravity as a force, were so close to being correct. Newton’s equations give correct results except when gravity is very strong and even then the errors are very small. The General Theory of Relativity was proved correct by small changes in the orbit of the planet Mercury which Newton’s equations could not explain and by minute changes in the path of starlight close to the Sun, observed during a solar eclipse.
1. See Discussion Questions for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction.
2. Tell us one way in which Einstein’s conception of gravity is different than that of Newton.
3. Explain how E = mc2 relates to an atomic bomb.
1. What is the relationship between education and self-esteem?
2. If the little girl had been placed in the special class, what would it have done to her self-esteem and what would that have meant to her education?
3. In the movie, what was the greatest gift that Einstein gave to the little girl?
4. What were the problems of the family of the little girl and how did they go about solving them?
5. Should the little girl’s father have tried to fulfill his dream of playing in a band or should he have taken the job as a janitor?
Discussion Questions Relating to Ethical Issues will facilitate the use of this film to teach ethical principles and critical viewing. Additional questions are set out below.
(Be honest; Don’t deceive, cheat or steal; Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do; Have the courage to do the right thing; Build a good reputation; Be loyal — stand by your family, friends and country)
1. There was substantial risk that if Einstein supported his friend Oppenheimer, Einstein too would be labelled a Communist and a traitor to the United States. Given that risk, why did Einstein speak out in support of his friend?
(Be kind; Be compassionate and show you care; Express gratitude; Forgive others; Help people in need)
2. What would have happened to the little girl if Einstein had not gone out of his way to help her with her school work?
A comprehensive listing of links to Einstein on the Internet can be found at Albert Einstein Online.
In addition to websites which may be linked in the Guide and selected film reviews listed on the Movie Review Query Engine, the following resources were consulted in the preparation of this Learning Guide:
This Learning Guide was last updated on December 9, 2009.
TWM offers the following worksheets to keep students’ minds on the movie and direct them to the lessons that can be learned from the film.
Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction and
Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects.
Teachers can modify the movie worksheets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project.
“I say that the best way to address this issue is to address it forthrightly, and straightforwardly, and embrace the complicated history and the complicated presence of America. On the one hand, that’s right, slavery, and segregation, and racism, and white supremacy is deeply entrenched in America. At the same time, there has been a tremendous alternative tradition, a tradition against slavery, a tradition against segregation, a tradition against racism.
I mean, after all in the past 25 years, the United States of America has seen an African-American presence. As we speak, there is an African-American vice president. As we speak, there’s an African- American who is in charge of the Department of Defense. So we have a complicated situation. And I think the best way of addressing our race question is to just be straightforward, and be clear, and embrace the tensions, the contradictions, the complexities of race in American life. I think we need actually a new vocabulary.
So many of the terms we use, we use these terms over and over, starting with racism, structural racism, critical race theory. These words actually have been weaponized. They are vehicles for propaganda. I think we would be better off if we were more concrete, we talked about real problems, and we actually used a language that got us away from these overused terms that actually don’t mean that much. From Fahreed Zakaria, Global Public Square, CNN, December 26, 2021
Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide: TWO CONTRASTING TRADITIONS RELATING TO RACISM IN AMERICA and a Tragic Irony of the American Revolution: the Sacrifice of Freedom for the African-American Slaves on the Altar of Representative Democracy.
* we respect your privacy. no spam here!
