What is the purpose of setting up this Portrait Gallery? Where does the portrait of the winners come from? What fields are included in the Nobel Prize and how much influence do they have? What celebrities are also Nobel Prize winners? What is their most interested thing about the Nobel Prize?
And many more…With these questions, the students began to delve into the stories behind these extraordinary winners.
According to the instructor, Lindau is a small island in Germany, where the Nobel Laureate Meetings (the "Lindau Meetings") are held. The Lindau Meetings was founded in 1951 with a theme of "Education, Encouragement, and Connection". Nobel Prize winners gather there every year to communicate cordially with young scholars. These new forces in the scientific community are looking forward to learning the brilliant ideas and research experience of prestigious scientific mentors.
In 2000, Peter Badge, a German photographer, was commissioned by the Lindau Meetings to start a long-term project, that is, to photograph every living Nobel laureate. The Nobel Prize Portrait Gallery visited by the students this time is the first project in China jointly implemented by Knowledge City, Peter Badge and Lindau Meetings. Here, the visitors can see the portrait photos of Nobel Prize winners on display.
Through the 49 portraits, students meet with the Nobel Prize winners "face to face" across time and space, to understand the changes and contributions made by contemporary science to the future of mankind. The students got overwhelmed by the winners’ achievements. But as the understanding was deepened, the students also raised their own questions: Why is there no Nobel Prize in mathematics? Why can the Nobel Prizes be awarded for so many years with endless funding?
In the following discussion and thinking, the students learned new things with a heartfelt admiration: “They are so excellent!”
After hearing from the teacher that more activities related to the Nobel Prize would be held in the future, such as workshops for future scientists, the students all excitedly said that they could not wait to join!
Then, the students visited an exhibition of Knowledge City in the Last 12 Years, and had a comprehensive understanding of the past and present of this “new city”. By watching the high-rise buildings, well-planned streets, and profound infrastructure in the exhibition hall, the students realized that there are other angles of looking at this “city”. Moreover, they even decided to find out more about it together.
We can say that this activity is not just a visit, but more of an in-depth exploration.
As we should know, the Nobel Prize has six awards, including five awards established according to Nobel's will in 1895: Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Nobel Prize in Literature; as well as one established by Sweden’s Central Bank in 1968: Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Before the visit, the students had chosen their interested fields and winners, were separated into groups, confirmed their group topic, and collected materials in advance. After visiting the Portrait Gallery, they presented the findings and results in groups.
In this way, the students can understand what Nobel Prize is in a conceptual and perceptual way. It is hoped that after this activity, they can master the ways of summarizing a person’s life experience, and find their potential interests and even future goals.
