Let’s consider the 2003 science-fiction blockbuster movie, “The Core.”
It was directed by Jon Amiel and stars Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, and D.J. Qualls.
Our goal? Use Next Generation Science Standards: Science & Engineering Practices to:
● Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information.
● Ask questions that arise from examining models or a theory, to clarify and/or seek additional information and relationships.
● Evaluate a question to determine if it is testable and relevant.
● Ask and/or evaluate questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument, the interpretation of a data set, or the suitability of the design.
Why use clips from movies in the classroom?
C. Efthimiou and R. Llewellyn write
Over the past year and a half we have developed an innovative approach to the teaching of Physical Science… [it] uses popular movies to illustrate the principles of physical science, analyzing individual scenes against the background of the fundamental physical laws. The impact of being able to understand why, in reality,
• the scene could or could not have occurred as depicted in the film,
• what the director got right and what he got wrong,
• has excited student interest enormously in a course that, when taught in the traditional mode, is usually considered to be ‘too hard and boring’.
The performance of students on exams reflected the increased attention to and retention of basic physical concepts… Following the first offering of the revitalization of the Physical Science course, in which action and sci-fi films were the primary source of the scene clips used in class, the instructors have demonstrated the versatility of the approach by building variations of the course around other genres, as well – Physics in Films: Superheroes and Physics in Films: Pseudoscience.
“Physics in Films” A New Approach to Teaching Science, C. Efthimiou and R. Llewellyn
Big ideas: our resources
Magnetism – magnetic fields and the origin of Earth’s magnetic field.
Dante’s-Inferno – The spherical nature of the Earth, and ideas in fiction about exploring what lies inside the Earth. Makes connections between classic fiction literature and real science.
Earth’s layered structure – What are the layers of our world?
Here we can see mantle convection within the Earth.
Types of radiation: alpha, beta and gamma particles – The Sun gives off many types of radiation.
The electromagnetic spectrum – Visible light is only a tiny fraction of what our sun emits; we’ll learn about all the parts of the EM spectrum here.
A history of fiction about journeying to the center of the Earth
Let’s not be too harsh when judging this movie, instead let’s view it in context. The first story to discuss a journey to the center of the Earth was Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, first section – Inferno.
In this book, Hell is literally a vast underground cavern. The narrator travels through the center of the Earth and out the other side, towards Mount Purgatory. Dante’s Inferno
Ludvig Holberg
The next story about this In Ludvig Holberg’s 1741 novel Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum (Niels Klim’s Underground Travels.) In this story, Nicolai Klim falls through a cave while spelunking and spends several years living on a smaller globe within our Earth. There he discovers fantastic creatures.
In 1864 the classic novel “A Journey to the Center of the Earth” was written by the great Jules Verne.
The story involves German professor Otto Lidenbrock who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans descend into the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy, at the Stromboli volcano.
In the book, the characters didn’t travel to the center of the Earth. Verne envisioned them actually going nearly 100 miles deep, and finding a continent wide subterranean world.
This book was modernized in 1959 with the classic science fiction film, Journey to the Center of the Earth, directed by Henry Levin, starring James Mason and Pat Boone. In this movie, disregarding science, the characters are said to have actually travelled to near the center of the Earth itself.
1959 Journey to the center of the Earth – Trailer
Next on bat is a movie: At the Earth’s Core is a 1976 fantasy-science fiction film produced by Britain’s Amicus Productions, directed by Kevin Connor and starred Doug McClure, Peter Cushing and Caroline Munro.
Based on the novel At the Earth’s Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (author of Tarzan), the first book of his Pellucidar series.
The poster alone gives you a good idea of the science involved 😉
Student project
As assigned by your teacher, either individually or in groups, you will analyze scenes from “The Core.”
You learn about the science related to these scenes. Armed with knowledge you will then judge how accurate (or not!) the science is.
Your teacher will assign certain questions to you (or your group.)
You’ll write your answers in the form of a paper.
Here is a rubric that teachers could use to grade this paper.
Here are great sources for analyzing science in “The Core” :
The Core Good Science and Bad Science in the Movie
Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy: The Core
The Core Science Analysis: Intuitor
Questions which your teacher may assign
1. According to the film, why did people with pacemakers die? How do pacemakers actually work? How does a pacemaker work? NIH
2. We see a bizarre change in bird behavior in Trafalgar Square, London. According to this movie, what is the cause of this?
3. In real life, how would a big change in the Earth’s magnetic field affect the behavior of birds (or other animals sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field) See the links below for question 4.
4. How do birds sense the magnetic field? Magnetoreception
Magnetoreception: A Sense of Mystery – The-Scientist.Com
5. We see the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, over Washington D.C.
Where is the aurora usually seen? What causes it? The movie claims it is caused by high altitude static discharge; is that correct?
Follow the energy coming at us from the sun – most is deflected – but notice where some of it is rerouted right towards earth?
http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/aurora/
http://lifeinlapland.com/articles/travel-tips/where-northern-lights-come-from.html
http://earthsky.org/earth/what-causes-the-aurora-borealis-or-northern-lights
6. Around 24 minutes in: They describe Earth’s magnetic field, and state that it protects the Earth from Cosmic radiation, and from microwaves.
What specifically does the magnetic field actually protect us from?
What would really happen if Earth’s magnetic field was weakened?
7. Do Earth’s magnetic north and south poles ever flip? If so, how often? What might the consequences be? When are they due to flip again?
http://www.livescience.com/48333-magnetic-field-flip-within-100-years.html
8. View the scene at the 24 minute mark:
“I’m combining high-frequency pulse lasers with resonance tube ultrasonics. If you’ve ever seen ultrasonic waves break up a kidney stone on the Discovery Channel, it’s the same deal here.”
How do doctors use sound waves to pulverize kidney stones?
http://www.westchesterurology.com/kidneystones.shtml
9. Scene at the 31 minute mark: “OK, here we have a concrete block, and in back of that, we have a two-inch steel plate. – We’re ready. And we are… firing. – Voila! ” {Laser beam cuts through the concrete and steel plate, but the black box is untouched!} “That’s impossible.” “[Braz] I combined the crystals in a tungsten-titanium matrix at supercool temperatures, and that’s what did the trick.” “What do you call this material?” “Well, its real name has 37 syllables. I call it Unobtanium.”
What real-world materials protected the space shuttle from extreme heat it encounters during re-entry. Space shuttle tiles: Thermal protection system
10. Why do you think that the scriptwriters called the material in this movie “unobtanium”?
Unobtainium (Wikipedia)
Unobtainium – TvTropes
11. How can we use sound waves to study the interior of the Earth?
How do we know the Earth’s interior is molten?
12. At one time they describe the visual system as being like a super CAT-scan, at another time they describe it as being an “MRI scanner”….could either of those technologies actually be used in this way? {See the 3 “Bad science” links presented above}
13. What are the layers of our Earth made of? How deep are they? What is their temperature Earth’s layered structure
14. Are there electrical currents within the Earth? If so, how are they made? Magnetism
15. What inside the Earth is actually creating Earth’s magnetic field? Magnetism
16. “Still think the water-launch was a good idea? Yes, yes, I chose this location because the crust is thin here. The downside is… there’s lots of seismic activity.”
What is a “trench”? Why did the launch from the Marinaras Trench, instead of from on land?
This famous infographic (zoom in!) let’s you see how deep it really is
17. They travel inside a giant geode. What is a geode? How do they form?
http://scienceline.org/2012/11/where-do-geodes-come-from/
18. Describe the various forms of carbon – including diamonds!
The chemistry of life – including carbon atoms
19. In the movie, micowaves from the sun break through the Earth’s decaying magnetic field over San Francisco –
“…and now with this horrific breaking news, we go live to San Francisco, where Leo Jacks has the story. [Leo] Yes, Claire, it’s hard to believe that half of San Francisco is in ruins today following the most devastating and the most baffling event in our nation’s history. Uh, it’s a horrific situation here. Thousands are dead. Many are missing.”
Microwaves are a form of EM {electromagnetism.} Math aside, check out these diagrams. What are EM waves made of? Light is a moving electromagnetic field!
20. Microwaves are just one part of the EM spectrum. Name all the major parts of the EM spectrum
21. Write a few sentences about microwaves in particular. Electromagnetic spectrum
22. How are microwaves useful in “structural health monitoring”? Electromagnetic spectrum
23. Is this movie scientifically plausible?
Are there dangerous amounts of microwave radiation in space, all around us?
Does Earth’s magnetic field have any effect on microwaves?
KaiserScience 
