The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Hydrogen is the simplest element with one proton and one electron.

• Where are heavier elements built in nature? (topic sentence)
• Explain how heavier elements are built in nature, then explain where those elements might be found.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain why it is important to recognize the origin of heavy elements in scientific research.

2. Some scientific discoveries have been invented to benefit mankind but are later misused in warfare. Likewise, some inventions have been used in warfare but later found another purpose in benefiting mankind.

• How have scientific discoveries been used for moral and immoral means? (topic sentence)
• Describe some of the scientific discoveries created for warfare that were later repurposed with good intentions.