Origin Stories Lesson Plan 2
3Lesson 2: New Ways of Thinking Lesson objective:Use historical inquiry to understand how the development of scientific thought that has produced our own, evolving understanding of our Universe’s origins. Description:Our understanding of the Universe, our place in it, and where it all came from is constantly changing. From Ptolemy to Hubble and beyond, human thinkers have constantly developed new methods to understand these old questions. Even today, theories which once seemed rock solid have begun to shake. Advances in quantum physics, dark matter, and long-range telescopes have raised new questions about how our universe began and where it is going.Opener: My #1 TechnologyWhat technological invention do you think has been most important in helping you understand the world you live in? Why? Be prepared to defend your answer!Article: “The Missing Link?: The Maragha Observatory”Thinkers have debated what the Universe looked like for centuries. Ultimately, scholars moved from an the Earth-centered model of Ptolemy to a Sun-centered model suggested by Copernicus. But over a thousand years separated the two men. What happened in between?Activity (multi-day):“Changing Views Timeline”As technology improved, so did our understanding of the Universe. In this multi-day activity, students each read two articles and as a class, collaboratively build a timeline to depict how these views changed over time. “Claudius Ptolemy”, “Galileo Galilei”, “Nicolaus Copernicus”, “Isaac Newton”, “Henrietta Leavitt”, “Edwin Hubble”Closer: Are We Closer to the Answers?As you saw in this lesson, technology played a huge role in shaping our understanding of the Universe. The technology we have today is even more powerful than any you read about. What do you think will be the next big breakthrough in human understanding? What kind of technology might we need to reach this understanding? The frescoed ceiling of the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece.