Week 1 Lesson 3 – Eratosthenes Epiphany
Learning Intention
- Students will learn that peoples’ understanding of the lunar system has changed over time.
Success criteria
- Students discuss scientific claims and evidence.
Background Reading
Resources
Cartoon: But it looks flat (place pdf on class server prior to lesson)
Claims posters for display (print prior to lesson)
Lesson Outline (T4, Week 1, Lesson 5 & 6)
1. Organise for teams to look at cartoon (see above). Once finished, discuss. Some questions might be:
* How did the characters use information in their world to form their ideas?
* Why did the characters disagree?
* What did Eratosthenes suggest when they disagreed? Why?
* Why do you think the companion listened to Eratosthenes’ idea?
*What evidence do you now have that would further support Eratosthenes’ ideas that the Earth is a sphere?
2. Show YouTube video above.
3. Discuss how scientific knowledge is a set of claims made by scientists based on observations and evidence. If students are unfamiliar with the terms ‘claims’, discuss its meaning.
4. Discuss that hundreds of years ago there was a major debate about whether the Sun orbited the Earth or whether the Earth orbited the Sun. Explain that in this unit students will be creating their own dramatic dialogue about this debate.
4. Introduce the ‘Debating our place’ image below. Ask students to think about each claim. Place the 3 Claim posters (see above) around the room and ask students to stand in front of the claim they think is accurate. Ask students to discuss with the other students in front of the sign why they chose that answer.
5. Record how many students agreed with each claim. Ask each group to share their reasons and evidence for choosing that claim and record this onto the TWLH table from last lesson (one row per claim).