Introduction

It is the year 1633. You are playing the role of Galileo Galilei.

The Inquisition has requested you to give a presentation to them their scientific advisors about your discovery of Jupiter's moons.

The Task

You have to do a persuasive presentation which accurately includes the facts in 'The Starry Messenger' wrote by Galileo in 1610.

You have to convince the Inquisition of your discoveries, based on the logic of your scientific explanations.

To help these people understand what you have discovered, you have to make some scale models (appropriate for 1610) to help them understand clearly.

The Process and Resources

Recommended steps

- Do some research about Galileo Galilei and his discovery of Jupiter's moons

• The discovery of the satellites of Jupiter
• Galileo's Discovery of Jupiter's Moons - the Process of Scientific Discovery.
• Galileo Galilei, Sidereus Nuncius and the discovery of the satellites of Jupiter.
• The Discovery of the Galilean Satellites

- Outline what you want to cover in your presentation

- Develop you presentation

- Give your presentation

Optional: Hire an appropriate costume and some props from this period in history. Make your presentation to the Inquisition.

Standards Addressed

Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy

Historical Perspectives - Displacing the Earth from the Center of the Universe - Grades 9 through 12

• Using the newly invented telescope to study the sky, Galileo made many discoveries that supported the ideas of Copernicus. It was Galileo who found the moons of Jupiter, sunspots, craters and mountains on the moon, and many more stars than were visible to the unaided eye.
• Galileo presented arguments for and against the two main views of the universe in a way that favored the newer view. That brought the issue to the educated people of the time and created political, religious, and scientific controversy.

• Know why curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism are so highly regarded in science and how they are incorporated into the way science is carried out; exhibit those traits in their own lives (Galileo's life) and value them in others.
• View science and technology thoughtfully, being neither categorically antagonistic nor uncritically positive. (Galileo's views of his own discoveries.)

• Use and correctly interpret relational terms such as if . . . then . . . , and, or, sufficient, necessary, some, every, not, correlates with, and causes. (how well did Galileo reason logically about his discoveries)

• To be convincing, an argument needs to have both true statements and valid connections among them. (how well did Galileo reason logically about his discoveries)

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Education
Chapter 123. Subchapter D. Exploratory, High School § 112.48. Astronomy.

(3) Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. The student is expected to:

• (E) research and describe the history of astronomy and contributions of scientists.

Conclusion

During this WebQuest you learned:

• About Galileo Galilei's presentation of the discovery of Jupiter's moons.
• The implications of Galileo's discovery.

This WebQuest can be assessed using research and presentation rubrics.

Here is a list of assessment rubrics

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