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The Trial of Galileo Galilei Ralph Maltese

This is simply a rough outline of a project which is cross disciplinary. If I were actually to employ this project, I would flesh it out, establishing rubrics for each subject and each presentation. All content areas can employ project based learning, and a major argument for pbl is that studies indicate that standardized test scores [] improve with pbl. This makes sense, because as students engage in a project, they work with the content and often internalize basic principles much better than they would in the conventional classroom. http://www.bie.org/research/study/powerful_learning When working with teachers who use conventional methodologies (teacher talk, student listen), ask them how effective their methodologies are in helping students retain content in long term memory.

Nicholas Copernicus in the 16th Century, like other astrologers, attempted to find better predictions for the orbits of the heavenly bodies around the earth. In Copernicus' time, astrology was the science of the time, and, in order to make proper forecasts, astrologers needed to have accurate predictions of where the sun, moon, and planets were at a given moment. Unfortunately for the astrologers, the fact that they were basing their predictions on a geocentric model (earth is the center) doomed their predictions to be inaccurate. Copernicus, out of frustration, decided to be radical and rethink the orbits by postulating a heliocentric model (sun as the center). Of course, using the better model, the predictions turned out to be more accurate (although they were still off since they were using concentric instead of elliptical orbits--Kepler changed that). Copernicus offered his views, but since his work was still fundamentally theoretical, his ideas were not considered a threat to conventional thinking. Galileo Galilei, using the telescope to examine the night sky, wrote a book detailing his findings back by empirical research. This was a threat. For centuries conventional wisdom held that Aristotle was the smartest man who ever lived, and Aristotle argued for a geocentric view of the solar system. This was congruent with western culture’s belief in a universe that was centered on mankind. After receiving repeated warnings to repudiate his work, and refusing to do so, Galileo was hauled into court by the Inquisition.
 * Introduction**

The goal of this project is to defend Galileo in a retrial. To do this, several subprojects must be accomplished in different content areas:

Students will be divided into groups and each group will be given the tasks above. On the assigned day, each group will present its understanding of Galileo's mathematics and a proposal on how to explain this understanding in the early 17th Century.
 * Math** students will study the mathematics Galileo used to propose this theory that the earth moved. Galileo's analysis and proofs relied heavily on the Eudoxian theory of proportion. Their subproject will be to understand Galileo's mathematics so that they can be understood by the layman of the 17th Century.

On the assigned day, each group will present its understanding of Galileo's science and a proposal on how to explain this understanding in the early 17th Century.
 * Science** students in groups will address three major questions: First, they will study the science of Galileo's theory. What laws of physics did Galileo rely on? What scientific contribution did Galileo make in terms of the scientific method? Second, students will discuss if and how scientific inquiry and conclusions is culturally biased. That is, how much does the prevailing thinking within a culture affect scientific thought? Third, groups are to prepare a model of what an earth day would look like if the sun did go around the earth.

On the assigned day, each group will present its understanding of the impact Galileo's theory had on his society, and how the defense counsel can best use this information.
 * Social Studies** students will, in small groups, examine the impact Galileo's findings had on the people in his time period. Why was the Inquisition so threatened by Galileo's book? What, if anything, changed sociologically.


 * English students** will be divided into several groups. One group will be the defense counsel for Galileo in his retrial. Members of this group will study trial proceedings in this time period and prepare a defense after collaboration with math, science, and social studies students. One group will prepare for the trial as the prosecution. This group may either represent either ecclisiastical or civil authorities. This group must also research the trial proceedings of the period. A third group will represent the media of the time, and will issue a newspaper relating the details of the trial to the public. To prepare for this, the group must study the media of the time period with a focus on style. The newspaper may contain advertisements as would be found in the early 17th century. A fourth group will be the jury. Each jurist must research an occupation of the time period, and create a persona based on that occupation and present it to the class. During the trial, each jurist is to keep notes on the trial proceedings which he/she will publish when the trial is over.

Before the actual trial, math, science, social studies, and English students, or representatives of those students, will meet to prepare the defense. The trial will be conducted at a given time and may cover two class periods. Driving Question is “When the Earth moves, does it shake up society?”

Issues for all classes to consider:

1) What happens when new information, in this case, Galileo's proof that the earth moved and that the earth went around the sun, contradicts established thinking? 2) Is science a march toward the truth, or is science also a product of the thinking of its time? 3) How difficult is it to change what the majority believes to be true? What are some strategies to ask people to question "accepted facts?" 4) What "traditional views," existing in modern society, seem to impede progress? 5) What elements of human nature and human behavior make some humans reluctant to rethink a "truth?"

This is simply a rough outline of the project. Each teacher in each subject area may establish his/her own rubric for evaluating the sub-projects, the use of media for presentations, and the actual problems for the sub-projects depending on what curricula elements need to be considered. The fight issues above could form the basis for an entire new project. Teachers are encouraged to vary this outline. For example, students in another class or grade could form the jury.