Through the investigation of selected primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics of the Copernican or Heliocentric model of the universe, how Galileo picked up the idea and expanded upon it, and how heliocentrism challenged the established scientific and religious authorities of the time.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo’s place in Renaissance Florentine society, his major scientific and artistic works, and how da Vinci’s thirst for knowledge and his genius combined to produce the ultimate “Renaissance Man”.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain why building the dome on Florence’s Duomo presented such a daunting task and Filippo Brunelleschi’s mathematical and engineering solutions to the problems. In an alternate and separate in-class activity, students will also try to replicate Brunelleschi’s dome using man-made materials (sugar cubes and play-doh) to understand the challenges of such an undertaking.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the Black Death swept across Europe in the late 1340s, what impact the plague had on how Europeans saw the Church and religion, and what modern scientific theories say about the calamity.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details of Ireland’s Great Famine of the 1840s, what caused it, the government’s response to the tragedy and how the famine helped cause the Irish Diaspora.