Mosaic Freeschool

  • Home
  • Classes
    • On Site Classes '25-'26
    • Past Classes
  • Facilitators
    • Mosaic Facilitators
    • Educator Network
  • Enrollment
    • Admissions
    • Registration
    • Payment
  • Contact
  • Opportunities
  • Home
  • Classes
    • On Site Classes '25-'26
    • Past Classes
  • Facilitators
    • Mosaic Facilitators
    • Educator Network
  • Enrollment
    • Admissions
    • Registration
    • Payment
  • Contact
  • Opportunities

Mosaic Minutes

History of Science Summary 2/18/2013

2/20/2013

 

Ancient Calendars

PictureLunar or Solar-based calendar; which is best?
In class this week we compared calendars that were established and used by the ancient societies of Babylon, China, Islam and Egypt.  Students worked in small groups to discuss and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of these calendars (using Student Quest Sheet from Chapter 3).

For ancient civilizations, the challenge of explaining the precise and repeating events in the sky played a key role in understanding the world around them.  Their ability to hunt, farm and survive was dependent upon accurately marking the seasons and cycles of the year.  Their careful observations provided the inspiration for the first thoughts about science, and the development of scientific thinking in general.


Astronomical Monuments

We also looked at examples of how ancient sun observers made use of natural geological structures and arranged stones, markers, and buildings to mark solar alignments that they observed at different times of the year, particularly around solstices and equinoxes.  Beams of sunlight and shadow would make patterns, or illuminate special locations on important calendar days.  Several of these ancient sites are shown below:
Picture
Newgrange Passage Tomb
Picture
Shaft of light at Winter Solstice
Picture
Stonehenge
Picture
Big Horn Medicine Wheel
Picture
El Castillo Pyramid
Picture
Egyptian Pyramids at Giza
In class next week students will be challenged to create their own astronomical monument out of clay.  These small scale monuments must be designed to create specific patterns or alignments at designated times of the year.  Using a specially prepared “Horizon Table”, students will place their solar observatory structure at the center and test it with a portable lamp that represents the Sun and can be positioned to simulate the Sun’s point on the horizon at sunrise or sunset on an equinox or solstice.

I have asked students to spend some time researching ancient astronomical monuments this week to formulate some ideas for their own designs.  Come prepared to build and be creative!

Additionally, students should read Chapter 5 in the text as homework.

See you on Monday!

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Afternoon Enrichment
    Closures
    Clubs
    Early Elementary
    Mosaic Texas
    Odyssey Of The Mind
    Out Of This World
    Philosophy
    Tesserae Fall 2012
    Tesserae Fall 2013
    Tesserae Fall 2014
    Tesserae Spring 2013
    Tesserae Spring 2014
    Tesserae Spring 2015
    Tesserae Spring 2016

    Archives

    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos from nojhan, Clay Gilliland, mynameisharsha, kim siciliano salem, matthewvenn, photogirl7.1, El Bibliomata, ~Brenda-Starr~, Anne Worner, Heather Bickle, NASA Goddard Photo and Video, Black.Dots., marta.b, Felipe Venâncio, A. Galassi, bibliojojo, Bibliothèque - Les Champs Libres - Rennes, Robert Hensley, opensourceway, Greenland Travel, est1996x, John-Morgan, camnjeanacess, plindberg, chrisjtse, Vox Efx, philosophygeek, utpala ॐ, Cea., Phil Roeder, andreazgarcia, stevecadman, laynasaur, Steve A Johnson, mattk1979, Tattooed Hippy, spacepleb, Mateus Hidalgo, Todd Binger, TRF_Mr_Hyde, ComputerHotline, Hampshire and Solent Museums, Ben Sutherland, philip_sheldrake, WeeLittlePiggy, echiner1, gruntzooki, emmeffe6, saoire, symphony of love, ups2006, Dave_B_, bobsfever, Kelly Short6, RichardBH, frau-Vogel, Skype Nomad, giopuo, Tomi Tapio