Department of Education

National Capital Region

Schools Division of Paranaque City
Self-Learning Modules
Physical Science 11 Quarter 2 Week 1
Name:________________________Grade & Section:____________Score:_________
Teacher:______________________________________________Date:____________
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS TO
ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY
Learning Competencies (Essential Competencies)
This module comprises of the following most essential competencies:
1. Explain how the Greeks knew that the Earth is spherical (S11/12PS-IVa-38).
2. Cite examples of astronomical phenomena known to astronomers before the advent of
telescopes (S11/12PS-IVa-41).
3. Explain how Brahe’s innovations and extensive collection of data in observational
astronomy paved the way for Kepler’s discovery of his laws of planetary motion
(S11/12PS-IVb-44).

HOW THE GREEKS KNEW THE EARTH IS SPHERICAL

Objectives: After finishing the day 1 module, the learners should be able to explain
how the Greeks knew that the Earth is spherical as well as to explain how Galileo’s
astronomical discoveries and observations helped weaken the support for the Ptolemaic
model.

Let’s Understand (Study the Concept)

Have you ever observed that objects cast a round shadow under the sun? This is
because the only shape that casts a round shadow no matter which direction it is pointed is
a sphere. The ancient Greeks deduced that this must mean that the Earth is spherical.

The idea of the spherical Earth was first proposed by Pythagoras and his pupils around
500 B.C. Anaxagoras further supported Pythagoras' proposal around 500 to 430 B.C.
through his observations of the shadows that the Earth cast on the Moon during a lunar
eclipse. He observed that during a lunar eclipse, the Earth's shadow was reflected on the
Moon's surface. The shadow reflected was circular.

Aristotle
Pythagoras’ idea of spherical Earth was
validated by Aristotle a couple of
centuries later, around 340 B.C. One of
Aristotle’s strong arguments for a
spherical Earth during his time was the
traveller’s tales of ships disappearing
over the horizon and the Pole star
shifting to a higher position in the sky as
one journeyed north suggested a
curved Earth. britannica.com

Aristotle also provided physical and observational arguments supporting the idea of a
spherical Earth:
❖ The sphere is a perfect solid and the heavens are regions of perfection.
❖ The Earth’s component pieces, falling naturally towards the center, would press
into a round form.

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 ❖ In an eclipse of the moon, the Earth’s shadow is always circular; a flat disc would
cast an oval shadow.
❖ Even in short travels, northwards, the Pole Star is higher in the sky.

Aristotle also argued that if the moon and the sun were both spherical, then perhaps, the
Earth was also spherical.

To provide proof of a spherical Earth and its circumference through calculations, it was
Eratosthenes, a great mathematician and the head of the Library of Alexandria, who gave
the most accurate size during their time. In 240 B.C, he was able to determine the shape of
the Earth by putting a vertical stick on the ground to observe the cast of the shadow at
noon. He learned that in the city of Syene, there was no vertical shadow that cast at noon
on the summer solstice. The sun was directly overhead. However, in Alexandria, the
shadow cast at noon at an angle of 7.2°. With this observation, Eratosthenes concluded
that the Earth’s surface is curved. From his measurements, he computed the
circumference of the Earth to be approximately 250,000 stadia (a stadium is a unit of
measurement used to describe the size of a typical stadium at the time), about 40,000
kilometers.

Let’s Apply
Make a creative timeline of the significant events and persons leading to the
proposal of the idea that Earth is spherical.

ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA BEFORE THE ADVENT

OF TELESCOPES
Objectives: After finishing the day 2 module, the learners should be able to cite examples
of astronomical phenomena known to astronomers before the advent of telescopes.

Let’s Understand (Study the Concept) studyladdder.com

Do you know which planets are easily seen in the sky without the aid of
telescopes? Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are easily seen in the sky without
the aid of telescopes. These planets can be easily confused with stars and are only seen
at specific times of the day. The best time to look for these planets would be before sunrise
and after sunset.

For our ancestors, the sky represented the chief means of telling time, of navigation, of
knowing when to start planting crops. The sky was a practical tool of survival and they
developed sophisticated tools for measuring the subtle changes from season to season,
from month to month, and even from day to day.

Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations

used a primitive version of a sundial,
called gnomon, in systematically
observing the motion of the sun. By
looking at the shadows that the gnomon
casts, they were able to observe that
the sun rises in the eastern part of the
sky, reaches its highest point in midday,
and sets in the western part of the sky.

Also, they recorded that the points where the sun rises and sets on the horizon varies over
a year and these variations happen periodically. They observed that these variations are

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related to weather and so concluded that seasonal changes in climate happen during a
course of one year.
Ancient people have observed that the
moon changes its path and its
appearance within a period of 29.5
days. They observed that the moon
changes its appearance from thin semi-
circular disk to full circular disk. These
phases of the moon are the basis of
ancient calendars.

Besides their observation in the different phases of the moon, they also noticed that there
are times when the moon or part of it seemed to be covered by a shadow for a brief
moment. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon when the
Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. A phenomenon such as this is known as a lunar
eclipse wherein the moon changes into a dark or blood red color. Aside from lunar eclipse,
the occurrence of a solar eclipse was also observed. Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon
is in between the Sun and the Earth and the moon partially or completely blocks out the
sun.

The moon phases also cause tides on Earth. The moon’s gravitational pull generates
something called the tidal force or bulging of water. When the moon is at its full or new
moon phase, high tides are at their highest, while low tides are lower than usual.

Astronomers have discovered that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are planets
because they have noticed that the stars are in a fixed position with respect to each other
(like how constellations are always grouped). But there are very bright stars that change
positions periodically. These “stars” do not belong to any group of constellations in the sky.
Thus, they are called "wanderers” or planetes in Greek terms.

It was also observed that the stars appear to be attached to a celestial sphere that rotates
around an axis in one day. This axis intersects the celestial sphere at a point in the
northern sky and is presently close to the northern star, Polaris. Also, the constellations’
positions in the night sky vary depending on the time of the year.

Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to use a telescope he himself invented in 1609 to
study the heavens, and made a number of observations that finally helped convince people
that the sun is at the center of the solar system (heliocentric), as proposed by Copernicus.

The invention of the telescope helped us discover more about the universe, showing us
what the stars and planets look like. As technology advances, newer versions of the
telescope are developed giving us a closer look of not only what our universe looks like,
but what it is composed of and how it affects our planet Earth.

Let’s Analyze
In your own words, what do you think are the contributions of the ancient
astronomers to the study of astronomy and cosmology today? Explain your answer.

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 KEPLER’S LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION FROM
BRAHE’S ASTRONOMICAL DATA
Objectives: After finishing the day 3 module, the learners should be able to explain how
Brahe’s innovations and extensive collection of data in observational astronomy paved the
way for Kepler’s discovery of his laws of planetary motion.

Let’s Understand (Study the Concept)

Did you know that during the ancient times, astronomers used their naked eye,
working without telescopes, to measure planetary positions? Amazing, right?

Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer, is known to be the last of the major naked-
eye astronomers who compiled the most accurate (one arcminute) naked eye
measurements ever made of planetary positions.

The telescope had not yet been

invented during his time, so Brahe used
a naked-eye observatory with over-
sized instruments that allowed him to
not only measure the positions of the
planets with high accuracy, but he also
calculated the measurement error in his
instruments. Ascertaining the error in
scientific instruments is expected today,
but Brahe pioneered the practice.

King Frederick II of Denmark built Tycho Brahe an observatory to measure the position of
the planets with high accuracy. However, when the king died, his successor did not fully
sciencephoto.com
support Brahe’s work, he moved to Prague in 1599 where he was supported by Emperor
Rudolf II and worked as an imperial mathematician. Emperor Rudolf II recommended
Johannes Kepler, A German astronomer, to work for him as an assistant. Brahe and
Keppler had unsteady working relationship. Brahe mistrusted Kepler with his astronomical
data in fear of being shadowed by his assistant. However, eventually, Brahe decided to
give all his data to Kepler hoping that he would be able to prove his Tychonic system and
put together new tables of astronomical data. This table was known as Rudolphine
Tables, named after the Roman emperor and was useful in determining the positions of
the planets for the past 1000 years and the future 1000 years. This table was the most
accurate table that is known to the astronomical world. From Brahe’s data, Kepler was able
to formulate his laws of planetary motion: Law of Ellipses, Law of Equal Areas, and Law
of Harmonies.

THE LAW OF ELLIPSES

When Kepler tried to figure out Mars’ orbit, it did not fit the then-famous theory that a planet
follows a circular path. He then postulated that instead of a circular path, planets follow an
oval or an ellipse orbit. This orbit matched his calculations and explained the “irregularities” in
the movement of Mars. He was able to formulate his first law of planetary motion, the Law of
Ellipses which describes that the actual path followed by the planets was elliptical, not
circular, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

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THE LAW OF EQUAL AREAS

The second law, which is the Law of Equal Areas states that when an imaginary line is
drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, the line will sweep out an equal
area of space in equal time intervals. The law describes how fast a planet moves in its orbit. A
planet moves fastest when it is nearest the Sun and slowest when it is farthest from the Sun,
and still, the same area is swept out by the line in equal amounts of time.

THE LAW OF HARMONIES

The Law of Harmonies, which is the third law, describes that the square of a planet’s orbital
period (T2) is proportional to the cube of a planet’s average distance from the Sun (R3). It
states that that the ratio of the squares of the periods of two planets is equal to the ratio of the
cubes of the average distances of these two planets from the Sun.

Although Kepler had discovered the correct shape of the planets’ orbits, he could not explain
why the planets stay in orbit. The work of the English scientist Isaac Newton provided the
answer to that puzzle. Newton concluded the two factors- inertia and gravity- combined to
keep the planets in orbit.

Let’s Create
Getting involved in your community: One important application of getting
familiarized with the astronomical phenomena mainly the phases of the moon is to help
young school kids foster their love for science. Sharing this information to promote
independent learning and to adapt to the new normal will help with mastery as well.

Goal: Your goal is to make your own animated version of moon phases by making a
flipbook. Make a drawing of the moon for each day of the month. Attach your drawings
together in order to make a small booklet. Use your flipbook to show young students at
home or in your community in the lower grade how moon phases change during the
month and share trivia about how moon phases affect tides on Earth. Create a video of
your presentation to young school kids.

Role: Your job is to act as a science teacher.

Audience: You are to present your flipbook and video presentation to your teacher and
classmates, and/or present the video to family member/s to score the rubrics provided.

Situation: The challenge involves sharing your knowledge to young school kids to foster
their love for science as well as to enhance your mastery of the topic.

Product, Performance, and Purpose: Your flipbook and video presentation will be
judged by your teacher and/or family member/s.

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 Standards and Criteria

Criteria Excellent Good Fair Poor

10 points 8 points 6 points 5 point

Content Extremely well Presented in a Most transitions Format was

organized; thoughtful were easy to difficult to
logical format manner, but at follow, but at follow;
that was easy to times ideas times ideas transitions of
follow; were unclear; were unclear; ideas were
enhanced the “solid” product solid” product abrupt
effectiveness of
the project

Creativity Extremely Was clever at Fairly unique Little creative

clever and times, uniquely presentation energy used
unique presented
presentation

Day 4- Let’s Try (Evaluation)

Multiple Choice: Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following is the shape of the Earth according to ancient Greeks?
A. sphere
B. cylinder
C. octagon
D. flat disc

2. Which of the following ancient Greek philosophers computed for the circumference of
the Earth?
A. Pythagoras
B. Aristotle
C. Eratosthenes
D. Anaxagoras
3. In which of the following is 250 000 stadia equal to?
A. 40,000 meters
B. 40,000 kilometers
C. 40,000 miles
D. 40,000 inches
4. During which time did Eratosthenes observe the shadows cast by a vertical stick?
A. during a lunar eclipse
B. during a solar eclipse
C. noontime in winter solstice
D. noontime in summer solstice
5. Which of the following planets cannot be seen by the naked eye?
A. Neptune
B. Mercury
C. Venus
D. Saturn