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Physical Science
Quarter 2 – Module 1:
How we come to realize that
the Earth is not the Center of
the Universe
 Lesson
How the Greeks knew that
1 the Earth is Spherical
Lesson Objective:

What is It

This portion of the lesson is about the historical development, discoveries and
other related ideas on the establishment of the spherical shape of the Earth.

Behind the spherical shape of the Earth

The earliest documented mention of the spherical shape of the Earth
concepts dates from around the 5th century BC when it was mentioned by ancient
Greek philosophers. It remained a matter of speculation until the 3rd century BC,
when Hellenistic astronomy established spherical shape of the earth both in
physical fact and Earth’s circumference.
Let’s see who are the Greek philosophers and their great contributions on the
idea of Earth having its spherical shape. You will know how were their observations,
discoveries, and proposals led to the concrete understanding of it based on the
presented proofs and evidences.
The Ancient Greek Philosophers
Pythagoras (c. 570 - c. 495 BC) — Universe is mathematical; mathematics as the
best way to express the truth about the Universe; Sun, Moon, and Earth are
spherical; placed Earth as the center of the Universe. He was first to propose with
his pupils the Earth’s spherical shape.
Anaxagoras (500- 428 BC) --- further supported Pythagoras’ proposal 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.
Plato (c. 427 - c. 347 BC) — attainment of perfection as absence of change;
mathematical symmetries to demonstrate perfect shapes (sphere and circle); celestial
spheres being crystalline and contains the moon, the Sun and the stars; explaining
the shadows — read on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Allegory of the Divided
Line — as his description or framework on how to look at the Universe, in
particular that the daily and annual patterns of the sky must have a greater reality
besides its appearance.
Eudoxus (of Cnidus, 408 - 355 BC) — followed previous models of the universe but
added auxiliary spheres to provide appropriate tilt to the planets’ path.

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Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) — two-domain system with terrestrial domain containing
four elements that tries to attain perfection by being in their natural location relative
to the center of the Universe: the center of the Earth. He was a learner of Plato.
Eratosthenes ( 240 B.C.E )--- he compared the position of the Sun’s rays in two
locations to calculate the spherical size of the Earth with reasonable accuracy.

The Proofs and Evidences

Around 340 B.C., Aristotle listed several arguments for a spherical Earth
which included the positions of the North star, the shape of the Moon and the Sun,
and the disappearance of the ships when they sail over the horizon.
North Star
The North Star was believed to be at a fixed
position in the sky. However, when the Greeks
travelled to places nearer the equator, like Egypt, they
noticed that the North Star is closer to the horizon.

The Shape of the Sun and the Moon

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

Disappearing Ships
If the Earth was flat, then a ship traveling away
from an observer should become smaller and smaller
until it disappeared. However, the Greeks observed
that the ship became smaller and then its hull
disappeared first before the sail as if it was being
enveloped by the water until it completely
disappeared.
The Size of the Spherical Earth
Ancient scholars tried to provide proof of a
spherical Earth and its circumference through
calculations. It was Eratosthenes who gave the most
accurate size during their time. While he was working at
the Library of Alexandria in Northern Egypt, he received
correspondence from Syene in Southern Egypt which
stated that a vertical object did not cast any shadow at
noontime during the summer solstice. But this was not
the case in Alexandria where, at noon time during the
summer solstice, a vertical object still casts a shadow.
These observations could only mean that the Sun, during
this time in Alexandria, was not directly overhead.

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 Eratosthenes then determined the angle the Sun made with the vertical
direction by measuring the shadow that a vertical stick cast. He found out that in
Alexandria, the Sun makes an angle of 7.2° from the vertical while 0° in Syene. To
explain the difference, he hypothesized that the light rays coming from the sun are
parallel, and the Earth 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.

What’s
More

Activity 3. Paragraph Completion

This activity is an information recall to the concepts you have learned from
the topics above. Complete the paragraph below by writing the appropriate words in
the space provided. Choose your answer inside the box below.

ARISTOTLE CIRCULAR
500 to 430 B.C. FLAT
SPHERICAL ROUND

Long time ago, many believed that the earth was 1. . At around 500
B.C., most Greeks start to conceived the idea that the Earth was not flat but 2.
. Pythagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher and his pupils were the first to
propose that the earth is 3. . In 4. , Anaxagoras further
supported Pythagoras’ proposal. He observed that during a lunar eclipse, the shape
of the Earth’s shadow reflected on the moon’s surface was 5. . Around
340 B.C., 6. , listed several arguments for a spherical Earth which
included the positions of the North star, the shape of the Moon and the Sun, and the
disappearance of the ships when they sail over the horizon.

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 What I Have Learned

Activity 4. Statement Completion

Provide appropriate words which will complete the observations made by the
Greeks that led them to conclude that the Earth is spherical: Choose your answer
inside the box below.

circular lunar North star

sun smaller spherical

 The Earth casts a shadow on the Moon during eclipse.

 The has different positions depending on the location of the
observer.
 The Moon and the Sun are both .
 A sailing ship becomes and then its hull disappears first before
the sail as if it is being enveloped by the water until it completely disappears.
 The angle of the with the vertical direction at noon time during a
summer solstice varies from place to place.

What I Can Do

Activity 5. Earth’s Shape Timeline

In this activity, you are going to create a timeline of the development of
ancient Greek ideas about the shape of the earth. Make sure to write the significant
time and ideas of every philosopher. You can create your own title and may include
pictures of the ancient Greek philosophers to make your work more appealing. Be
creative with your work.

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Lesson Astronomical Phenomena
2 Before the Advent of
Telescopes
Lesson Objective:
Cite the astronomical phenomena before the advent of telescopes.

What’s In

Are you familiar with sundial? Our ancient people used this to observe the motion
of the sun, right? Even before the invention of telescope, ancient people have already
observed different astronomical phenomena. In this lesson, you will cite and investigate
examples of astronomical phenomena known to astronomers before telescope came out.
Learning some of the phenomena will make you aware of the ancient facts and beliefs that
astronomers practice up to this time.

Some people in the community lives many decades now, believed different things
from what they have observed with no scientific evidences. Before we proceed to our lesson,
let’s have first a review from lesson 1 by doing the activity below.

Activity 1. Paragraph Completion

This activity is an information recall to the concepts you have learned from
previous lesson. Complete the paragraph below by writing the appropriate words in
the space provided. Choose your answer inside the box below.

ERATOSTHENES PARALLEL OBLATE SPHEROIDS

250,000 STADIA CURVED ROUND

Ancient scholars tried to provide proofs of a spherical Earth and its

circumference through calculations. It was 1. , who gave the most
accurate size during their time. With the result of his experiment, he hypothesized
that the light rays coming from the sun are 2. and the Earth is 3. .
He also computed the circumference of the Earth to be approximately 4.
. Nowadays, modern astronomy describes the shape of the earth as 5.
with bulging equator and squeezed poles.

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 What’s New

Activity 2 SHOW ME A PICTURE

Study the pictures of the three varied astronomical phenomena.

Based on the given picture answer the following questions.

A. What are the three astronomical phenomena?
1.
2.
3.
B. How these phenomena affect the lives of ancient people?

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 What is It

Constellation

Across cultures, ancient civilizations saw different patterns and shapes in the
constellations. Ancient Egyptians considered the constellations as representations
for their gods such as “Orion” which represented Osiris, the death, rebirth & afterlife.

It was observed that the stars appear to be attached to a celestial sphere that
rotates around 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.

Phases of the moon

Ancient people have observed that the moon changes its path and its
appearance with in a period of 29.5 days. They observed that the moon changes its
appearance from thin semi-cicular disk to full cicular disk. These phases of the
moon is the basis of ancient calendars.

Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Beside their observations on the phases of the moon, they 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 moon moves into the Earth’s shadow and
it is 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 dark or blood red color.
Aside from lunar eclipse, the occurrence of a solar eclipse occurs when the
moon is in between partially or completely blocks out the sun.

To sum up some astronomical phenomena known to people are:

comets, asteroids, visibility of planets, setting of the sun in the east and
west, point where the sun rises and sets in the horizon varies in a year, the
first sight of Venus, and others.

The Invention of Telescope

The telescope has undergone an enormous transformation since it was first

developed in the 17th century. Some of the greatest minds from Galileo Galilei to Sir
Isaac Newton to the great Edwin Hubble would all contribute to the development of
some of the most advanced scientific pieces of equipment ever
devised by man.

1608- Dutch eyeglass maker Hans Lippershey (or Lipperhey) is

widely credited as the first person to patent a telescope in 1608.
His device called “kijker” (looker), was according to Hans, able to
magnify an image up to three times. A telescope made up of a
concave eyepiece that was aligned with another convex objective
lens.

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 1609- Galileo Galilei heard about Hans’ ingenious device via
his French associate Jacques Bovedere in 1609. He
immediately set about designing and builidng his own without
seeing Hans’ device.
There, he was able to make significant improvements
on the performance of his telescope reaching magnifications
of around 20 times.

(A) Lippershey’s telescope (B) Galilie’s telescope

What’s
More
Activity 1.3. Deepen Me!

Below are some of astronomical phenomena. Choose two of the phenomena

and explain how the ancient culture explains it without using telescope (see yourself
as part of the ancient culture).

Point where the sun rises and sets in

Asteroids the horizon varies in a year

Visibility of planets setting of the sun

Comets
in the east and west

1.

2.

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 What I Have Learned

Let’s summarize! Using what you have learned, write what astronomical
phenomena each definition implies. Write your answer on s separate sheet of paper.

1. It occurs when the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow and it is when the
Earth is between the sun and the moon.
2. Astronomical phenomenon in which stars appear to be attached to a celestial
sphere that rotates around axis intersects the celestial sphere at a point in the
northern sky and is presently close to the northern star, Polaris.
3. It occurs when the moon is in between partially or completely blocks out the sun.
4. When the moon changes its appearance from thin semi-circular disk to full
circular disk.
5. The rising of the sun in the eastern part of the sky and its setting in the western
part of the sky.

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References

Dr. David R. Williams. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Planetary

Fact Sheet-Metric.. [Link]
[Acessed: October 21, 2020]

Joshua Hershey. A Brief History of Faithful

Science.[Link]
[Link][Acessed: October 21, 2020]

History-Biography. Johannes Kepler..[Link]

com/Johannes-kepler/amp/ [Access May 15, 2020]

Lumen Astronomy. The Laws of Planetary

Motion.[Link]
laws-of-planetary-motion/ [Access May 15, 2020]

Olin Jeuck Eggen. Tycho Brahe Danish Astronomer.

[Link]
astronomer [Access May 15, 2020]

[Link] Kepler.[Link]
org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler [Access May 15, 2020]

Canoy, W. (2018). The Earth in the Universe, Physical Science.

[Link]
63-how-the-greeks-knew-that-the-earth-
isspherical/2033007150048833/?_rdc=1&_rdr [Access May
15, 2020]

Mercado, J. (2017). How The Greeks Knew That the Earth Is

Spherical, And How Plato’s Problem of “Saving The
Appearances” Constrained Greek Models ofthe Universe.
[Link]
the-greeks-knew-that-the-earth-is-spherical-and-2-how-platos-
problem-of-saving-the-appearances-constrained-greek-models-of-the-
universe/ [Access May 15, 2020]

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 EDITOR’S NOTE

This Self-learning Module (SLM) was developed by

DepEd SOCCSKSARGEN with the primary objective of
preparing for and addressing the new normal. Contents of
this module were based on DepEd’s Most Essential Learning
Competencies (MELC). This is a supplementary material to
be used by all learners of SOCCSKSARGEN Region in all
public schools beginning SY 2020- 2021. The process of LR
development was observed in the production of this module.
This is version 1.0. We highly encourage feedback,
comments, and recommendations

For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – SOCCSKSARGEN

Learning Resource Management System
(LRMS)

Regional Center, Brgy. Carpenter Hill, City of

Koronadal Telefax No.: (083) 2288825/ (083)
2281893
Email Address: region12@[Link]
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