Social Studies 8 Name: ___________________________

Scientific Revolution Skit

Imagine you are living during the brilliant and inspiring time
of the Renaissance scientific revolution. Brainstorm a
scenario that tells the story of your assigned person and
about his famous invention or discoveries. Prepare to perform
this for the class. Your skit must include the following
information (I have provided this for you):

 Who is your person?

 Where did this person come from?
 What did they spend time studying/ working on?
 What did they discover/invent and how? *if you cannot find out
what really happened, be creative and make something up!
 When did this occur?
 What were people’s reactions to this invention/ discovery?
*if you cannot find out what really happened, be creative and make
something up!
Social Studies 8 Name: ___________________________

Important Figures of the Scientific Revolution

1. Johannes Gutenberg
 Where? Germany
 What did they study? Experimenting with type since 1438
 What did they discovery/ invent & how? Borrowed money to
build machine and practice, but couldn’t pay it back – made the
printing press (Setting metal type using cast system and metal
alloys and printing on paper)
 When did this happen? 1455 42 line bible printed – first book
printed in Europe using movable type
 What were people’s reactions? Revolutionized learning and
spread of knowledge across Europe

2. Nicolaus Copernicus
 Where? Poland
 What did they study? Church law & medicine
 What did they discover/ invent & how? Asked to make new
calendar for church – built observatory and used data from others
to support theory – discovered Heliocentric universe - planets
revolve around the sun and revolve on their own axis – sun one of
many stars with own solar systems
 When did this happen? 1543 – On the Revolutions of Heavenly
Spheres published
 What were people’s reactions? Church condemned book in 1616

3. Galileo Galilei
 Where? Italy
 What did they study? Math, Physics & Astronomy
 What did they discover/ invent & how? Used ideas of eyeglass
maker to magnify 30 times and improve refracting telescope - Able
to view objects in space much clearer – observations led him to
confirm Copernicus’ theory
 When did this happen? 1609 constructs first telescope
 What were people’s reactions? Was tried by inquisition and
ordered to recant his ideas and live under house arrest
Social Studies 8 Name: ___________________________

4. Isaac Newton
 Where? England
 What did they study? Studied Math, Astronomy, Alchemy &
Religion - Became Math professor
 What did they discover/ invent & how? Universal gravitation,
laws of motion, how light and colour spectrum, reflecting telescope
*story of the apple falling on his head 
 When did this happen? 1687 publishes Principia - theories on
gravity and laws of motion, but research actually concluded 20
years earlier
 What were people’s reactions? Found useful but also challenged
his theories

5. Francis Bacon
 Where? England
 What did they study? English, Law, Philosophy
 What did they discover/ invent & how? Empirical scientific
method (based on observation) experiment – gather data – analyze
– make conclusions - study during retirement
 When did this happen? 1620, when Bacon published Book One
of Novum Organum Scientiarum (Latin for "new method")
 How does invention/ discovery work? What were people’s
reactions? Respected after publication of book