Physical Sciences

Quarter 2 – Module 1
Ancient Astronomy
According to the Ptolemic Mode, the sun, the moon, and the other planets move in
circular orbits around the earth. However, if observed night after night, these
planets move slightly eastward among the stars. At a certain point, the planet
appears to stop then moves in the opposite direction for some time; after which it
will resume its eartward motion. This westward drift of the planets is called
retrograde motion.
To justify his earth-centered model using retrograde motion, he further explained
that the planets orbited on small circles, called epicycles, revolving around large
circles called deferents.

What’s More

Aristotle’s Conclusion
Aristotle lived in ancient Greece more than three hundred years before the
Common Era (or Before Christ). In those days, most people believed that many gods
ruled the universe.
A happy god, for instance, might allow an abundant harvest while an angry god
would show his fury with storms or earthquakes. Aristotle decided he could
understand the world through observation and by using logic and reason. Later
scientists called Aristotle the Father of Natural Science because centuries after the
ancient scholar’s death, his methods formed the basis of the scientific method.

Most people in Aristotle’s time believed the earth was flat, but he did not agree. He
studied and used scientific methods to prove that his conclusion was correct.
Firstly, Aristotle considered the position of the North Star. The farther north you
journeyed, the closer the North Star seemed to move to the middle of the sky. But if
someone were to travel south of what we now call the equator, the North Star could
not be seen at all. He also watched ships sailing into port. He noticed that at a
distance, he could see the tops of their sails before he saw the rest of the ship.
Aristotle deduced that this was because of the curvature of the earth. And lastly he
observed the shadow cast during eclipses.

Try it!
To test if one of Aristotle’s studies is correct, do this activity.

Prepare a flashlight and two ping pong balls. In a dark room, align the flashlight
and the balls horizontally. Illuminate one ball with the flashlight and observe the
shadow it casts on the ball behind it.
1. What is the shape of the shadow?

2. How is the result of the experiment related to Aristotle's arguments about

the shape of the Earth?

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 3. If you use a different object, like two Rubik’s cubes instead of ping pong
balls, will it cast the same shape of shadow? Explain.

What would life on Earth be like if it is not a sphere?

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What I Have Learned

Arrange the words in correct order and write the sentence on the blank provided
in each item. These are the observations that led the Greeks to conclude that the
Earth is sphere.

1. Earth the circular casts on the moon a shadow during a lunar eclipse.
The_______________________________________________________________________
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2. The different has positions depending observer on the location of the North
Star.
The_______________________________________________________________________
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3. Moon spherical and the Sun are both the.
The_______________________________________________________________________
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4. A sailing ship becomes smaller and then its hull disappears first before the
sail as if it is being water enveloped by completely disappears the until it.
A__________________________________________________________________________
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5. The Sun of the with the vertical summer direction at angle noon time during a
solstice from place to place varies.

The_______________________________________________________________________
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