Copernicus - A sample chapter from 'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants'

This is a sample chapter from the forthcoming book, ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ by Tom Burkard and Colin McKenzie. Copernicus was a pioneer of astronomy whose work was crucial to the replacement of the ‘goecentric model’ of the Universe with a ‘heliocentric’ model.

This chapter is aimed at higher ability 11-16 students and has been found to be an excellent resource for revision, homework or ‘flipped learning’. Further chapters are also being made available for review and evaluation.

This chapter tells the story of Copernicus’ life in the context of his times. It details his work on astronomy and describes the cultural implications of his discoveries. Explanations are provided that enable to understand how observations of planetary movements provide evidence for the different models of the solar system.

Each chapter of SotSoG gives a brief biography of a great physicist and is linked to an explanation of their discoveries that is relevant to the school curriculum. This is a trial chapter and we welcome feedback from teachers and students before publication of the finished book.

I have used chapters for revision, homework and as ‘flipped learning’ activities, where students are encouraged to independently learn the basics of a topic before it is taught in class. Our chapters are also very effective for use in ‘quiet reading’ sessions. The literacy level here is ‘middle to high’ and we have found this content to be very engaging as extension work for higher ability students.