Astronomy ›  Unit 2

Unit 2 History & Tools of Astronomy

Ancient sky-watching, the Copernican Revolution, telescopes, and spectroscopy — how we learned to see farther, and read more, than the eye alone allows. Ends with picking the Right Tool for the Job.

🕐 ~3 weeks🅰️ 4 Activities🅿️ 2 Projects🅱️ 1 Problem
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The Path Through Unit 2

The club's public viewing night has three very different requests on the sign-up sheet — and only enough time to set up two instruments before people start showing up. Read the full case →
AActivity4 days total
2-1-1Geocentric vs. Heliocentric — Reading the Primary Sources
2 days→
2-1-2Kepler's Laws — Modeling Real Orbits
2 days→
PProject🕐 3 class days

2-1-3  The Long Argument

Build a timeline or presentation tracing the shift from geocentrism to heliocentrism — Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler — citing the specific evidence each one used to move the argument forward.

Turn in: Timeline or presentation with cited evidence for each astronomerOpen →
AActivity4 days total
2-2-1Telescope Optics — Lenses, Mirrors, and Light-Gathering
2 days→
2-2-2Reading a Spectrum — Identifying Elements in Starlight
2 days→
PProject🕐 3 class days

2-2-3  Pitch the Observatory

Design and pitch a 'next-generation observatory' instrument matched to a specific science question — and explain why that instrument, and not another, is the right build.

Turn in: Instrument pitch (design sketch + written justification)Open →
BProblem🕐 3 class days

2-3-1  Right Tool for the Job

You're given an observational challenge — a target, a question, a constraint — and a shelf of instruments. Pick the right one, and defend why the others wouldn't have worked.

Turn in: Instrument recommendation memo with justificationOpen →