ALL ABOUT THE
ENLIGHTENMENT:
THE AGE OF REASON
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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Program ............1
Links to Curriculum Standards ..........2
Instructional Notes ...................2
Pre-Test ...........................3
Student Preparation ..................3
Student Objectives ...................4
Introducing the Program ..............4
View the Program ...................5
Discussion Questions ................5
Description of Blackline Masters ........5
Extended Learning Activities ...........6
Answer Key ........................7
Script of Narration ...................10
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All About the Enlightenment:
The Age of Reason
Viewing Time: 14 minutes
with a one-minute, five-question Video Quiz
Grades 7-10
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAM
This program examines the era of the Enlightenment, or
Age of Reason, the historical era of western civilization,
roughly from 1650-1799, that followed the Renaissance.
The following subjects are presented:
• The scientific method, Francis Bacon and René Descartes—The "Fathers of the Enlightenment," the value of
rational thought, observation, generalization, the "Clockwork Universe."
• The world of Isaac Newton, the English Civil War, the
Commonwealth, the Restoration, Bubonic Plague, calculus, optics, the Philosiphae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
• Even more Enlightenment science—scientific work of
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Hooke, William
Harvey, and Carolus Linnaeus.
• The Enlightenment philosophers—John Locke (rule by
the consent of the governed, the Glorious Revolution,
basic human rights, freedom of the press, religious toleration), Voltaire, Freedom of Speech, Montesquieu, separation of governmental powers into legislative, executive,
and judicial branches, separation of church and state,
deism, the influence of the Enlightenment philosophers
on the formation of the government of the United States.
1
LINKS TO CURRICULUM STANDARDS
McCREL World History Standard and Benchmarks
Era 6 - Global Expansion and Encounter, 1450-1770
Standard 27: Understands how European society experienced political, economic, and cultural transformations in
an age of global intercommunication between 1450 and
1750.
Grades 5-6
1. Understands the English Civil War and the Glorious
Revolution.
2. Understands the significance of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment.
Grades 7-8
1. Understands early influences on the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.
2. Understands contributions of the Scientific Revolution
to European society.
3. Understands the short- and long-term impact of Enlightenment ideas.
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
Before presenting this lesson to your students, we suggest
that you preview the program, review the guide and the
accompanying Blackline Master activities in order to familiarize yourself with their content.
As you review the materials presented in this guide, you
may find it necessary to make some changes, additions,
or deletions to meet the specific needs of your class. We
encourage you to do so; for only by tailoring this program
to your class will they obtain the maximum instructional
benefits afforded by the materials.
2
PRE-TEST
Pre-Test is an assessment tool intended to gauge student
comprehension of the objectives prior to viewing the program. Explain that they are not expected to get all the
answers correct. You can remind your students that these
are key concepts that they should focus on while watching the program.
STUDENT PREPARATION
Set up a Learning Center with pictures, maps, diagrams,
charts, etc. relevant to the topics presented in this program such as:
• Pictures of Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Isaac
Newton, Carolus Linnaeus, William Harvey, Robert
Hooke, John Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Thomas
Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and
Benjamin Franklin;
• A chart outlining the steps in the modern scientific
method;
• Pictures of Enlightenment-era scientific equipment and
laboratories;
• Poster depicting the major scientific discoveries of the
Enlightenment with relevant images;
• A chart depicting the ideas of the Enlightenment
philosophers that made their way into the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the
American forefathers who put them there.
3
STUDENT OBJECTIVES
After viewing the program and completing the follow-up
activities, students should be able to:
• Describe how the Scientific Revolution contributed to
transformations in European society.
• Analyze the importance of Enlightenment discoveries
in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry for
European society.
• Explain the development and significance of the scientific method.
• Account for the coexistence of the new scientific rationalism with traditional learning and practices such as
astrology, magic, and witchcraft.
• Describe the significance of the Enlightenment in
European and world history.
• Explain connections between the Enlightenment and its
antecedents such as Roman republicanism, the Renaissance, and the Scientific Revolution.
• Assess the impact of Enlightenment ideas on the development of modern nationalism and democratic thought
and institutions.
• Describe ways in which Enlightenment thought contributed to reform of church and state.
INTRODUCING THE PROGRAM
Duplicate and administer Blackline Master #1, Pre-Test.
Remind your students that they are not expected to know
all the answers. Suggest that they use these questions as a
guide for taking notes on the key concepts while viewing
the program.
4
VIEW THE PROGRAM
Running Time: 14 minutes plus a one-minute, five-question Video Quiz.
Hand out Blackline Master #3, Video Quiz.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
After viewing the program, you may find it helpful to
discuss key concepts as a class. The following questions/statements may prove to be useful. You may also
choose to use these topics to begin a discussion prior to
viewing the program.
• The Renaissance beginnings of the Scientific Revolution
(Copernicus, Brahe, Galileo).
• Compare the approach to science of alchemy and astrology to that which involves using the scientific method.
What were the results of putting the scientific method to
use?
• The importance of mathematics.
• The contributions of Isaac Newton to science (compare
to Einstein). Compare their views of our universe.
DESCRIPTION OF BLACKLINE MASTERS
Blackline Master #1, Pre-Test, is an assessment tool
intended to gauge student comprehension of the objectives prior to viewing the program.
Blackline Master #2, Post-Test, is an assessment tool to
be administered after viewing the program and completing additional activities. The results of this assessment
can be compared to the results of the Pre-Test to determine the change in student comprehension before and
after participation in this lesson.
5
Blackline Master #3, Video Quiz, is intended to reinforce the key concepts of the program following the presentation of the program. Student awareness that a Video
Quiz will be given also helps promote attention to the
video presentation.
Blackline Master #4, Crossword Puzzle, is a puzzle
game based on information presented in the Vocabulary.
Blackline Masters #5 and #6, Timeline and Timeline
Activity, present important chronological events that
occurred during this era in history.
Blackline Masters #7 and #8, Vocabulary and Vocabulary Activity, include important names, people, places,
and terms relating to events that occurred during this era
in history.
EXTENDED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Research papers, oral reports, news reports, or
PowerPoint® presentations could be done on the following subjects:
• The important ideas of the Enlightenment, including
rationalism, secularism, progress, toleration, empiricism,
natural rights, contractual government, and new theories
of education.
• The impact of Enlightenment ideas on the development
of modern nationalism and democratic thought and institutions.
• The ways in which Enlightenment thought contributed
to reform of church and state.
• How academies, salons, and popular publishing contributed to the dissemination of Enlightenment ideas.
• How the Scientific Revolution contributed to transformations in European society.
6
• How the discoveries in mathematics, physics, biology,
and chemistry affected European society.
• The development and significance of the scientific method and the contributions of Francis Bacon and René
Descartes.
• How and why the new scientific rationalism coexisted
with traditional learning and practices such as astrology,
magic, and witchcraft.
• The overall significance of the Enlightenment in both
European and world history.
ANSWER KEY
Blackline Master #1, Pre-Test
1. True
4. False. They were inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers.
5. True
6. False. Science advanced much more rapidly during the
Enlightenment.
5. False. Deist religious views were very different from
those of Catholics.
Blackline Master # 2, Post-Test
A. Fill in the blanks:
1. Linnaeus
2. Bacon, Descartes
3. Newton
4. reason
5. microscopes
Essay:
One of the most important philosophers to focus on political subjects was an Englishman named John Locke, who
lived from 1632 to 1704. Locke believed that the power of
a government to rule must come from the consent of the
governed; in other words, that people should be able to
7
choose who governs them. He promoted the idea that
every human being was born with three basic natural
rights: those of life, political equality (or liberty), and the
ownership of property. Locke also promoted freedom of
the press, educational reform, religious tolerance, and
called for the overthrow of governments that failed to
protect basic human rights.
In France, several great Enlightenment philosophers
wrote passionately about human rights and democracy,
as well. French philosopher Voltaire, for example, championed the idea of freedom of speech with his famous
statement, "I disapprove of what you say, but will defend
to the death your right to say it," while another Frenchman, Montesquieu, called for a complete separation of
powers to maintain balance in governmen—to be accomplished by creating separate legislative, executive, and
judicial branches.
Nearly all philosophers of the Enlightenment era wanted
to see a strict separation of church and state, as well, for
they realized that mixing government and religion was
almost always a recipe for disaster. The Enlightenment
philosophers themselves were usually deists, people
without traditional religious beliefs, who believed in
what they called "Nature's God," that is an all-powerful
spiritual force that had created the universe and everything in it, but had then left it alone.
The ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers were deeply
admired by the leaders of both the American and French
Revolutions. In fact, Thomas Jefferson depended on them
time and time again when he was composing the Declaration of Independence, as did the framers of United
States Constitution when they worked out a plan of government for the new American democracy.
8
Blackline Master #3, Video Quiz
1. True
2. False. Their ideas were in conflict.
3. True
4. False. Linnaeus invented the biological classification
system.
5. True
Blackline Master #4, Crossword Puzzle
1
3
2
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4
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7
L O C K E
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Blackline Master #6, Timeline Activity
1. 1718
6. 1778
2. 1766
7. 1665
3. 1789
8. 1651
4. 1714
9. 1769
5. 1680
10. 1771
Blackline Master #8, Vocabulary Activity
1. Scientific Revolution
2. Logic
3. hypothesis
4. encyclopedias
5. Philosophers
9
d
SCRIPT OF NARRATION
All About the Enlightenment: The Age of Reason
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, is
the name given to an important period in the history of
western civilization that followed the Renaissance. The
Enlightenment occurred roughly from the mid-1600s up
through the end of the 1700s and was a time when the
human ability to reason was glorified. The word "enlightenment" means "a time of illumination." The era was given this name because it was a time when an influential
group of scholars, writers, artists, and scientists actively
sought to use the clear light of reason, that is rational
thought, to rid the world of superstition and ignorance.
As a result of their efforts, tremendous improvements in
the understanding of mathematics and science occurred.
And bold new ideas regarding basic human rights and
democracy were developed that served as major inspirations to revolutionaries in both America and France.
The Scientific Method: Francis Bacon and René Descartes
Near the end of the Renaissance, during the first half of
the 17th century, two men, Francis Bacon and René
Descartes, each published important books that came to
inspire generations of scientists and scholars. In fact,
many historians consider these two men to be the
"Fathers of the Enlightenment."
Francis Bacon was born in England in 1561, and it was
during his days as a student here at Cambridge
University's Trinity College that many of his important
new ideas began to take shape. Bacon came to believe that
science could free ordinary people from ignorance and
allow them to lead more productive and comfortable
lives. But he knew, that in order for this to happen, the
minds of human beings first had to be freed from the
careless and uncritical ways of thinking that were preva10
lent at that time. And that was why Francis Bacon promoted a rational approach to science based on experimentation and arriving at generalized conclusions based
on careful observation.
Meanwhile, across the English Channel, here in France,
the brilliant French mathematician René Descartes published a book that proclaimed that reason and mathematics were all that one really needed to discover truth in the
sciences. Descartes likened the universe to a perfect clock,
that had been designed and built by a master clockmaker
-that is, by an all-powerful God, a God who had set the
universe into motion, and then left it alone. Descartes was
a pioneer in mathematically formulating the basic laws
that govern the movement of things, from the rolling of
ocean waves, to the spinning of windmills. And he invented a new type of mathematics called analytic geometry.
The ideas promoted by Descartes and Bacon proved to be
extremely important because they led to the development
of what is called the scientific method, a series of simple
rational steps that can be followed to help solve even the
most complicated scientific problems.
The World of Isaac Newton
As the use of the scientific method developed by Francis
Bacon and René Descartes took hold during the
Enlightenment, an incredible growth in the understanding of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology
occurred, thus greatly accelerating the Scientific Revolution that began late in the Renaissance.
The great English Enlightenment era mathematician and
physicist, Isaac Newton, owes much to the ideas of
Descartes and Bacon, but he stands out among others of
his time for the sheer brilliance of his work. Newton was
11
born in this house in England in 1642, just six years before
Descartes died. The year Newton was born, Jamestown,
the original settlement in England's first American
colony, Virginia, was just 35 years old; only twenty-two
years had passed since the Pilgrims founded their colony
of Plymouth on the shores of Cape Cod Bay. And just
eight years had gone by since the first ships carrying
English settlers arrived in the new colony of Maryland.
The year of Newton's birth was also the year that the
English Civil War began. This was a bloody conflict
between Parliament and the Royalists that led to the execution of the king and the abolition of the Monarchy. And
so, for ten years of Newton's youth, England was called a
Commonwealth, instead of a Kingdom, and was ruled by
a Lord Protector instead of a king.
The English monarchy was restored in 1660, one year
before Isaac Newton entered Cambridge University to
study here at Trinity College, the same college Francis
Bacon had attended in the late 1500s. After completing
his course of study, a serious outbreak of the deadly
Bubonic Plague forced Newton to escape to the safety of
his isolated rural home. And this was where Isaac Newton experienced a burst of scientific insight unmatched in
history. During a brief 18-month period, he worked out
the basics of a new branch of mathematics called calculus.
Newton made crucial discoveries in optics, the science of
light. He was able to understand and mathematically formulate the laws of gravity while watching an apple fall
from a tree here in his garden. At the same time, he formulated the laws of motion. With these new scientific
laws in hand, Newton was able to precisely calculate the
weights of the sun and planets, and to predict the paths
of comets.
12
In the year 1686, Isaac Newton published what many consider to be the greatest scientific book ever written, the
Philosiphiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (the mathematical principles of natural philosophy). His book radically changed people's understanding of the universe and
profoundly affected scientific thinking for the next two
centuries.
Even More Enlightenment Science
Isaac Newton's contributions to mathematics, astronomy,
and physics were truly enormous. But the Enlightenment
was also a time when others made significant contributions to science as well, including the study of chemistry,
electricity, and biology, which grew as a science at an
especially rapid rate due in part to the use of the microscope, a scientific tool invented toward the end of the
Renaissance.
Using the microscope, the Dutch biologist Anton van
Leeuwenhoek made detailed observations about a miniature world of living things. And he used mathematics to
calculate the sizes of the populations of the organisms he
studied. The English biologist Robert Hooke observed
box-like compartments in slices of plant tissue and called
them cells. Hooke chose this word because what he saw
reminded him of the cells in monasteries where the
monks live. Today, biologists still use the word cells to
describe the "basic building blocks of life."
During the Age of Reason, another Englishman, William
Harvey, became the first person to describe the circulation of blood and to make careful observations on the
development of animals before they are born, that is,
while they are still embryos,
In the mid 1700s, a Swedish botanist named Carolus
Linnaeus came up with a logical method for classifying,
13
scientifically grouping, and naming the earth's vast and
bewildering variety of living things; thus founding the
modern science of taxonomy, or biological classification.
Under Linnaeus's classification system, creatures are
grouped according to their similarities and differences.
Classification of an organism always begins with its kingdom, (these are its most generalized traits, for example,
whether it is in the plant kingdom or in the animal kingdom) and then it is placed in a series of different classification subgroups, such as its family, order, and genus,
until finally arriving at the unique characteristics that
define it as an individual species. Linnaeus's basic system
of biological classification is still in use today. And,
although it is constantly undergoing changes, it has
proven to be a useful tool over the centuries in helping
biologists understand the complex relationships that exist
among living things.
Enlightenment Philosophers
Back when Carolus Linnaeus and Isaac Newton were
making their great discoveries, people like them were
known as natural philosophers, today they would be
called scientists. Philosophers are people who seek wisdom or knowledge. During the Enlightenment, while natural philosophers sought to understand natural things
such as the motion of the planets or the behavior of microscopic organisms, other philosophers concentrated on
the mind, political subjects, and other, more abstract, concepts as well.
One of the most important philosophers to focus on political subjects was an Englishman named John Locke, who
lived from 1632 to 1704. Locke believed that the power of
a government to rule must come from the consent of the
governed; in other words, that people should be able to
choose who governs them. Locke took comfort in
England's Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the King
14
was forced to relinquish a large amount of his power to
Parliamentary representatives. He promoted the idea that
every human being was born with three basic natural
rights: those of life, political equality or liberty, and the
ownership of property. Locke also promoted freedom of
the press, educational reform and religious tolerance, and
called for the overthrow of governments that failed to
protect basic human rights.
In France, several great Enlightenment philosophers
wrote passionately about human rights and democracy as
well. French philosopher Voltaire for example, championed the idea of freedom of speech with his famous statement, "I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to
the death your right to say it," while another Frenchman,
Montesquieu, called for a complete separation of powers
to maintain balance in government; which was to be
accomplished by creating separate legislative, executive,
and judicial branches of government.
Nearly all philosophers of the Enlightenment era wanted
to see a strict separation of church and state as well, for
they realized that mixing government and religion was
almost always a recipe for disaster. The Enlightenment
philosophers themselves were usually deists, people
without traditional religious beliefs, who believed in
what they called "Nature's God"; that is, in an all-powerful spiritual force that had created the universe and
everything in it, but then left it alone.
The ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers were deeply
admired by the leaders of both the American and French
Revolutions. In fact, Thomas Jefferson fell back on them
time and time again when he was composing the Declaration of Independence, as did the framers of the United
States Constitution when they worked out a plan of government for the new American democracy.
15
Video Quiz
1. True or False? The Age of Reason is another name for
the Enlightenment.
2. True or False? Deists and Catholics had almost identical ideas about religion.
3. True or False? Francis Bacon and René Descartes are
considered to be the "Fathers of the Enlightenment."
4. True or False? Voltaire invented a system for biological
classification
5. True or False? The use of the scientific method improved the quality of scientific study.
16