Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 10
Renaissance Art, Printing & Science
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Gutenberg and Galileo
What your child practises
Famous Renaissance artists and builders, how the printing press spread ideas, and how astronomers and scientists began to test old ideas with observation.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 8.2 · Renaissance art and architecture, the printing press and the new scientific thinking
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which famous mural, painted by Leonardo, shows a meal with Jesus and the apostles?
- The Last Supper
- The Thinker
- David
- Mona Lisa
Show answer
The Last Supper
Hint: It is in Milan.
Question 2
Put these Renaissance-era events in order.
- 🔭Galileo observes the moons of Jupiter (1610)
- 📜Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517)
- 🖨️Gutenberg's printing press (about 1450)
- ☀️Copernicus publishes his Sun-centred model (1543)
Show answer
Gutenberg's printing press (about 1450) → Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517) → Copernicus publishes his Sun-centred model (1543) → Galileo observes the moons of Jupiter (1610)
Hint: Gutenberg's press (about 1450) came first, then Luther in 1517, Copernicus in 1543 and Galileo's telescope observations in 1610.
Question 3
What is a fresco?
- a printed book
- a painting made on wet plaster on a wall
- a carved statue
- a kind of dome
Show answer
a painting made on wet plaster on a wall
Hint: Michelangelo's ceiling is a fresco.
Question 4
Why might a scientist in the 1500s be careful when sharing a new idea?
- Ideas were always welcomed
- Powerful groups might disagree and punish those who challenged long-held beliefs.
- There were no scientists
- Paper was banned
Show answer
Powerful groups might disagree and punish those who challenged long-held beliefs.
Hint: Galileo was put on trial for his writing.
Question 5
Why did some Church leaders object to new scientific ideas?
- The ideas were too cheap.
- The Church disliked writing.
- The ideas were boring.
- The ideas seemed to challenge long-held teachings and authority.
Show answer
The ideas seemed to challenge long-held teachings and authority.
Hint: New observations challenged old beliefs, which led to disagreements.
Question 6
Who was Nicolaus Copernicus?
- A Spanish explorer
- An Italian painter
- A scholar who said that Earth travels around the Sun.
- A king of England
Show answer
A scholar who said that Earth travels around the Sun.
Hint: His book was published in 1543.