Topic: The Enlightenment - new movements in science, literature, architecture and art.

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

6th‑grade students of elementary school.

XII. Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Pupil:

2 ) describes the ideas of the Enlightenment, gives examples of their use in science, literature, architecture and art.

General aim of education

Students learn the ideas of the Enlightenment and examples of their application in science, literature, architecture and art

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to chraracterize the most important ideas of the Enlightenment era: empiricism and rationalism;

• to describe the conditions for the development of science and education in the 18th century;

• to recognize the examples of the enlightenment ideas in science, literature, architecture and art.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. The teacher asks students to listen to Antoni Lucia Vivaldi's „Four Seasons - Spring”. They also familiarize themselves with a short biography of the artist from e‑textbook.

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the pupils the subject, the purpose of the lesson and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students about reflections related to the biography they read at home. He asks students to do Exercise 1.

3. The teacher asks about the views of Immanuel Kant. He explains the students how during Enlightenment - in response to the earlier condemnation of Galileo by the Inquisition in 1633 - there was a gradual evolution from the criticism of the papacy, many church institutions, contemplative or teaching orders (e.g. Jesuits) to criticism of the entire social and political system: social classes, absolutism, lack of social equality, lack of democracy.

Realization

1. The teacher asks students to find on the Internet the definitions of rationalism and empiricism. Then he tells them about the views of philosophers who contributed to dissemination of new ideas in the eighteenth century: Kant, Descartes and Locke. He emphasizes the famous sayings and theses: „Cogito ergo sum”, „Mind is the measure of all things”, and also that every rational theory should be preceded by an experiment.

2. The teacher explains the effect of the attempt to make science independent of churches and their institutions - namely, the lush development of academies and scientific societies. Referring initially to colloquial images of students, the teacher about the role of freemasonry and literary salons in disseminating science and fashion for it. He gives an example of travel for education (grande tour).

3. The teacher then draws the students' attention to the fact that the great achievement of the Age of Enlightenment was the perception of the child as a personality that one can and even must shape. He asks students to do Task 1. Students learn how the people of the eighteenth century tried to implement the ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback.

Summary

1. The teacher asks students about their educational experience. Does the school teach you how to live? He asks for justification of the position taken, a possible wording of desideratum.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. Tells students feedback on their work.

Homework

1. The teacher sets homework (it is not an obligatory part of the script), which is doing Exercise 2. Additionaly: Develop a short guide to the most important works of art, music and architecture in the 18th century for the needs of an epoch‑making traveler..

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The Enlightenment - new movements in science, literature, architecture and art.

In the 18th century, Europe experienced a rapid growth of science and technology. Therefore, the period is referred to as the century of science and the era is called the Enlightenment. A number of scientific discoveries took place, e.g. the law of universal gravitation was established and a scientific classification of animals and plants created. The fundamental aim of the intellectual society was to form a “modern man”. A great achievement was to perceive a child as a personality, which can or even has to be formed. The most prominent work indicating such needs was a novel by Jean Jacques Rousseau entitled „Emile; or On Education”. Real grammar schools began to appear, where contemporary languages, mathematics, history and literature of the home country were taught, as well as the basics of science eventually. The so‑called Academies of Chivalry were very popular, dedicated to noble young people, which were to prepare them for the functions they were to perform in society. Collegium Nobilium or the Corps of Cadets were known in Poland. The theatre, and especially the opera, played a significant role in the Enlightenment. This was the first era when music was of a prominent importance. Italian composers dominated: Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti and others. However, they were relatively quickly replaced by artists from Germany: Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Sebastian Bach and finally Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.