Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 10
Renaissance & Reformation
New art, ideas and printing
What your child practises
The rebirth of art and learning in Italy, how the printing press spread ideas, the Reformation, and how questioning led to new science.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 8.2 · the Renaissance, the Reformation and their effects on Europe
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
Leonardo da Vinci was famous as…
- a sailor only
- a merchant only
- a king
- an artist, inventor and scientist
Show answer
an artist, inventor and scientist
Hint: He painted the Mona Lisa and filled notebooks with designs and studies.
Question 2
Put these events in order, earliest first.
- 📚Gutenberg's printing press (about 1450)
- 🐀The Black Death reaches Europe (1347)
- 📜Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517)
- 🔭Galileo observes Jupiter's moons (1610)
Show answer
The Black Death reaches Europe (1347) → Gutenberg's printing press (about 1450) → Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517) → Galileo observes Jupiter's moons (1610)
Hint: The Black Death (1347–1351) came first, then the printing press (about 1450), the Reformation (1517), and Galileo's telescope observations (1610).
Question 3
Who is credited with writing in 1543 that the Earth moves around the Sun?
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Gutenberg
- Aristotle
- Marco Polo
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Nicolaus Copernicus
Hint: Copernicus challenged the long-held belief that the Sun circled the Earth.
Question 4
Renaissance artists used linear perspective to…
- make flat paintings look three-dimensional, with depth
- avoid using colour
- paint only portraits
- make paintings smaller
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make flat paintings look three-dimensional, with depth
Hint: Lines that meet at a distant point make a picture seem to go back in space.
Question 5
Which Italian family was well known for supporting artists in Florence?
- the Mongols
- the Tudors
- the Medici
- the Vikings
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the Medici
Hint: The Medici were bankers and rulers who paid for art, buildings and learning.
Question 6
Before the printing press, how were books made in Europe?
- Copied by hand, which was slow and costly
- Read aloud from tablets only
- Printed by machine
- Made in factories
Show answer
Copied by hand, which was slow and costly
Hint: A single book could take months to copy.