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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 10

Science & the Enlightenment

New ideas about nature and government

What your child practices

Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton, the scientific method, the roots of the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment thinkers whose ideas about rights and government shaped the American founding.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.H1.2; 7.H3.1 · the Scientific Revolution and the ideas of the Enlightenment

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton used observation and math to explain nature. Newton described universal gravitation.
  2. Enlightenment thinkers used reason about government: Locke wrote of rights to life, liberty and property; Montesquieu wanted separate branches.
  3. These ideas shaped the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Example: John Locke wrote that people have natural rights to what? Locke said rights come from being human, not from a king. He named life, liberty and property. Answer: life, liberty and property

Science & the Enlightenment in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 1 of 10 in 7th grade Social Studies, before Age of Revolutions.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Isaac Newton explained the motion of planets with the law of…

    • supply and demand
    • the Ten Commandments
    • universal gravitation
    • the Magna Carta

  2. Question 2

    Montesquieu argued that government power should be…

    • given to the church
    • separated into branches
    • kept secret
    • held by one person

  3. Question 3

    John Locke wrote that people have natural rights to…

    • no rights at all
    • free land in Asia
    • kingship
    • life, liberty and property

  4. Question 4

    René Descartes is known for the phrase…

    • "Veni, vidi, vici"
    • "Give me liberty"
    • "I think, therefore I am"
    • "E pluribus unum"

  5. Question 5

    The Magna Carta (1215) limited the power of…

    • Parliament
    • the Roman emperor
    • the pope
    • the English king

  6. Question 6

    Enlightenment thinkers influenced which revolutions?

    • the American and French Revolutions
    • the Agricultural Revolution only
    • the Gold Rush
    • the Stone Age and Iron Age

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