7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 9
Renaissance & Reformation
New art, ideas and printing
What your child practices
The rebirth of art and learning in Italy, how the printing press spread ideas, the Reformation, and how questioning led to new science.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: History 1 · the Renaissance and the Reformation and how new ideas spread
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Renaissance means rebirth: art and learning bloomed in Italy, with people like Leonardo da Vinci.
- The printing press spread ideas fast and cheaply.
- In 1517 Martin Luther criticized Church practices, starting the Reformation. Christianity split into Catholic and Protestant.
Example: What does Renaissance mean? It comes from a French word. It means rebirth, of art and learning. Answer: rebirth
Renaissance & Reformation in Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 7 of 9 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Maya, Aztec & Inca and 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.
- 7th grade guide for Maine parents
- Printable 7th grade Social Studies sheet
- Maine report cards explained
Source: Maine 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.
Question 1
Put these events in order, earliest first.
- 📜Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517)
- 🐀The Black Death reaches Europe (1347)
- 📚Gutenberg's printing press (about 1450)
- 🔭Galileo observes Jupiter's moons (1610)
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 2
Isaac Newton's book Principia (1687) explained…
- gravity and the laws of motion
- how to print books
- how to sail to Asia
- why the Black Death spread
gravity and the laws of motion
Hint: Newton showed that the same laws describe falling objects and planets.
Question 3
What is humanism?
- A belief that learning is useless
- A belief that only kings matter
- A way of thinking that focuses on human abilities, reason and education
- A form of farming
A way of thinking that focuses on human abilities, reason and education
Hint: Renaissance humanists studied literature, history and the arts.
Question 4
Why did Italian city-states such as Florence become centers of the Renaissance?
- Wealth from trade paid for art and learning.
- They had no merchants.
- They were closed to ideas.
- They were ruled by Mongols.
Wealth from trade paid for art and learning.
Hint: Rich families, like the Medici, supported artists and scholars.
Question 5
What was one belief of Protestant reformers such as Luther?
- Only priests may read.
- Books should be burned.
- People should be able to read the Bible for themselves, in their own language.
- All Church lands belong to kings.
People should be able to read the Bible for themselves, in their own language.
Hint: Bibles were translated and printed in many local languages.
Question 6
Who is credited with writing in 1543 that the Earth moves around the Sun?
- Aristotle
- Gutenberg
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Marco Polo
Nicolaus Copernicus
Hint: Copernicus challenged the long-held belief that the Sun circled the Earth.