2 History of Astronomy TIME-LINE GAME RULES The game can be played by any number of players, up to 10. 3-8 players works really well. OBJECTIVE The idea of the game is for a player to get 8 cards in chronological order in their personal timeline on the table in front of them. START Each player starts with one card in front of them face up. This is the start of their timeline. The remaining cards are face down in a draw pile. ORDER OF PLAY The first person draws the top card from the pile and reads the event on it to the player to their immediate left. Play proceeds around the table, one card at a time, in a clockwise manner. EACH TURN The reader reads the event to the player who must guess where that event would fit on his/her timeline. The first time it would just be before or after the start card. Subsequent times it would be at the beginning ; between these 2 cards ; or at the end. If the first player guesses correctly, the card is placed in the proper position on their timeline. If the player guesses incorrectly, the player to their left gets a chance to guess on their own timeline. The opportunity to guess could go all the way around the table to the last player to the right of the reader. (In other words, it s possible for a card to be guessed by all players except the reader.) If no one answers it correctly by then, it is put at the bottom of the draw pile. (With several players that doesn t usually happen, since each player gets to see what the incorrect guesses ahead of them are, each time narrowing the possibilities.) CORRECT ANSWERS An answer is generally deemed correct if the month and year on the new card are placed in correct relation to the cards in their timeline. In other words, a card with 1894 would be placed in this position on the time line, as illustrated on the next page:
3 1864 1930 1995 1894 GAME ENDS The game is over when the first player has 8 cards placed correctly in their timeline. VARIATIONS 1. For a faster game, a goal number of less than 8 could be set at the beginning of the game. 2. When playing with Astronomy buffs, it can be required that they give the actual date in order to win the card, not just place it properly. 3. Play with teams of or more. 4. Have the oldest person read all the cards instead of playing. 5. For a more challenging game, play for more cards required in the timeline. RECOMMENDATIONS For reinforcing learning, it s a good idea to have each reader announce the date as they award the card to a player. We have included several blank cards so that you may add your own dates/events to the game. A timeline is included with the dates we ve used. Students reviewing it before and/or after games will reinforce their History of Astronomy knowledge. You might want to print/copy the cards onto cardstock and/or laminate the cards to better protect them. Note: If you discover any critical dates we ve left out, feel free to let us know. We may include them in future editions. See more of our games at www.creativelearningconnection.com and on www.currclick.com.
4 ~4000 BC Genesis 1:14-18 And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also and God saw that it was good. ~3000 BC Egyptians use stars to make calendars for planting crops. ~3000 BC Egyptians draw earliest known constellation shapes. ~2400 BC Chinese astronomers observe and note the movements of the 5 planets. ~2000 BC To Abraham in Genesis 15:5: And He brought him forth abroad, and said: Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. ~1900 BC Job 9:7-10; 26:7; 38:31: Which commandeth the sun and it riseth not; and it sealeth up the star, which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea, which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion? ~1450 BC During the Egyptian plagues in Exodus 10:21: And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward Heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. ~1400 BC Joshua 10:12: Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel and he said in the sight of Israel: Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou, moo,n in the valley of Ajalon ~1300 BC Chinese astronomers make earliest known star charts and record eclipses (solar and lunar). ~1030 BC David wrote in Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him and Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God ~970 BC Solomon wrote in Psalm 136: 5-9: To Him that by wisdom made the heavens: for His mercy endureth forever to Him that made great lights: for His mercy endureth forever; the sun to rule by day: for His mercy endureth forever, the moon and starts to rule by night, for His mercy endureth forever. ~760 BC Amos speaks of the Constellations in Amos 5:8: Seek Him that maketh the 7 Stars and Orion The Lord is His name. ~700 BC Babylonians predict movements of planets. ~700 BC Isaiah 13:10: For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light ~700 BC 2 Kings 20:9: And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He hath spoken, shall the shadow (of the sun) go forward 10 degrees, or back 10 degrees? ~500 BC Pythagoras (Greek mathematician/astronomer) believes & teaches that the earth is round. ~440 BC Psalm 147:4 during the Restoration of Israel: He telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by their names.
~400 BC Plato states that the motions in the heavens must only be uniform and circular. ~370 BC Eudoxus works out a system to explain the motion of the planets. ~300 BC Aristotle states that the heavens are perfect and unchanging, and teaches that the earth is the center of the universe. ~300 BC Heraclides figures out from the movement of the stars that the earth must be rotating around its axis. ~300 BC Mayans use astronomy to make an accurate calendar. ~250 BC Aristarchus announces that the sun is at the center of the universe. ~250 BC Erathosthenes calculates (fairly accurately) the size of the Earth, using the sun, a shadow, and a well. ~130 BC Hipparchus develops the first accurate star catalogue with over 800 stars, measures their brightness, and estimates the distance to the Moon, all to the benefit of navigating sailors.. ~45 BC Julius Caesar has a solar calendar designed by an astronomer to replace the lunar one that isn t working. 4 BC Matthew 2:1,2: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him. AD 150 Ptolemy writes his book, now translated as The Almagest (with the Earth as the center of the universe). 200-1000 Lost centuries of astronomy (survival becomes more important than science). 1050 Supernova in constellation Taurus noted by Chinese, Hopi Indians, and Arabics (it could even be seen in daylight for awhile). 1250 St. Aquinas includes Ptolemy s and Aristotle s theories in Christian theology. 1420 Samarkand Observatory built in Central Asia. 1543 Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies on his death bed (with the sun as the center of the universe). The Copernicus Revolution begins. 1572 Brahe discovers a supernova. 1576 Brahe has his own observatory built on his own island (both courtesy of King Frederick II), so he can make his meticulous observations of the sky. 1582 Pope Gregory XIII orders a new calendar to correct the leap year problem. (The Gregorian Calendar) 1608 Lippershey invents the telescope in Holland. 1609 Kepler s 1 st 2 laws of Planetary Motion (including elliptical orbits) announced in Astronomia Nova. 1609 Galileo is 1 st to build and use a telescope to study the heavens, he declares that the stars are innumerable! 1610 Galileo discovers the 1 st 4 moons around Jupiter. 1616 Galileo s 1 st trial for heresy; his ideas are forbidden to be taught. 1619 Kepler s 3 rd law announced in Harmony of the World, the law of periods. 1632 Galileo s 2 nd trial for heresy. 1656 Huygens discovers Saturn s rings. 1664 Hooke discovers Jupiter s Great Red Spot. 1668 Newton builds 1 st Reflecting Telescope. 5
1675 Romer measures the speed of light. 1687 With encouragement from Halley, Newton finally publishes The Principia (laws of motion and gravitation), proving that the earth and other planets orbit the sun. 1705 Halley accurately predicts the return of Halley s Comet every 78 years. 1752 Americans finally adopt the Gregorian Calendar ( losing 11 days in the process.) 1758 Halley s Comet appears on schedule, after Halley s death. 1781 Herschel discovers planet Uranus (1 st planet to be discovered with a telescope) 1781 Messier, the Comet Hunter, publishes his Deep-Sky Objects catalog (Messier objects). 1801 Piazzi discovers the 1 st asteroid ( Ceres ). 1814 Fraunhofer uses a spectroscope and charts solar spectral lines. 1838 Bessel is 1 st to measure parallax of a star, and thus determine its distance. 1846 Galle discovers Neptune, where LeVerrier and Adams had both predicted it would be with their mathematical calculations. 1861 Kirchoff identifies elements in the spectrum of the sun. 1864 Huggins identifies 1 st spectrum of a nebula. 1877 Hall discovers the 1 st 2 moons of Mars. 1894 Lowell builds an observatory in Arizona to study Mars and look for the newest unknown planet. 1905 Einstein s Special Theory of Relativity (nothing moves faster than light). 1914 Leavitt (Henrietta) uses period-luminosity relation to measure distances to nearby galaxies. 1915 Einstein s General Theory of Relativity (3 dimensions + time) 1927 Big Bang theory 1 st proposed. 1929 Hubble proves that the universe is expanding, not staying the same size. 1930 Tombaugh discovers Pluto from the observatory in Arizona. 1931 Jansky discovers radio waves from the center of our galaxy. 1937 1 st Radio Telescope made. 1962 Radio Telescope tested by astronomers. 1969 1 st sighting of a Pulsar (in the Crab Nebula). 1969 Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the Moon. 1978 Christy and Harrington discover Pluto s moon. 1992 Catholic Church removes condemnation of Galileo. 1995 Comet Hale-Bopp discovered by two American astronomers. 2006 Pluto is downgraded to a Dwarf Planet, and the number of planets in our Solar System is officially lowered to eight. 6
~4000 BC ~3000 BC ~3000 BC 7 Genesis 1:14-18 And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also and God saw that it was good. Egyptians use stars to make calendars for planting crops. Egyptians draw earliest known constellation shapes. ~2400 BC ~2000 BC ~1900 BC Chinese astronomers observe and note the movements of the 5 planets. To Abraham in Genesis 15:5: And He brought him forth abroad, and said: Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Job 9:7-10; 26:7; 38:31: Which commandeth the sun and it riseth not; and it sealeth up the star, which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea, which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion? ~1450 BC ~1400 BC ~1300 BC During the Egyptian plagues in Exodus 10:21: And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward Heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. Joshua 10:12: Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel and he said in the sight of Israel: Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou, moon in the valley of Ajalon Chinese astronomers make earliest known star charts and record eclipses (solar and lunar).