Heliocentric, Geocentric, and Primary Sources

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to use one of Library of Congress' new eBooks with students. I posted some pictures on Twitter, but wanted to share a little more about the process.

I had been looking for some integration of research skills for our one fifth grade class that is currently studying space and motion. While students had mostly been studying observational aspects to space such as moon phases, their classroom teacher shared that they had been introduced to the terms 'heliocentric' and 'geocentric'.

The new Understanding the Cosmos eBook primary source set gave a great selection of primary sources that could help support that topic. Originally, I thought that I would encourage students to explore the differences within several geocentric models, but upon asking the students a few questions, it became clear that they were still hazy on what these models were and how to define them. Many students thought that it might be the solar system drawn from a different point of view, not necessarily different models of the solar system. Even though this helps explain why these models are different, they hadn't grasped the inherent differences in the models themselves. I hoped that analyzing pieces from this primary source set would help them come to an understanding of the difference.

To prepare, I first downloaded the eBook on a class set of iPads through the iBooks store. There is no charge for the eBooks. (The eBooks are currently only available on iPads, but a recent Tweet implies they are looking at other options.) This only took about 20 minutes for almost 30 iPads. I didn't have the books sync because I didn't know how the sync feature would impact a class of students using the books at once. After downloading, I found the primary sources that had heliocentric and geocentric models of the solar system. (If you're wondering, they are images 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, and 15.) Finally, I had copies of LOC's Primary Source Analysis Tool for the students.

Each student was given a primary source to analyze with no two students analyzing the same source at a table. I projected the eBook on the SmartBoard and showed students how to access the eBook, their primary source, and how to draw on the primary source, modeling some reasons they may annotate on the image. I told students we would work on defining our words, but for now, they were just to analyze their image, taking notes on the paper provided. (I did not use the included analysis scribing in the eBook because I wanted to give students a chance to have all of their writing in front of them at once and because I wanted to see their writing.)

I found that students, for the most part, had a great deal of focus on their analysis. They loved to pinch and zoom feature and used it to see details that couldn't be seen otherwise. They used the draw feature purposefully, circling things that they found interesting, unusual, or important. They used their finger to write "Why?" about some of the writings around the models. While there was sharing with others, it was purposeful. They were engaged. I did have to direct the students to write out reflections and questions on their analysis sheet. They wanted to continue to interact with the primary source and each other. While that engagement is incredible, writing out observations, reflections, and questions on the Primary Source Analysis Tool, in my opinion, helps to focus their attention and allow later conversations with each other to be elevated because they have concrete evidence of their own thinking.

After students analyzed their primary source, I asked them to confer with others at their table. There were two groups that all of these models could be grouped in, heliocentric and geocentric. I suggested they use their analysis and focus on the differences and similarities to try to help them define the words that they could not correctly define earlier.

Students talked with each other about what they noticed in their primary source. Some pointed out that the moon is drawn as a planet. Others noticed that not all of the planets were shown or that the scale was off. They explored the language and how they translated some words to figure out where a planet or the sun was in the model. What I did not expect was for them to talk as much about the language. Sol, Terra, Earthe, Sonne, Solis, Geo- and Helio- were all words that students focused on, talked about, and highlighted.

When the class shared out at the end of the session, all of the groups but one had a correct definition of 'heliocentric' and 'geocentric'. What was interesting to me was that the one group that did not have a correct definition for the terms still used a very logical explanation for their thinking. They believed that one word had to do with models that had gods or other spirits living on the planets of the solar system and the other word defined those models where the planets were barren. As they shared their focus on the images they analyzed, their thinking made great sense. That being said, by the time two groups after them had shared, they asked to change their idea based on what others had said.

This embodies why I appreciate the use of primary sources in learning. Analyzing primary sources as part of an activity encourage the struggle that leads to learning. Students had to observe, interpret, and apply their understanding of these primary sources to create a definition for a pair of words. They brought in their own understanding of the solar system and of language to help construct that understanding. They worked individually and then collaborated together to come to agreed upon meanings that weren't confirmed by the teacher until all had an opportunity to make their own learning journey. Overall, I would consider this a good first experience with using primary sources to explore this topic and a promising first use of Library of Congress' new eBooks.