Leonardo da Vinci was a true Renaissance man. Born in the small Italian village of Vinci in 1452, da Vinci had many interests and much skill. Leonardo became an artist, scientist, engineer, and inventor. In 1503, Leonardo completed his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Another important painting was Leonardo’s Last Supper. As a scientist, Leonardo drew natural objects and in dozens of notebooks recorded what he saw. He even dissected dead human bodies for study. In his notebooks, he also drew a bicycle, canon, machine gun, submarine, flying machine, and even a parachute long before these items were ever invented.
Explore the online games and activities below to discover the thinking behind Leonardo's approach. Then, answer the following question:
1) How did da Vinci's interests and ideas reflect Renaissance ideals?
2) The following is a critique of the current American education system. "In the real world, we do not wake up in the morning and do social studies for 50 minutes. The teenager begins to realize that in real life we encounter problems and situations, gather data from all our resources, and generate solutions. The fragmented school day does not reflect this reality.” Would da Vinci agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
YOUR ANSWER IS TO BE MESSAGED TO YOUR TEACHER ON BLACKBOARD (for Period 4) or EMAILED TO YOUR TEACHER (Period 5)