Integrating historical cases in middle school science curriculum: Copernican revolution and the solar system

Abstract

Research shows that middle school science teachers in the United States rarely integrate history of science or historical cases in their lessons (Hottecke & Allchin, 2020). History of science plays a great role in building robust foundational knowledge in science disciplines, especially in the hearts of middle school students. This article describes a step-by-step teaching technique on how to integrate historical cases in middle school science lessons. In this paper, the author used a historical case of Copernican revolution and the solar system as an illustration to demonstrate how middle school science teachers could effectively explain scientific concepts to their students through historical perspectives.