I.

OBJECTIVES:

Topic/Lesson Name: Tycho Brahe and Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion
The learner demonstrates understanding of:
1. Explain how Tycho Brahe’s innovation and extensive collection
of astronomical data (naked-eye astronomy) paved the way for
Content Standards:
Kepler’s discovery of his laws of planetary motion. [IVb-44]
2. State Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary motion. [IVb-45]
Time Allotment: 120 minutes

II. SUBJECT MATTER:

Title: Tycho Brahe and Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion
Materials: PowerPoint Presentation, chalk/white board marker, and activity sheet
Resources: An Introduction to Physical Science
Teaching Guide for Senior High School

III. PROCEDURE:
Greetings
Attendance

A. INTRODUCTION
Tell the students that this session will be a topic away from the series on Galileo.
Inform the students that Brahe’s observations were made long before the telescope was invented and used to
view celestial objects.
Brahe’s observations paved way to doubt Ptolemaic model. It also called for the need for new models because
the Ptolemaic model needs to be complicated to become more accurate as precise astronomical data become
available.
Tell the students that due to the honest consideration of the accurate data available, it was obvious that the
centuries-old model had to be replaced.
Discuss with the students that scientific ideas, even if they seem to be correct (even for more than 1400 years!)
can become obsolete with improved data.
It may also be mentioned that progress in scientific endeavor often requires the meeting of skills, patience in
making observations, and making available the data obtained.
Tell the students that today, you will tackle the three laws of planetary motion that were the most accurate
depiction of how the planets go about the Sun including how the moons revolve about their planets.

C.INSTRUCTION/DELIVERY
nform them that Kepler was hired as sort of “research assistant” by Brahe primarily to prove that Brahe’s model
(geoheliocentric model) of the Universe is consistent with the available data. Kepler needed Brahe’s data to do
mathematical analysis while Brahe needs Kepler to make mathematical calculations to prove that the model
satisfies the observed data.
Brahe died before his model is proven. Kepler inherited vast data set that will prove crucial for developing his
Three Laws of Planetary Motion later.
It took Kepler many more years trying out many possible models to fit the available data being concerned
largely on the philosophical implications of his models and the belief that there has to be simple numerical
relationships among phenomena like the Pythagoreans.
Emphasize that only after about 20 years or so working with the data he got from Brahe, the Three Laws of
Planetary Motion were published in two different years: (1) Law of Orbit (1609) (2) Law of Equal Area (1609)
(3) Law of Period (1619)

IV. PRACTICE/EVALUATION
Identify the following
1. Who determined the positions of 777 fixed stars accurately from his observatory in Denmark?
2. Who was recommended by Emperor Rudolf II to be Tycho Brahe’s assistant?
3. This is useful in determining the positions of the planets for the past 1000 years and the future 1000 years.
4. It is the term that you call when Mars or any another planet is closest to the sun.
5. It is the term that you call when Mars or any another planet is farthest to the sun?
Enumerate the three laws of planetary motion (in order)
6.
7.
8.
Multiple choice
9. Which of the following best explains why Brahe and Kepler had an unsteady working relationship?
A. Johannes Kepler is the favorite of Emperor Rudolf II
B. Brahe expected that he would be working as an equal with Kepler.
C. Brahe feared of being shadowed by Kepler as his assistant.
D. Kepler did not trust Brahe with his astronomical data.
10. Which of the following tasks was given to Kepler by Brahe?
A. to prove the geocentric model
B. to prove the heliocentric model
C. to determine the exact orbit of Earth
D. to determine the exact orbit of Mars

11. Which of the following are the conclusions that Kepler made from Brahe’s data about Mars?
A. There is a force from the Moon that causes the movement of the planets.
B. Planets move fastest when they are nearest the Sun and slowest when farthest from the Sun.
C. There is a force from the Earth that causes the movement of the planets.
D. Planets move fastest when they are farthest from the Sun and slowest when nearest the Sun.
12. Using Brahe’s observations and data what was Kepler’s findings about the shape of the orbit followed by
the planets?
A. The orbit was circular.
B. The orbit has an uneven shape.
C. The orbit of the planets was irregular.
D. The orbit was elliptical.
13. Which of the following best explain why Kepler’s first law of planetary motion was a revolutionary
discovery in astronomy?
A. It explains the observed “irregularities” in the movement of Moon.
B. It explains the observed “irregularities” in the movement of the Earth.
C. It disproved the long-held belief that the orbits of the planets were circular.
D. It disproved the long-held belief that the orbit of the Sun was circular.
14. Which of the following best describes Kepler’s second law of planetary motion?
A. When an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, it will sweep out
varying area of space in equal time intervals.
B. When an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, it will sweep out
an equal area of space in varying time intervals.
C. When an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, it will sweep out
varying area of space in varying time intervals.
D. When an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, it will sweep out
an equal area of space in equal time intervals.

15. Which of the following best describes Kepler’s third law of planetary motion?
A. planets follow an elliptical orbit.
B. states that when an imaginary line is drawn from the center of a planet to the center of the Sun, an equal
amount of space is swept in equal amount of time.
C. states that the ratio of the squares of the period of two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of the
planets’ average distance from the Sun.
D. All of the above