French Contributions to Science, Art, and Letters

Introduction

This web hunt surveys some of the contributions of French individuals to science, art, and literature.

Guiding Question

In your opinion, which of these contributions had the most significant impact on the world as we know it? Can you imagine where science, art, and literature would be without the work of these people?

Questions

1.    What are the contributions of René Descartes to math and philosophy?

2.    What are the contributions of Blaise Pascal?

3.    Who was Voltaire?

4.    What are the main ideas of existentialism in the works of Jean Paul Sartre?

5.    Research the contributions of the Brothers Lumiere.

6.    Research the contributions of Pierre & Marie Curie.

7.    What was Louis Pasteur's, the man who launched the field of microbiology, life's work about?

8.    What does the word "Impressionism" refer to? Find the most important figures of that art movement. How do they differ from their classical predecessors?

9.    What did Louis de Broglie, a physicist who won the Nobel prize in 1929, find?

10. Joan of Arc, the first "emancipated" woman, has become legendary. How did she change the course of French history?

Internet Resources

o    René Descartes (1) (2) (3)

o    Blaise Pascal (1) (2) (3)

o    Voltaire (1) (2)

o    Jean Paul Sartre (1) (2) (3)

o    Brothers Lumiere (1) (2)

o    Pierre & Marie Curie (1) (2) (3)

o    Louis Pasteur (1) (2) (3) (4)

o    Impressionism (1) (2)

o    Louis de Broglie (1) (2) (3)

o    Joan of Arc (1) (2)

Michel Daudin, Teacher, and Bret Gorden, AP student, collaborated to develop this web hunt.

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