Leonardo’s Machines

As a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci is a fascinating historical figure. This lesson will highlight some of Leonardo’s futuristic inventions, introducing the elements of machines. Leonardo provides an interesting context in which students can begin to develop their ideas about the uniqueness of humans in the natural world. Our ability to use language and thought sets us apart as the only species that can think, imagine, create, and learn from experience. Humans have used this ability to create technologies and literary and artistic works on a vast scale and to develop a scientific understanding of ourselves and the world.