Bad Astronomy Teacher Presentation

1. Lisa Blair PHY 489.02 May 4, 2011 Bad Astronomy Teacher Presentation 3 Preconceptions We experience seasons because of the earth’s changing distance from the sun The earth’s revolution around the sun causes day and night All stars rise and set

2. We experience seasons because of the earth’s changing distance from the sun. • Elicit- Pose questions to students to explain their reasoning; they use whiteboards to draw pictures to explain thinking. Students should draw earth-sun relationship in the summer and winter. • Confront- Use diagram to clarify their ideas. Everyone on earth should then experience the same season at the same time. Is this possible? Use online weather conditions and temperature for various locations throughout the world. Speak with someone in another part of the world about temp • Identify-Must identify their previous ideas as a misconception . If changes in the sun-earth distance are not responsible for the seasons, what is? • Resolve – Foster replacement of misconception through: • Hands-on learning - Lightbulb and globe activity – students experience that the tilt of the earth is responsible for the seasons – sun’s rays on the earth • Modeling discourse • Powerpoint Slide – Astronomy Connections – Earth in motion • Simulatior – Seasons Interactive – Online Learning Center • Simulator – Basic Coordinates and Seasons Lab – Astronomy Ed. At the University of Nebraska • Reinforce – Reevaluate student understanding using some of the previous activities to reinforce the conceptual change

3. The earth’s revolution around the sun causes day and night. • Elicit- Pose questions to students to probe for students’ alternative conceptions; they use whiteboards to draw pictures to clarify and to illustrate their interpretation for the cause of day and night. Use socratic dialogue. • Confront-Challenge student thinking to place them in a state of cognitive conflict. Model their idea to demonstrate if it is valid by using a light and having the globe just revolving around the sun-do not rotate it. Label our position on the globe. Does this cause day and night? • Identify-Must identify their previous ideas as a misconception . If earth’s revolution around the sun does not cause day and night, what does? • Resolve – Foster replacement of misconception through: • Modeling activity using lightbulb (sun) and globe. Students manipulate globe to find that it is the rotation of the earth that causes day and night • Modeling activity using students to represent the earth and a light source to represent the sun • Modeling discourse • Simulatior – Lunar Phase Simulator- Astronomy Ed.. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Reinforce – Reevaluate student understanding using some of the previous activities to reinforce the conceptual change

4. All stars rise and set • Elicit- Pose questions to students to explain their reasoning; they use whiteboards to draw pictures to explain thinking. Students should draw earth-sun relationship in the summer and winter. • Confront- Use diagram to clarify their ideas. Everyone on earth should then experience the same season at the same time. Is this possible? Use online weather conditions and temperature for various locations throughout the world. Speak with someone in another part of the world about temp • Identify-Must identify their previous ideas as a misconception . If not all stars rise and set, then what would be other possibilities? • Resolve – Foster replacement of misconception through: • Nighttime sky observation over time- observation of circular motion of stars around a point in northern sky (North Celestial Pole) • Celestial Sphere Demonstration to account for the motions of the stars • Simulatior-Stargazers to view motions of the stars Simulator – The Rotating Sky Lab – Astronomy Ed.. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Websites: www.astro.columbia.edu • Reinforce – Reevaluate student understanding using some of the previous activities to reinforce the conceptual change