There is an innumeracy problem when students who have been in a class that covers the solar system and its behavior, facts, and figures are give the following MC question:
"The radius of the Earth's moon is approximately:
A) 100 km B) 1750 km C) 240,000 miles D) 93,000,000 miles"
and I actually get A and D answers. I blame the C answers on sloppy reading skills. This happens every time I teach the course (at least twice a year).
"John M Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org> 2/29/2008 9:27 am >>>
[snip]
What about the distance from the moon to the Earth? What about the
time it takes for light to travel from the sun to the Earth? This
will be known by those who saw a particular commercial in which the
answer was given to them.