[Phys-L] Re: In the Private Universe

[Rick Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

However, here is one of those _many_ areas where if students _knew_ a few
more facts (heaven forbid--actually have read or been told something that
they then _remember), that they might be able to figure things out
themselves--despite something like the faulty impression we get about the
eccentricity of earth's orbit.  The fact I'm referring to is that summer in
the northern hemisphere happens with the earth the farthest away from the
sun.

So, we can blame this little 'tidbit' of general ignorance about the seasons
on a variety of causes.

1)  Faulty information--exaggerated eccentricity pictures.
2)  Insufficient information--summer at apogee, axis is tilted relative to
orbital plane.
3)  Poor memories--information has been seen but forgotten.
4)  Poor thinking skills--have the information, can't combine to logical
conclusion.
5)  Poor instruction--no science courses or science courses never covered
topic.
6)  Lack of scientific curiosity--who cares?

Bottom line--too many possibilities, too many variables to use this kind of
'test' as a general assessment of any particular aspect of the educational
system.  Now the fact that we can ask MANY of these kinds of questions and
get equally bad results then starts to add up as some kind of
indictment--but then one can ask a series of Historical, Mathematical,
Literature, grammatical, you-name-it questions and get similarly sad
results.  AND YET...look at the modern technological world we live in--with
better medicine, better communications, safer transportation, better
sanitation, better nutrition, better food supplies, more literate (overall),
more or better just about anything than ever in the history of mankind, and
all accomplished by people who (for the most part) don't know the reason for
the seasons!  ;-)

Rick

*********************************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Bellina" <jbellina@SAINTMARYS.EDU>

> I agree completely.  It is interesting to see what you get when you ask
> people which of three pictures is the best illustration of the earth's
> orbit around the sun.  The near circle, an elongated ellipse with the
> sun at a focus or an elongated ellipse with the sun in the center.
> Almost no one picks the near circle.
>
> joe
>
> David T. Marx wrote:
>
> > To me, the source of this mistake is the textbooks.  The Earth is always
> > shown from a side view with a very elongated ellipse and the point is made
> > that the sun is at one of the foci.  What other conclusion do we expect
> > students (and often their teachers) to draw from this other than the
> > mistaken
> > explanation for the seasons?