Re: [Phys-l] general science surveys anyone?

[marx@phy.ilstu.edu]

I am the physics professor in question...and I just want to clarify what trevor wrote.

While I do ask students, via clickers, about moon phases and the majority get it wrong, I do not say 
that physicists miss this question.  We then go on to a detailed explanation as to how the moon phases 
occur before doing a group activity on the topic.

My comment about physicsts getting it wrong relates to an interactive demonstration that I do with a 
slinky.

David Marx
Physics Department
Illinois State University

On 2 Jun 2008 at 10:58, Trevor Fink wrote:

> My physics professor asked us one question: Why does the moon go through
> phases?  The majority of us got it wrong.  It was important that he told us
> that the question was asked to a room full of leading physicists and many of
> them got it wrong.  It made us feel like ok, maybe I'm not that big of a
> moron and I'm capable of learning this.  If his story was true or not, I
> don't know.
>
> I just went and tested the quizzes, these are my findings:
>
> > http://www.eslcafe.com/quiz/science1.html
> Appropriate for a 5th grader or, as the test indicates, to familiarize an
> ESL student.
>
> > http://www.1001funquizzes.com/free-iq-test?gatherer_id=100332&gclid=CJfijN321Z
> > MCFQytGgod6E8qiQ
> This IQ test is not like any other I've ever taken and requires the student
> to know pop culture, state nicknames, and classic jazz.  Further, it
> requires you to sign up for a special offer at the end to see your score.  I
> guess I'll never know...
>
> > http://triviapark.com/quizzes/qzs1x/q1.html
> Fairly easy, but I missed one.
>
> > http://education.jlab.org/million/question.php?99254515
> This was the most fun because of the format and had the best questions, IMHO
>
> > http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sci__tech/miscellaneous_science.html
> A large compellation of quizzes.
>
> Trevor
>
>
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