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ERIC Number: EJ956289
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Dec
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1539-1515
EISSN: N/A
Diagrammatic Representational Constraints of Spatial Scale in Earth-Moon System Astronomy Instruction
Taylor, Roger S.; Grundstrom, Erika D.
Astronomy Education Review, v10 n1 p010104-1?010104-8 Dec 2011
Given that astronomy heavily relies on visual representations it is especially likely for individuals to assume that instructional materials, such as visual representations of the Earth-Moon system (EMS), would be relatively accurate. However, in our research, we found that images in middle-school textbooks and educational webpages were commonly inaccurate in both: (a) the relative size of the Earth and Moon and (b) the relative distance between the Earth and Moon. More specifically, the students' estimates, textbook images, and web images of the relative "size" of the Moon were too large, and of the relative "distance" were too small. We discuss these findings and provide recommendations to science educators. (Contains 5 figures and 3 tables.)
American Astronomical Society. 2000 Florida Avenue NW Suite 400, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 800-874-6383; Fax: 516-349-9704; e-mail: help@scitation.org; Web site: http://aer.aip.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Grade 6; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A