Astronomy Education in WA Schools

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Astronomy Education in WA Schools
Dr Aidan Hotan and Michael Todd Department of
Applied Physics, Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, Western Australia
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Developing experiments in Astronomy
Undergraduate project task Develop experiments
for high school students addressing the Science
Earth and Beyond outcome from the WA Curriculum
Framework
Experiments publicised on Catalist (STAWA
email discussion group) Distributed to
volunteers to obtain feedback

• High school experiments developed in Project 301
  (Semester 2, 2007)
• WA Curriculum Framework Science learning outcomes
  Levels 47 (years 8 to 12)
• Yr 8/9 Use camera to capture images ? tested ?
• Yr 9/10 Detect an asteroid ? tested ?
• Yr 10/11 Determine distance using parallax ?
  tested ?
• Yr 11/12 Calculate satellite orbits ? tested ?

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Developing experiments in Astronomy
Level 4 project (Yr 8/9) from Curriculum
Framework Progress Maps Relationship between
the earth, our solar system and the
universe Students compare components, processes
and features of our universe, their interactions
and effects. ... They compare and contrast
asteroids, comets and meteors in terms of size
and frequency and identify similarities and
differences between planets.
Experiment Photograph a celestial object using a
telescope and research basic facts.

• Summary of results
• Trialled over the period February 22 25, 2008.
• Determined that this experiment is viable.
• Instructions revised to suggest students begin
  with nearby (Solar System) objects and progress
  to other bright objects such as bright nebulae
  (M42) or large clusters before attempting more
  difficult targets.
• Notes added to the instructions recommending
  exposure times.

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Developing experiments in Astronomy
Level 5 project (Yr 9/10) from Curriculum
Framework Progress Maps Relationship between
the earth, our solar system and the
universe Students use models and concepts to
explain components, processes and features of the
universe They can identify similarities and
differences in the orbit and characteristics of
planets, Students understand how the concept of
gravity can be used to explain earth and space
systems.
Experiment Locate and identify an asteroid in a
region of the sky using a telescope.

• Summary of results
• Trialled over the period February 22 25, 2008.
• Determined that additional information was
  required but experiment is viable.
• Time required revised from estimated 4-7 days to
  period of two consecutive days.
• Noted the most efficient means of finding an
  asteroid was to use a series of planned hops
  from a known star.

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Developing experiments in Astronomy
Level 6 project (Yr 10/11) from Curriculum
Framework Progress Maps Relationship between
the earth, our solar system and the
universe Students use principles to explain
systems within and beyond our solar system They
provide reasons why astronomical features are
studied, describe methods astronomers use to
gather information and They can quantify the
relationship between gravity, the masses of two
bodies and the distance apart.
Experiment Calculate the distance to a star
using parallax

• Summary of results
• Trialled September 10, 2007.
• Determined that this experiment is not viable.
• Nearby stars such as Alpha Centauri are easily
  located bright but background stars not visible
  in the frame so no points of reference for
  calculating parallax.
• Test stars Alpha Centauri A and B are 4.22 ly
  from Earth parallax of 0.74.
• Image scale of test equipment was
  0.620.01/pixel parallax shift in the order of
  a single pixel in the image.
• A. Williams (Perth Obs.) advised unlikely that
  seeing would be better than 1-2 from suburban
  site parallax would probably be undetectable
  with this setup.

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Developing experiments in Astronomy
Level 7 project (Yr 11/12) from Curriculum
Framework Progress Maps Relationship between
the earth, our solar system and the
universe Students understand why theories such
as those developed by Copernicus were important
to the development of modern astronomy They
understand data-gathering techniques and use of
data about the universe. They can explain the
effect of gravity on the motion of projectiles in
real-life and frictionless environments
Experiment Determine the orbital period of a
natural satellite

• Summary of results
• Trialled over the period February 22 25, 2008.
• Determined that aims Identify which of the
  planets will be visible and Identify a
  satellite are possible but aim Determine the
  radius of the satellite orbit and calculate its
  orbital period assessed to be undergraduate
  level (Y. Korczynskyj)
• Can use software e.g. Hallo Northern Sky to
  identify satellites and their positions.
• Satellites of Mars faint relative to planet. Not
  detected when close to planet.
• Jupiter not visible in Feb but thought Galilean
  satellites should be observable.
• Larger satellites of Saturn still visible when
  close to the planetary disc.

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What is a misconception?

• Misconceptions about science are deep-seated
  beliefs that are inconsistent with accepted
  scientific beliefs.
• Not all incorrect beliefs are misconceptions. 
  Many are superficial memorisation of incorrect
  data, such as the number of moons orbiting
  Jupiter or the order of the planets from the Sun.
  

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Some common misconceptions

• Newtonian physics is exactly correct
• Newton invented the idea of gravity
• Planetary orbits are more elliptical than they
  actually are or are perfectly elliptical
• It is hotter in summer because the days are
  longer / Earth is closer to the Sun
• The only (or most important) function of
  telescopes is magnification
• Telescopes were invented by Galileo
• Black holes are like a vacuum, sucking things in
• The moon doesn't rotate
• There is a forever "dark" side of the moon
• Phases of the moon are caused by the shadow of
  the Earth on the moon
• The moon is always up or the moon rises at the
  same time every night
• (www.physics.umaine.edu)

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Planetary orbits are more elliptical than they
actually are or are perfectly elliptical

• Textbooks use perspective drawings to demonstrate
  the tilt of Earths axis. The effect is that it
  shows what appears to be a highly elliptical
  orbit.

(Image credit www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov )
The Earths orbit is elliptical rather than
circular. During the southern summer the Earth is
147 million kilometres from the Sun and during
the northern summer it is 152 million kilometres
away. These differences in distance from the Sun
are too small to have any real effect on the
seasons. (Science Aspects 1 An Outcomes
Approach 2006 p. 61)
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It is hotter in summer because the days are
longer / Earth is closer to the Sun

• The earth spins around on its north-south axis
  once every twenty-four hours. This causes day and
  night. However, because this axis is slightly
  tilted, the days are not all the same length.
  Those parts of the earth having short days are
  having winter because they are getting less
  warmth from the sun. When the days in these
  places become longer, thus getting more warmth
  from the sun, they have summer.
• (Fundamental Science. Book 2 1981, pp. 112-3)
• The different distances to the Sun caused by the
  tilting axis of the Earth is not the cause of the
  seasons. They are due to the rays of light from
  the Sun being spread over much larger areas of
  the Earths surface in winter when compared to
  summer.
• (The World of Science. Book Two 1981, p. 18)
• As shown in Figure 14.5 equal amounts of
  sunlight are spread over different areas. In this
  case the sunlight is more concentrated in the
  southern hemisphere. As well the southern
  hemisphere receives more hours of sunlight than
  the northern hemisphere each day at this time of
  year. This gives rise to summer in our part of
  the world while winter is occurring in the
  northern hemisphere.
• (Essential Science. Book 2 1987, pp. 92-3)

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It is hotter in summer because the days are
longer / Earth is closer to the Sun

• Recent textbooks (Longman Outcomes. Sci 1 2005,
  p. 179 Science Aspects 1 An Outcomes Approach
  2006, p. 61) include diagrams such as

(Image Science Aspects 1 An Outcomes Approach
2006, p. 61)
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The moon doesn't rotate / There is a forever
"dark" side of the moon

• Though only one face of the Moon is visible from
  Earth, space probes have photographed the other
  side (the dark side) noted because it refers
  to the far side of the Moon as the dark side
• (Longman Outcomes. Sci 1 2005, p. 183)
• The moon does not emit any of its own light. We
  see the moon by sunlight being reflected off its
  surface. The light section of the moon is the
  lunar day. The dark section of the moon, that is
  that part away from the sun, is the lunar night.
  It is important to realize that the side of the
  moon away from the earth is not the dark side
  of the moon. It has day and night like every
  other part of the moons surface.
• (Fundamental Science. Book 2 1981, p. 122)

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Phases of the moon are caused by the shadow of
the Earth on the moon

• Each month the moon goes through the cycle of
  light and dark shapes, familiar to everyone,
  called the phases of the moon. These are not
  caused by the earths shadow on the moon, but
  rather by the moons day time and night time.
• (Fundamental Science. Book 2 1981, p. 124
  Essential Science. Book 2 1987, p. 99 Science
  Outcomes. Book 1 2002, p. 50)

Pre-service primary teachers conceptions of moon
phases before and after instruction were studied
(Trundle et al. 2002) using interviews 61.4 did
not understand that the Moon revolves around the
Earth 93 did not know that the Sun always
illuminates half of the Moon. (SEAR 4EB080
Phases of the Moon, http//cms.curriculum.edu.au
)
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The moon is always up or the moon rises at the
same time every night
Each day as students draw in the differing
amounts of the moon that they can see, they start
to develop a series of drawings showing all the
different phases of the moon. At the end of the
29 day cycle, when they all bring their charts
and notebooks back to class, the teacher can
generate a discussion of why this moon phase
activity occurs. (http//www.moonconnection.com/m
oon_phase_activity.phtml)
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Astronomy Diagnostic Test
A diagnostic test was administered to the
Astronomy 101 class at Curtin University on
February 25, 2008...
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Astronomy Diagnostic Test

• When the Moon appears to completely cover the Sun
  (an eclipse), the Moon must be at which phase?
• Full
• At no particular phase
• First quarter
• New
• Last quarter

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Diagnostic Result

• When the Moon appears to completely cover the Sun
  (an eclipse), the Moon must be at which phase?
• Full
• At no particular phase
• First quarter
• New
• Last quarter

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Diagnostic Result

• When the Moon appears to completely cover the Sun
  (an eclipse), the Moon must be at which phase?
  Correct answer D (New)

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Astronomy Diagnostic Test

• Imagine that the Earth's orbit were changed to be
  a perfect circle about the Sun so that the
  distance to the Sun never changed. How would this
  affect the seasons?
• We would still experience seasons, but the
  difference would be much MORE noticeable.
• We would still experience seasons, but the
  difference would be much LESS noticeable.
• We would no longer experience a difference
  between the seasons
• We would continue to experience seasons in the
  same way we do now.

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Diagnostic Result

• Imagine that the Earth's orbit were changed to be
  a perfect circle about the Sun so that the
  distance to the Sun never changed. How would this
  affect the seasons?
• We would still experience seasons, but the
  difference would be much MORE noticeable.
• We would still experience seasons, but the
  difference would be much LESS noticeable.
• We would no longer experience a difference
  between the seasons
• We would continue to experience seasons in the
  same way we do now.

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Diagnostic Result

• Imagine that the Earth's orbit were changed to be
  a perfect circle about the Sun so that the
  distance to the Sun never changed. How would this
  affect the seasons? Correct answer D (same way)

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Astronomy Diagnostic Test

• If you could see stars during the day, the
  diagram below shows what the sky would look like
  at noon on a given day. The Sun is near the stars
  of the constellation Gemini. Near which
  constellation would you expect the Sun to be
  located at sunset?
• Cancer
• Taurus
• Gemini
• Leo
• Pisces

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Diagnostic Result

• If you could see stars during the day, the
  diagram below shows what the sky would look like
  at noon on a given day. The Sun is near the stars
  of the constellation Gemini. Near which
  constellation would you expect the Sun to be
  located at sunset?
• Cancer
• Taurus
• Gemini
• Leo
• Pisces

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Diagnostic Result

• If you could see stars during the day, the
  diagram below shows what the sky would look like
  at noon on a given day. The Sun is near the stars
  of the constellation Gemini. Near which
  constellation would you expect the Sun to be
  located at sunset? C (Gemini)

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Astronomy Diagnostic Test

• The diagram above shows the Earth and Sun as
  well as five different possible positions for the
  Moon. Which position of the Moon would cause it
  to appear like the picture below when viewed from
  Earth?

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Diagnostic Result

• The diagram above shows the Earth and Sun as
  well as five different possible positions for the
  Moon. Which position of the Moon would cause it
  to appear like the picture below when viewed from
  Earth?

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Diagnostic Result

• Which position of the Moon would cause it to
  appear like the picture below when viewed from
  Earth? D

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Astronomy Diagnostic Test

• You observe a full Moon rising in the east. How
  will it appear in six hours?

A.
B.
C.
D.
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Diagnostic Result

• You observe a full Moon rising in the east. How
  will it appear in six hours?

A.
B.
C.
D.
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Diagnostic Result

• You observe a full Moon rising in the east. How
  will it appear in six hours? C (Full)

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References

• Anderton, J., K. Hopley, and B. Stavert., ed.
  1987. Essential Science. Book 2. Melbourne
  Longman Cheshire Pty Ltd.
• Anderton, J., ed. 1981. Fundamental Science. Book
  2. Melbourne Longman Cheshire Pty Ltd.
• Astronomy Diagnostic Test (ADT) Southern
  Hemisphere Edition v1.01. www.physics.usyd.edu.au/
  obyrne
• Phillips, G., G. Rickard, and S. Monckton. 2005.
  Longman Outcomes. Sci 1. Melbourne Pearson
  Education Australia.
• Linstead, G., O. Goyder, G. Przywolnik, L.
  Salfinger, and T. Herbert. 2006. Science Aspects
  1 An Outcomes Approach. Melbourne Pearson
  Education Australia.
• Anderton, J., ed. 2002. Science Outcomes. Book 1.
  South Melbourne Pearson Education Australia Pty
  Ltd.
• Heffernan, D.A., and M.S. Learmonth. 1981. The
  World of Science. Book Two. Melbourne Longman
  Cheshire Pty Ltd.
• Thanks to Claire Hotan for preparing the results
  of the ADT administered in Astronomy 101 at
  Curtin University of Technology, February 25, 2008