A pair of masses or opposite-sign charges released from rest will move directly toward each other under the action of the inverse-distance-squared force of attraction between them. An exact expression for the separation distance as a function of time can only be found by numerically inverting the solution of a differential equation. A simpler,…

The present study investigated the relationship between gender roles and night-sky watching in a sample of college students (N=161). The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Noctcaelador Inventory (NI) were used to investigate the differences between gender role groups for night-sky watching. The results supported the hypothesis that androgynous…

This is the final paper in a five-paper series describing our national study of the teaching and learning of cosmology in general education astronomy college-level courses. A significant portion of this work was dedicated to the development of five new "Lecture-Tutorials" that focus on addressing the conceptual and reasoning difficulties that our…

Science teachers need an adequate understanding of nature of science (NOS) and the ability to embed NOS in their teaching. This collective case study aims to explore in-service science teachers' conceptions of NOS and the embeddedness of NOS in their teaching about astronomy and space. Three science teachers participated in this study. All…

Science Night--everybody wants one, but how does a teacher make it happen? To promote connections between schools, families, and communities, the authors organized a unique learning opportunity by combining three community partners' efforts and strengths. The school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) coordinated and sponsored a science night for…

This paper examines the knowledge construction processes involved when grades 7 and 8 South African students learnt about the concept of gravity while visiting an astronomy-related science centre. The literature on students' understanding of gravity identifies a number of alternative conceptions prevalent, several of which are mirrored in this…

This article outlines a range of engaging outdoor daytime activities to enhance astronomical understanding and our place in the universe. They are practical activities with "soul" which engender environmental and social responsibility on a local (yet planetary) scale. They link astronomical and global considerations with a notion of…

Participants with personal and without personal experiences with the Earth as a sphere estimated large-scale distances between six cities located on different continents. Cognitive distances were submitted to a specific multidimensional scaling algorithm in the 3D Euclidean space with the constraint that all cities had to lie on the same sphere. A…

The importance of using proportional scaled models in teaching about eclipses to elementary- and middle-level students is presented in this article. The authors illustrate how using creative models to display the basic concepts of shadows, scale, and perspective can foster a deeper understanding of how eclipses occur. Three innovative,…

Several years ago a student asked why so many things in the solar system were round. He noted that many objects in the solar system, although not all, are round. The standard answer, which he knew, is that the mutual gravitational attraction of the molecules pulls them into the shape that gets them as close to each other as possible: a sphere.…

When teaching Moon phases, the focus seems to be on the sequence of Moon phases and, in some grade levels, how Moon phases occur. Either focus can sometimes be a challenge, especially without the use of models and observations of the Moon. In this month's column, the author describes some of the lessons that he uses to teach the phases of the Moon…

Solar system exploration in November includes flybys of Saturn's moons, a comet, and the next-to-last launch of a space shuttle before the shuttle program ends. In addition, on November 1 and 29 before sunrise, the waning crescent Moon will be close to asteroid 3 Juno. In fact, by observing the Moon and using some of the stars in the background…

Considering our atmosphere as a steady viscous gaseous envelope that co-rotates with the Earth, we obtain a solution for the form in which this induced rotational effect decreases as a function of the distances to the centre of the Earth and to the rotation axis. (Contains 1 figure.)

As an astronomy instructor I am always looking for commonly experienced Earthly phenomena to help my students and me understand and appreciate similar occurrences elsewhere in the solar system. Recently I wrote short "TPT" articles on frost and precipitation. The present article is on winds in the solar system. A windy day or storm might…

This study reports on a content course for science immersion teacher candidates that emphasized authentic practice of science and thinking scientifically in the context of introductory astrophysics. We explore how 122 science teacher candidates spanning three cohorts did and did not reason scientifically and how this evolved in our program. Our…