The ancient Eratosthenes experiment concerning the earth's circumference offers the opportunity of an inquiry-based revival in today's science classrooms: A multinational European science education initiative (acronym: OSR) introduced this experiment as a hands-on basis to extract the required variables and to exchange results with classroom peers…

Augmented reality is defined as a technology in which real world and virtual objects are combined with a simultaneous interaction. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of augmented reality use on students' achievement, misconception and course engagement. A (matched) quasi-experimental research design with both pretest and posttest…

The purpose of this study is to understand in an exploratory way pupils' perception of science and the image of scientists at primary and secondary school levels. Data was collected by means of a survey questionnaire and a drawing representing pupils' depiction what scientists do during their working hours. A questionnaire anchored on a Likert…

The purpose of this study is to determine the mental models of elementary school students on seasons and to analyze how these models change in terms of grade levels. The study was conducted with 294 students (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders) studying in an elementary school of Turkey's Black Sea Region. Qualitative and quantitative data collection…

Supporting elementary student understandings of ideas related to Earth's Place in the Universe (ESS1) can be challenging, especially given the large time and distance scales involved with many of the concepts. However, with effective use of crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices, important concepts within this content domain…

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice science teachers' conceptual understanding of astronomy concepts. Qualitative research methods were used. The sample consists of 118 preservice science teachers (40 freshmen, 31 sophomores, and 47 juniors). The data were collected with Astronomy Conceptual Questionnaire (ACQ) that includes 13…

Internet has become one of the most important information sources for students' personal and academic life. In addition, the World Wide Web is receiving increased attention in education because of its potential to support new forms of learning. However, using the information from the net for learning requires the development of a set of abilities…

On September 21, 2012, two astronomers using a telescope in the International Scientific Observing Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia, discovered a comet that came to be formally known as C/2012 S1 and was popularly called Comet ISON. Just a year later, two honors instructors in Wichita, Kansas, found themselves teaching a course on Comet ISON…

In this paper, primary school students' and pre-service teachers' ideas of seasonal change are investigated. The research was carried out in nine primary schools in Athens and in the Primary Education Department of the University of Athens. Written reports were used for gathering data while students also had the opportunity to support their…

This article begins with an exploration of the origins of the Gregorian Calendar. Next it describes the function of school inspector Christian Zeller (1822-1899) used to determine the number of the elapsed days of a year up to and including a specified date and how Zeller's function can be used to determine the number of days that have elapsed in…

As our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon is a familiar and inspiring object to investigate using a small telescope, binoculars, or even photographs or one of the many high quality maps available online. The wondrously varied surface of the Moon--filled with craters, mountains, volcanic flows, scarps, and rilles--makes the Moon an excellent…

Planisphere is a simple and useful tool in locating constellations of the night sky at a specific time, date and geographic location. However it does not show the planet positions because planets are not fixed on the celestial sphere. It is known that the planet orbital planes are nearly coplanar and close to the ecliptic plane. By making…

From Rio to Rio with Kyoto, Copenhagen and Durban in between, the conclusion remains the same: we fundamentally disagree on realities of this planet and the ways we can address them. A decisive breakthrough would necessitate both wider contexts and a larger participatory base so as to identify problems, formulate policies, and broaden and…

In most of our undergraduate physics courses, we study what can happen in space, but space itself plays a passive role. In basic cosmology, the opposite is true. It is the behavior of space that plays the major role. In this, paper #2, we first discuss the nature of a simple expanding space, and then look at the consequence of applying…

Visualizing the three-dimensional distribution of stars within a constellation is highly challenging for both students and educators, but when carried out in an interactive collaborative way, it can create an ideal environment to explore common misconceptions about size and scale within astronomy. We present how the common tabletop activities…