Dear Astrolrner Readers, My dissertation work is on non-science majors' understanding of the nature of light and spectroscopy within the context of ...
I'm looking for examples of logical fallacies in scientific (or pseudoscientific, as the case may be) writing, preferably related to astronomy. I want to...
I think a classic example would be the argument that aliens must exist (and be probing me) because you can't prove they don't exist (Argument from Ignorance) ...
The Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education 2006 (TLRBSE) Program at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory is Accepting Applications Now! Ever...
Stephen Downes' site may be of some help (http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/toc.php). He has several examples, not all scientific, but still a great...
I am interested in learning (and teaching) an explanation for why the Earth experiences a tidal bulge on the side farthest from the Moon. I have read many...
Sarah Wigodsky
Sarah_Wigodsky@...
Sep 21, 2005 4:43 pm
1068
Hi sarah I have some great slides that you can use too explain the bulge on the far side. In fact there's a great animation with the Freedman and Kaufmann ...
the Earth and Moon are revolving aroud a common center of mass. Centrifugal force throws the water out....
Dennis Erickson
derickson@...
Sep 21, 2005 5:03 pm
1070
... Just regarding the tides themselves, it doesn't matter that the Earth and the Moon orbit a common center of mass-- but it is true that they do that. The...
Robert A. Knop Jr.
robert.a.knop@...
Sep 21, 2005 5:42 pm
1071
... Except there is no such thing as a "centrifugal force".(*) Tides would exist REGARDLESS of whether the moon rotated around the earth or just stood still....
The way I understand this explanation is that since the Earth is a rigid object, the gravitational attraction between the Earth and Moon acts on the...
Ok-- The water wants to go in a straight line(inertia) & the earth goes around the CG....
Dennis Erickson
derickson@...
Sep 21, 2005 6:41 pm
1074
... BOTH the water and the earth want to go in a straight line. If you want to state that the Earth, as a solid has less ability to flow, that's one thing,...
... Not really -- everything wants to go in a straight line, but the force of gravity moves it. Unless you are talking GR, in which case everything follows a...
Robert A. Knop Jr.
robert.a.knop@...
Sep 21, 2005 8:19 pm
1076
All of this discussion about the cause of tides has made me ponder why we're trying to teach this to our students if we, as the instructors, can't even agree...
... I just checked four "Physics for Engineers and Scientists" books I have on my shelves. Two of them don't even have an entry for tides in the index, the...
... I believe properly informed instructors can agree on the cause The fact that some instructors have difficulty with a difficult to visualize subject doesn't...
Tidal force, in general, refers to the difference in gravitational force on two different parts of a body. My favorite explanation of tides comes from Ed...
... Because they ask.... Tides are connected with the moon, and when we talk about phases of the moon, sometimes kids will ask why there are high tides at...
Robert A. Knop Jr.
robert.a.knop@...
Sep 21, 2005 9:20 pm
1082
If you read the section on tides in Phil's Plait's Bad Astronomy, he goes over various explanations of tides and the difficulty with them Liam McDaid Astronomy...
I can understand the desire to be able to answer a question when asked, but this is different than making the choice to teach. We have very limited time...
I Like Aaron's explanation best For those of you that get free textbooks - check out the piccie and animation in Freedman and Kaufmann (Universe) - which...
I'm with Gina -- but for a slightly different reason. My students in the midwest have little experience with tides (aside from pseudoscientific fishing tables...
Dave Bruning
david.bruning@...
Sep 21, 2005 9:42 pm
1086
I'm not sure that a "proper understanding" of how tides work is necessary to understand that tides can disrupt or synchronize orbiting objects. If students...
I think this brings up a much broader question, and I'd like to hear more about it: To what extent should we teach the topics our students expect and hope...
Joann Eisberg
joann.eisberg@...
Sep 21, 2005 9:49 pm
1088
Hi All, Today's discussion has been so interesting! Thanks to all who have weighed in on tides. Just as a reminder (from your humble moderator), for those of...
Tides impact more than the Earth. As has been expressed already, we need tides to explain synchronous orbits. Since the moon is by far the most easily observe...
Okay, I'll weigh in here as well. This thread has taken a couple of different tacks, and I'd like to address some of both of them. First, about tides. Most of...
... Education is about two basic elements -- training students to do certain tasks (such as learning to spell words properly, or learning how to solve an...
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