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Dec 2000

Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 516-575

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Physics and astronomy together

Karl C. Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 516

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This issue of The Physics Teacher may be a first — most of the pages deal with topics in astronomy. Indeed, many of us at colleges and universities work in departments of “Physics and Astronomy” and often we see students choose physics as a major partly because of an interest in astronomy. At high schools, the physics teacher and the astronomy teacher may be one and the same.
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01.10.Fv Conferences, lectures, and institutes
01.55.+b General physics
95.10.-a Fundamental astronomy
01.40.-d Education
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On teaching symmetry

Biman Das

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 518

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
45.50.-j Dynamics and kinematics of a particle and a system of particles
03.30.+p Special relativity
11.30.-j Symmetry and conservation laws

A solar comparison

Larry Weinstein

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 518

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Abstract Unavailable
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92.60.Vb Radiative processes, solar radiation
92.60.hv Pressure, density, and temperature

Science education reform

Leon M. Lederman

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 518

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.75.+m Science and society
01.40.J- Teacher training
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Correction: “Electric field of a two-charge dipole” [Phys. Teach. 38(7) 430 (2000)]

Robert Weinstock

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 519

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Reader's attention is called to a misprinting in Robert Weinstock's note “Electric field of a two-charge dipole” in the October 2000 issue of The Physics Teacher (p. 430).
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41.20.Cv Electrostatics; Poisson and Laplace equations, boundary-value problems
99.10.Cd Errata

Editor’s note

Karl C. Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 519

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Abstract Unavailable
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78.20.hb Piezo-optical, elasto-optical, acousto-optical, and photoelastic effects
01.20.+x Communication forms and techniques (written, oral, electronic, etc.)
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Astronomy

Andrew Graham

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 520

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.20.+x Communication forms and techniques (written, oral, electronic, etc.)
95.45.+i Observatories and site testing
95.55.-n Astronomical and space-research instrumentation
97.60.-s Late stages of stellar evolution (including black holes)
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On the nature of moonquakes

Janelle M. Bailey

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 522 | Cited 1 time

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Seismometers left on the Moon by Apollo 12, 14, 15, and 16 astronauts showed that the Moon undergoes three main types of seismic activity, or moonquakes. Data collected from these instruments also allowed geologists to map the interior of the Moon. Like the Earth, the Moon has three layers (crust, mantle, and core); however, the relative size and composition of the layers are different from Earth. Furthermore, the Apollo seismology packages allowed scientists to study natural and man-made impacts and their effect on lunar seismic activity.
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96.20.Dt Features, landmarks, mineralogy, and petrology
96.12.Pc Interiors
96.12.Xy Tectonics, volcanism
96.30.Za Meteors, meteorites and tektites
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Gravitational lens

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 524

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Abstract Unavailable
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04.80.Cc Experimental tests of gravitational theories
01.40.E- Science in school
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Seeing the Moon

Karen Bouffard

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 526

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The object of this challenge, which is “do-ahead” or onsite, is to construct a telescope that produces the clearest and largest image of the Moon using a variety of lenses.
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95.55.Cs Ground-based ultraviolet, optical and infrared telescopes
96.20.Dt Features, landmarks, mineralogy, and petrology
42.30.Va Image forming and processing
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Estimating the distance to the horizon

Thulsi Wickramasinghe

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 528 | Cited 1 time

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A simple formula has been derived in order to obtain the distance to the horizon. If the height measured in feet of the observer is h, then the distance in miles to the horizon is shown to be the square root of 3h∕2.
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95.10.Jk Astrometry and reference systems
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Modern astronomy labs and the new digital sky

Joseph T. Pollock

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 530 | Cited 1 time

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My colleagues in the other physical and biological sciences often comment on how “easy” it is to draw students into our introductory astronomy courses. There seems to be a universal, so to speak, appeal for the subject. We astronomers have it made, right? Well, not in the introductory laboratories. We face a real dilemma as to how to provide our students with an “experimental” experience, equivalent to that in the other sciences, where they obtain their own data, analyze it, and learn something about the natural phenomenon they are studying. The complications are significant.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
97.10.Vm Distances, parallaxes
97.10.Wn Proper motions and radial velocities (line-of-sight velocities); space motions

How big is a planet?

Gordon McIntosh

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 534

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A calculation is presented to estimate the lower limit for the radius of a spherical body. This limit is one of the criteria generally suggested to determine whether or not a body in the solar system should be considered a planet.
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96.30.-t Solar system objects
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A desktop universe for the introductory astronomy laboratory

Laurence A. Marschall, Glenn A. Snyder, and P. Richard Cooper

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 536 | Cited 1 time

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Project CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiences In Astronomy) has developed nine computer-based laboratory exercises for introductory astronomy classes. The exercises, which make use of real data from professional observatories, enable students to get a sense of the methods astrophysicists use to learn about the distant objects in the universe.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.50.Lc Laboratory computer use
95.10.-a Fundamental astronomy
98.80.-k Cosmology

K-12 astronomy benchmarks from Project 2061

Timothy F. Slater

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 538 | Cited 3 times

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National standards. Curriculum frameworks. Literacy benchmarks. Learning targets. Whatever they are called in your region or discipline, the idea that a consensus on the outcomes of teaching and learning can be articulated and measured has had profound and far-reaching effects. Project 2061 is the concerted effort of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to reform K-12 education in natural and social science, mathematics, and technology.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
95.10.-a Fundamental astronomy
95.55.-n Astronomical and space-research instrumentation

Teaching astronomy through the news media

Harry Shipman

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 541 | Cited 1 time

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Why are big science ideas like the big-bang theory accepted as true? Science demands that evidence be used to support its claims; however, as we sometimes seek to cram more and more content into our courses, we often forget that teaching scientific habits of mind is as important as teaching the subject. In this column, I describe an effective teaching technique that uses news media stories to help students see the importance of evidence.
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97.20.Vs Low luminosity stars, subdwarfs, and brown dwarfs
98.80.-k Cosmology
01.10.Cr Announcements, news, and awards
01.40.Fk Research in physics education

A method to help students overcome astronomy misconceptions

Neil F. Comins

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 542 | Cited 2 times

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Students come into astronomy courses or courses with astronomy content believing a significant number of incorrect ideas about the cosmos. Without our addressing these beliefs, it is extremely difficult for students to permanently replace them with accurate information. In this paper I report on the impact of forcing students to address on paper their prior beliefs by asking misconception-based questions in class. I give the correct answers during the next class. I find that students go through a series of feelings about this process. These often end in their own discovery of the importance of thinking about what they believe and their enthusiastic anticipation of the correct answer.
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95.10.-a Fundamental astronomy
96.30.-t Solar system objects
97.10.-q Stellar characteristics and properties
01.40.Fk Research in physics education
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Seeing far: Building an observational astronomy program

Daniel B. Caton

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 544

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Look to the stars to find a field of expansion for your physics department! I believe that it is both farsighted and practical — even for physics departments with limited offerings — to find opportunities for richer instruction and research experience for astronomy students. Such expansion can add life to a department and expand enrollment numbers. I present here an outline of the methods we used and resources we found to help us on our way to a program that generates excitement among the students and brings satisfaction and some pride to both faculty and administration.
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95.10.-a Fundamental astronomy
01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
95.45.+i Observatories and site testing
95.55.-n Astronomical and space-research instrumentation

“Hot Topics” in astrophysics

Stephen P. Maran

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 550 | Cited 1 time

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Three current topics in astrophysics are described on the occasion of the joint meeting of the AAPT and the American Astronomical Society (Jan. 7-11, 2001) in San Diego, CA. They are the habitability of Mars (evidence for ancient and contemporary water and indications of current volcanism); black holes and their intimate relationship with galaxy bulges, including their involvement in the x-ray background; and the nature and origin of gamma-ray bursts.
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96.30.Gc Mars
97.60.Lf Black holes
98.70.Rz γ-ray sources; γ-ray bursts
95.55.-n Astronomical and space-research instrumentation
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An interdisciplinary approach to stargazing

Blane Baker and Dan Heruth

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 555 | Cited 1 time

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Student queries often provide the impetus for investigating simply stated, yet intriguing, scientific questions. Such is the case for one asked recently in an introductory astronomy course: Can we really see a sixth-magnitude star with the unaided eye?
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97.10.Ri Luminosities; magnitudes; effective temperatures, colors, and spectral classification
92.60.Vb Radiative processes, solar radiation
42.66.Si Psychophysics of vision, visual perception; binocular vision

Infrared radiation: Herschel revisited

Erin E. Pursell and Richard Kozlowski

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 559 | Cited 1 time

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The year 2000 marks the 200th anniversary of Herschel’s discovery of infrared radiation. Using a car light in place of the Sun and a liquid crystal sheet instead of thermometers, the experiment is an effective classroom demonstration of invisible light.
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42.72.Ai Infrared sources
61.80.Ba Ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation effects (including laser radiation)
42.70.Df Liquid crystals
07.20.Dt Thermometers

Video spectroscopy—Emission, absorption, and flash

Donald F. Collins

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 561 | Cited 1 time

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Mounting a high-efficiency holographic diffraction grating directly in front of the lens of a color video camera permits whole-class observation of various types of spectra: emission lines from atomic discharge lamps; Fraunhofer absorption lines of sunlight; and transient events such as the brief flash emission spectrum from the solar chromosphere during the onset of a total solar eclipse.
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96.60.Tf Solar electromagnetic emission
42.25.Fx Diffraction and scattering
42.79.Dj Gratings
07.60.Rd Visible and ultraviolet spectrometers
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Quo Vadis astronomy (and physics!) education research?

Michael Zeilik

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 563

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In the preface of Feynman’s Lectures on Physics, he confesses that “I don’t think I did very well by my students. When I look at the way the majority of students handled the problems on the examinations, I think the system is a failure.” I was flabbergasted when I reread that admission recently, because I had felt the same pessimism about my introductory astronomy classes. I suspect that many readers have explored that frustrated bleakness, too.
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01.40.Fk Research in physics education
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Broken symmetry

Martin Gardner

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 564

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Here is a dramatic way to model broken symmetry, a key concept in modern cosmology.
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01.50.-i Educational aids
98.80.Cq Particle-theory and field-theory models of the early Universe (including cosmic pancakes, cosmic strings, chaotic phenomena, inflationary universe, etc.)
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Teaching evolutionary processes to skeptical students

Matthew Bobrowsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 565 | Cited 5 times

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This article draws on current information from scientific and educational sources to provide an extremely useful summary of problems and solutions when teaching about evolutionary processes in physics and astronomy. The article addresses the process of science as described in position statements from professional organizations and actual experiences of instructors in the classroom as described at an AAS panel discussion.
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98.80.-k Cosmology
97.10.Bt Star formation
93.85.-q Instruments and techniques for geophysical research: Exploration geophysics
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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An analemma experiment

Dan M. Davis

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 570

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I describe here a very simple experiment that allows a science class to measure the latitude of their school, determine the inclination of the Earth’s axis to the ecliptic, and demonstrate the noncircularity of our orbit around the Sun. The only tools needed are: something tall and pointed (a flagpole will do), paint and a paint brush, a tape measure, a watch, and an accurate way of finding the time (such as a radio).
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95.10.Ce Celestial mechanics (including n-body problems)
92.60.Ry Climatology, climate change and variability

Aristarchus at your service

Samuel Derman

The Physics Teacher -- December 2000 -- Volume 38, Issue 9, pp. 574

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How to maintain student interest in class? Keep a collection of interesting diversionary topics on hand. One such topic: the surprising astronomical discoveries made more than 2000 years ago by the Greek mathematician, Artistarchus.
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96.12.Fe Gravitational fields
96.20.Dt Features, landmarks, mineralogy, and petrology
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