We were asked in class to model the relationship between the Earth and the Moon. I drew my earth about 20x larger than my moon, but did not account for the distance between them. After Dr. Klett checked all of our drawings he drew it on the board, and the actual earth is about 5x larger than the moon, but the distance between them is very far, about 230,000 miles. Next time I will know to account for both relationships, size difference and distance, when asked to model something.
We started watching a video called "A Private Universe" and it was about different misconceptions with the earth, our moon, and the sun. Dr. Klett asked us the questions during the film and below these are my responses.
We were asked what are the reasons for the seasons. I believe there are seasons because of the different ways we face and rotate around the sun. This is why the seasons are opposite on the south side of the equator. In the video college graduates were interviewed and they all believed, just like a lot of other people, that the reason for the seasons has to do how close and far the earth is from the sun, which is completely wrong. Our distance from the sun never changes as we go around it. The earth is tilted, which means the earth is hit with direct and indirect lights.
The reason there are different phases of the moon has to do with its positioning with the earth and the sun. As the moon makes its way around the earth we see different parts lit up based on where the sun is. People understand that, but it is hard for people to know what the different phases are and where exactly they are.
It was very interesting to see all the misconceptions for students and how different people learn these things, from a teacher or on their own.
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