If you were a Science Teacher....

If you were a Science Teacher.... (Full Version)

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popeye1250 -> If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:02:58 AM)
...how would you try to explain to a class just how big in human terms that the Universe is? I mean as good as you could and trying to put it on a scale that humans could understand.

LuckyAlbatross -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:04:35 AM)
Make them watch the last 5 minutes of Men in Black. Really that's as close as I think I could get them to understand without forcing some huge personal epiphany.

Arpig -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:16:05 AM)
You got me there Popeye, I have a hard time really wrapping my head around just how vast it really is, so i would have a hard time explaining it to a class.

uwinceismile -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:18:42 AM)
hmmmm, next time they are at the beach... grab a handful of sand,,,,then turn thier hand over spilling it all,,,then dust thier hands til there is just a few grains left....... that grain stuck to thier thumb is earth......... the rest of our earth ,,and the sky,,and the stars,,,are the universe in comparison. hell, i dunno,,sounded good in my head :(

LeMis -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:30:11 AM)
I got an e-mail today (yesterday) that this post reminded me of... it basically compared the smaller planets in our solar system to Earth, then it compared Earth to the larger planets in our solar system, then it compared Earth & the largest planet to the sun, etc.... etc..... I think you get the visual now... (I already deleted the e-mail) I thought it was pretty neat (but then I work with little kids anyways), lol.

seeksfemslave -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 12:40:19 AM)
You couldn't, cos' nobody knows.

Lordandmaster -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 1:35:47 AM)
It doesn't really matter, because before long we're just going to have faith-based education anyway.

seeksfemslave -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 2:01:25 AM)
A lot of fundamnetal science veers very close to being faith based . Darwinism is a perfect example. No hard evidence and many committed believers. lol On the Galapogos Darwin did not discover one new species. Dont shout at me its true !

Aileen68 -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 3:39:23 AM)
It's really really really really really really big.

farglebargle -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 4:55:51 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: seeksfemslave A lot of fundamnetal science veers very close to being faith based . Darwinism is a perfect example. No hard evidence and many committed believers. lol On the Galapogos Darwin did not discover one new species. Dont shout at me its true ! When you say "Darwinism" what do you mean? It could refer to Darwin's proposed mechanism of natural selection, in comparison to more recent theories such as genetic drift and gene flow. It may also refer specifically to the role of Charles Darwin as opposed to others in the history of evolutionary thought — particularly contrasting Darwin's results with those of earlier theories such as Lamarckism or later ones such as the modern synthesis. Dodd, D.M.B. (1989) "Reproductive isolation as a consequence of adaptive divergence in Drosophila pseudoobscura." Evolution 43:1308–1311 is a pretty clear example of Allopatric speciation by geographical isolation. Read the paper, you can do it too!

KatyLied -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 6:15:45 AM)
I guess I would watch Cosmos and pick out the pertinent parts. I always thought that Carl Sagan did a good job of explaining our (insignificant) place in the (huge) universe.

KatyLied -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 6:18:04 AM)
http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/universe/itsawesome/cosmiccalendar/page2.html

mnottertail -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 6:24:35 AM)
Borrow an old style flash bulb.....@@@@@@ Light is instantaneous---well that is not quite correct, it has a limiting speed of 182---yadda yadda yadda----------see that star right there? the light you are seeing started out 10,000 years ago, thats right----and that is a close star........see this galaxy here? there is earth, kinda somewhere in there----we know of 12 galaxies----yadda yadda yadda and are pretty sure there are countless others---yadda yadda yadda but it would take you yadda to transverse ours alone end to end at the speed of light, flash-------@@@@@@@@@@@ and another blah blah blah to get to the next ones edge......and so on

lighthearted -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 7:13:16 AM)
to infinity...and beyond. [:D]

Stephann -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 7:15:32 AM)
The trouble with space, is that very large numbers really don't mean anything to us. Consider the distance from the sun - 93.2 million miles. Consider there are 63,360 inches in a mile. Consider a dollar bill is 6.14 inches long. The US National Debt means we could stack dollar bills, end to end, and make four and a half round trips to the Sun. Or, end to end, they could easily outshoot Saturn. Perhaps our debt will enable us to reach Alpha Centauri before shuttle propulsion can? ;) Seriously, if you pointed to a blade of grass in the school yard and say it's the sun, than a blade of grass a foot a way, and call it Pluto, than a blade of grass in China would be like Alpha Centauri. Stephan

Raechard -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 7:36:28 AM)
The universe is 1m sq x A. In terms of volume. I thought we all knew this already?

farglebargle -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 8:03:22 AM)
Grab a copy of Celestia, http://www.shatters.net/celestia/download.html and start it... It's begin in Earth orbit. Use the Solar System browser to select Mars. the C key will center mars in the view. The A and Z keys control thrust. Converting 75 MPH to km/sec, what's that? .034 km/s ? Have a nice trip to mars. Notice how even at 1c it takes a while to get there? Select a nearby star. Repeat experiment.

Raechard -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 8:08:52 AM)
Your experiment assumes that earth is at the centre of the universe and we all know this isn't the case right?

farglebargle -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 8:10:11 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Raechard Your experiment assumes that earth is at the centre of the universe and we all know this isn't the case right? How do you get from "The program positions you in Earth Orbit" to "Earth is the center of the universe? "

Raechard -> RE: If you were a Science Teacher.... (7/8/2007 8:13:21 AM)
I have to confess I didn't read your research paper through fully my humble apologies.

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