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Mercury, May/June 2006 Table of Contents

Photo courtesy of E. Jackson and L. Rand

by Eric Jackson and Larry Rand

"Stars and dinosaurs fascinate children," said Michael Bennett, Executive Director of the ASP. Stars have more future than departed dinosaurs, but how to capitalize on stars’ allure to children is an astronomy educator’s challenge. There is such a universe of astronomical information, paraphernalia, and pictures available through the various media, shops, and astronomical facilities that a person can enter as an astronomy enthusiast at any level they choose. Yet with such resources available, there is still a poor understanding of the basics of astronomy among members of the public—even among the teachers in our schools.

What, then, can be done about this?

Through years of teaching children, we know that many of their explanations for observed daily and seasonal celestial changes are intuitive. Children have explanations that they have constructed for themselves from their own observations, from answers given by adults, and from information from their peers and other sources. Many of their constructions are incorrect and grow into strongly held misconceptions. Indeed, these ideas—even though they may be largely misconceived—are the "default settings" to which children will return even after being given more acceptable and correct information. The reason for this is that these "settings" are not peculiar to the children but are embedded in the larger population.

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