How the Misconception is Formed

Many students, even through college, and adults, hold some misconceptions regarding the change of the seasons.  Probably the most common misconception regarding the change of the seasons is that the earth gets further away from the sun during winter and closer to the sun during the summer.  There are many factors that contribute to this.  One reason this misconception is so prevalent is that it is the most logical explanation without scientific examination.  Many students will combine their own experiences with logic and poor scientific understanding and naturally come to the conclusion that the earth gets closer and further away from the sun as the seasons change. (See misconceptions link, above, in the video, A Private Universe.)

When students come into a classroom with this misunderstanding of the earth's change in seasons, they interpret what they are taught about the change in seasons through this skewed understanding.  Students are given pictorial representations of the earth's rotation and revolution around the sun in their science books, which only end up reinforcing their misconceptions.  It's not that the drawings are wrong; it's that students are not given a more concrete representation of the earth's movement around the sun (Click on the overhead view to see the path of the earth around the sun.)  It takes a more concrete physical representation to overturn the misconceptions that students already have.  This does not happen in most classrooms, which is why the misconception about the change of the seasons continues with students even after they have been told the scientific truth about the movement of the earth.

References:

• This website, found at learner.org, provides access to the Annenberg video, A Private Universe. 
• This website ,from kidport.com, shows a faulty (incomplete) model of the earth's orbit around the sun. 
• This website, from classzone.com, shows the correct (complete) model of the earth's orbit around the sun. (Be sure to click on the overhead view, or one will miss the whole picture.)

Developers of this page:

Current group members (first names only): Jason (Spring '09)

All editors and writers (first names only): Amanda, Shelley, Loree and Jason (Spring '09)

All editors and writers (first names only): David, Rachel, and Jason (Spring '08)

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