Experience gravity in the classroom using the rubber sheet: an educational proposal from the collaboration between university and school

Abstract

Teaching modern physics in high school is of increasingly importance as it can offer students a more realistic and updated vision of the world, and can provide an opportunity to understand the most recent scientific discoveries. In this context, general relativity (GR) occupies a prominent place, since it is related to astonishing scientific results, such as the first image of a black hole or the discovery of gravitational waves. In this paper we describe an educational proposal aimed at teaching GR in high schools in a fun and playful way using the so-called rubber sheet analogy. We present a set of instructions to build a simple and low-cost space-time simulator, and a series of related educational cards that guide the teacher in the implementation of the activities step by step. This work is the result of a long and productive debate among Italian high school teachers who have collaborated for many years with the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Roma Tre University in Rome. As our proposal relies on the collaboration with the final users, we believe that it will meet their needs and expectations, and it will help to treat GR in high school more and more over time.

Einsteinian gravitational concepts throughout secondary school

“…Only 1.8% of participants specified that gravity was the cause of spacetime curvature pre-intervention, increasing to only 8.9% postintervention. Similar studies [26] also struggled to fully influence descriptions of gravity using the spacetime simulator. However looking at table 6 which shows the breakdown of Q3 by year group, reveals that responses related to spacetime curvature increased notably in years 10 (up 17.52%), 12 (up 20.24%), and 13 (up 35.35%).…”

“…A common analogy for the curvature of spacetime uses a sheet of stretchy, elastic material such as Lycra, and some different massed objects. This particular analogy is commonly referred to as 'the spacetime simulator' [25] and has proven to be effective at dispelling misconceptions around gravity [26].…”

School visits to a physics research laboratory using virtual reality

“…Experiencing some time in a research centre can indeed not only improve students' knowledge of physics, but also lead to a clearer idea of what research in physics is about and eventually motivate some of them to consider a science profession [3]. Therefore, these visits should become part of a scientific school curriculum, along with hands-on and practical activities [4][5][6][7][8].…”

Making an IMPRESSion: mapping out future directions in modern physics education

“…Today, teachers and educators embrace opportunities to teach modern physics topics in schools: they can choose from a growing number of learning resources, lesson plans, and professional development programmes (e.g. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]). These resources and programmes are often developed by education and public outreach teams of large-scale physics collaborations or institutes that connect cutting-edge physics with curriculum content.…”