Students' understanding of gravity using the rubber sheet analogy: an Italian experience

Abstract

General Relativity (GR) represents the most recent theory of gravity, on which all modern astrophysics is based, including some of the most astonishing results of physics research. Nevertheless, its study is limited to university courses, while being ignored at high school level. To introduce GR in high school one of the approaches that can be used is the so-called rubber sheet analogy, i.e. comparing the space-time to a rubber sheet which deforms under a weight. In this paper we analyze the efficacy of an activity for high school students held at the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Roma Tre University that adopts the rubber sheet analogy to address several topics related to gravity. We present the results of the questionnaires we administered to investigate the understanding of the topics treated to over 150 Italian high school students who participated in this activity.