t174. identifying and addressing k-16 student misconceptions in the earth-science classroom national...
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T174. Identifying and Addressing K-16 Student Misconceptions in the Earth-Science ClassroomNational Association of Geoscience Teachers
Laura A. Guertin, Tanya Furman, Jason Petula, Scott McDonald K-16 student misconceptions range from factual and conceptual misunderstandings of content to the nature/process of scientific knowledge to what scientists are like. We seek presentations that highlight
research and share classroom/laboratory activities addressing these misconceptions.
ChaosTheory
Studies why and how the behavior of simple systems—simple algorithms—becomes more
complex and unpredictable as the energy/information the system dissipates
increases.Logistic system: Xnext = rX (1-X)
Logistic Systemevolves to equilibrium
Logistic Systemevolves to complexity
+ -
. . . studies how systems with many “agents” that are already at high
energy/information dissipation interact and behave.
ChaosTheory
Complex systems modeling is a Complex systems modeling is a fundamental philosophical shift fundamental philosophical shift
from the mathematical from the mathematical assumptions of classical assumptions of classical
physics/chemistry. physics/chemistry.
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
IF the classical principle that systems evolve to greater disorder and lower energy states (the 2nd Law) is right, . . .
. . . then we should be living in a chaotic and disorganized world
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
“The old idea of stable, slowly evolving climate was so widespread through the twentieth century – and died such a slow death – because it seemed to make the most sense. Abrupt change, in contrast, is so counterintuitive and so elusive that it is like a concert being played at a pitch beyond the range of human hearing.”
http://www.ps3za.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=82877
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
http://www.ps3za.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=82877
http://www.climate.org/topics/extreme-weather/index.html
Climate Institute: Extreme Weather
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
Natural Disasters—Forecasting Economic and Life LossesDr. Christopher Barton and Dr. Stuart Nishenko, U.S. Geological
Survey
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
Note that the number of large extinctions are very infrequent. The largest, the Permian, is the only one of its size. Smaller extinctions— <10 %—on the other hand, occurred in over 50 separate geological stages.
0 20 40 60 80 100Percent Extinction
Num
ber
of G
eolo
gic
Stag
es0
10
20
30
40
50 Extinction Intensity ForPhanerozoic Genera
In 106 Time Intervals (stages)
Devon
ian
K-T an
d Tr
iassic
Ord
ovici
an
Perm
ian
Are mass extinctions differentfrom background?
At high energy levels behavior becomes so complex it can appear random, the system has almost infinite behavior.The behavior is in fact not random, but it takes special mathematical lenses to see the patterns.
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
Values of r
Va
lue
s o
f X
EquilibriumTheory
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
http://brain.cc.kogakuin.ac.jp/~kanamaru/Chaos/e/Animation/lorenz.html
The more energy/information a system dissipates:
Forrest and Haff, 1992, Mechanics of Wind Ripple Stratigraphy
An agent based model