A teaching proposal for the didactics of Special Relativity: the spacetime globe
Abstract Special Relativity introduces students to Modern Physics, whose importance in the high school is increasing. Nevertheless its teaching and learning is a critical issue. Different solutions have been developed to overcome the encountered difficulties. In this paper we describe the spacetime globe, a mechanical instrument that allows to experience Special Relativity hands-on. We show how it is possible to treat all the main phenomena foreseen by Special Relativity with simple laboratory experiences, using the idea of Minkowski’s spacetime diagrams. The aim is to develop the use of geometrical approach in learning Special Relativity in high schools.
Seeing reality through Einstein's eyes: a teaching proposal for special relativity
The teaching of Special Relativity is still a critical issue not only for students but also for teachers. In this paper, we describe the trial of a learning unit on the Special Relativity topic based on Minkowski's approach through spacetime diagrams, following the results in pedagogical researches in this field. The main innovation of our project consists of a mechanical instrument: it allows to physically and mechanically represent Lorentz’s transformations by hands, exploring the effects of a change of the reference frame. Teachers and students can deal “by eye” with unusual phenomena as the loss of simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, relativistic addition of velocities and …