Recent content by Jamie Kern

  1. J

    NASA NASA announces discovery of first Earth sized planets in the universe

    I stand corrected! Earth is the coolest in both senses. :) I know one person already talked about this a bit, but I would like to mention that this is exactly the sort of attitude toward science that bothers me. We can't get to the stars either, or other galaxies, so why are we studying...
  2. J

    How to react when students doubt the validity of scientific theories

    I agree! I unfortunately feel that I fouled up that opportunity. There was a failure on my part to steer the conversation logically. I am hoping that I do better next time, and that your responses can help me to do that! Again agreed. I have been teaching at this college for four years...
  3. J

    NASA NASA announces discovery of first Earth sized planets in the universe

    Earth is the only relatively cool one of the four, unfortunately. Cool in the sense of temperature, not in the sense of, "yeah, cool, man!" :) I'm very excited about this - not because I didn't think these worlds were out there, but that now we've seen that Kepler has the capability to...
  4. J

    Why is Venus's atmosphere so hot?

    Or not listening to their professors when they have already explained the part you think is missing. The Sun's light, much of which does indeed penetrate the Earth's atmosphere without being absorbed, strikes the Earth's surface itself. Some of it is absorbed and re-emitted as infrared...
  5. J

    Stargazing Expert Astrophotography Tips & Discussions | Share Your Photos!

    There are lots of lovely shots here - I particularly like Russ' - I'm very impressed with the detail you got on those galaxies. I'm going to spend some time looking through all of these! I feel a duty to link to my observatory's Astrophotography page. Not everything is up there - just some...
  6. J

    Why is Venus's atmosphere so hot?

    When light is absorbed by a particle, it may be re-emitted in any direction. That is the essence of the greenhouse effect: a balance between how much light gets from space to the surface, is then absorbed by the surface and re-emitted as infrared light, and then absorbed and re-emitted by...
  7. J

    How to react when students doubt the validity of scientific theories

    I have actually had to do this before, but not in this particular instance . I had a christian fundamentalist in the same course last summer who occasionally brought the class to a grinding halt. He often remained after the class to argue the point. I actually found him easier to respond to...
  8. J

    What It's Like Being a Physics Tutor: An Inside Look

    Yikes! Then why did she go to the tutoring session? In my experience as a teacher, no one bothers to attend such a session unless they care. The student may not *like* physics, and may not be good at it, but she did care about something - either her grade or her lack of understanding - and...
  9. J

    How to react when students doubt the validity of scientific theories

    I encourage my students to participate in class and think for themselves. I often get questions or remarks about concepts that I teach that stem either from a misunderstanding of an idea, or lack of clarity as to the evidence in support of a theory. I usually find these to be helpful in...
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