To What Extent Do University Students Correctly Perceive the Size and Distance of the Planets in our Solar System?

Abstract

In the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for junior high school students, the goal for the third grade “Solar System and Fixed Stars” section is to have students understand the characteristics of the sun and planets, such as their sizes. Focusing on the spatial scale among the temporal and spatial scales that are unique to the Earth Science curriculum, an awareness survey of the size of the planets in the solar system and the distance from the sun to the planets was conducted with university students, as a means of gaging their retention of such knowledge. The results revealed the following two points: (1) terrestrial planets were perceived to be larger than they actually are, and this tendency is especially pronounced for Mercury and Mars, and (2) terrestrial planets are perceived to be larger toward the outer solar system. while planets other than Jupiter and Saturn are generally perceived to be about the same in size. On the other hand, with regard to the locations and distances between planets, the survey results showed that (1) it was clear to most of the participating students that the distances between the planets are generally equally spaced, while, on the other hand, (2) the terrestrial planets were generally perceived to be located approximately eight times farther away than they actually are.