Spatial Concept Perspectives

We have gathered ~300 excerpts from published works about fundamental spatial concept terms. These have been cross-referenced with the concept lexicon appearing on the left. Those terms were drawn from the U.S.National Science Education Standards (NSES 1996) for topic areas B - Physical Science, C - Life Science, D - Earth and Space Science, as well as from the 1994 U.S. Geography Teaching Standards for grades 9-12. Those standards can be browsed here.

spatial concept terms

disciplinary perspectives on "flow"

flow

Flows are the bulk transport of matter in deformable (low viscosity) media (i.e. fluids). Flow also describes the time rate of change of a local variable such as temperature. Natural flows include streams, tides, ocean currents, wind, and advection and convection in the ocean and atmosphere. Internal and external flows of air and fluids are maintained by organisms. Magma flows occur in volcanic eruptions. Flow concepts can apply by analogy to population migrations and human activities such as transportation.

Science Education

Mathewson, J. H. (2005)

The visual core of science: definition and applications to education