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 "wave"

wave

Waves are regular oscillations in space (or a medium in space) that are generated by an oscillator. Waves are characterized by the interrelated variables of frequency (or wavelength), period, and velocity, and have amplitudes (heights) and energies. Common forms of waves are electromagnetic radiation (light, Xrays, infrared energy, etc.), sound and water waves, and earthquake waves (primary or compressional, and secondary or shear waves). Waves can combine to form abrupt singularities called solitons such as shock waves or huge pyramidal waves at sea.

Science Education

Mathewson, J. H. (2005)

The visual core of science: definition and applications to education