Teaching special relativity in elementary physics or upper high school courses

TL;DR

This paper offers a teaching tool for special relativity aimed at elementary and high school levels, using thought experiments, simulations, and experimental discussions to address students' difficulties and improve understanding.

Contribution

It introduces a novel pedagogical approach that simplifies special relativity concepts through thought experiments and simulations, tailored for early physics education.

Findings

Preliminary classroom tests show promise for the teaching method.

The approach clarifies key relativity effects like time dilation and length contraction.

Suggestions for broader implementation and assessment are provided.

Abstract

This paper aims to provide teachers with a tool to teach the essential features of special relativity, considering the students' difficulties highlighted by numerous studies. Our proposal presents special relativity as the solution to the troubles of Newtonian dynamics, exemplified by the infinities of Newtonian uniformly accelerated motion. The paper's main section uses thought experiments with the exchange of flashes of light of null duration between two inertial reference frames to derive the kinematics effect of special relativity (time dilation, length contraction, Doppler effect, relativity of simultaneity, and Lorentz transformations). Simulations illustrate the results of the simple calculations. The discussion of experimental corroborations of the kinematics effects of special relativity complements the theoretical treatments. The Doppler effect, typically treated within the wave description of light, is addressed as an application of energy and linear momentum conservation during the emission or absorption of a photon by an atom (or a nucleus). When opportune, the paper suggests implementing teaching practices in the topics developed for teachers. Two of us' preliminary tests in the classroom ask for a wider one, including standard evaluation procedures of students' learning.