Investigating Student Spatial Thinking Using Density and Rotating Tanks

This project aims to serve the national interest by conducting fundamental STEM education research that investigates how students use spatial reasoning to think and learn in fluid-Earth science disciplines, such as oceanography and atmospheric science. With potential application to the development of curricula and pedagogies, a goal of this work is to make fluid-Earth science more accessible to diverse students with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and abilities.

The Fluid-Earth Science Spatial Thinking Lab investigates how students understand and learn concepts in fluid-Earth sciences, particularly atmospheric science and oceanography.

At the heart of our lab is an HT3 rotating tank system, featuring a 76 cm diameter transparent tank mounted on a Taylor-Henry cart. The motorized turntable can support up to 200 pounds and operates at variable speeds up to 13.3 RPM. This equipment allows us to demonstrate key fluid dynamics phenomena, including solid-body rotation of dyed water, effects of stirring, and the formation of Taylor columns. Through student interviews centered on these demonstrations, we explore how students comprehend concepts like “rigid water” in solid-body rotation. These tank experiments accurately model geophysical fluid dynamics, reflecting the behavior of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere.

Our lab also features several density tanks that demonstrate interactions between fluids of different densities. We use these demonstrations during interviews to study how students understand fluid behavior, particularly stratification. This research helps us identify the origins of student misconceptions and evaluate how hands-on demonstrations impact their learning process.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-2225637. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.