@conference {193341, title = {Visualizing Moon Phases with WorldWide Telescope}, booktitle = {Cosmos in the Classroom, 125th Annual Meeting}, year = {2014}, month = {20-24 Jul., 2013}, publisher = {Astronomical Society of the Pacific}, organization = {Astronomical Society of the Pacific}, address = {San Jose, CA}, abstract = {We report preliminary results from an NSF-funded project to build, test, and research the impact of a WorldWide Telescope Visualization Lab (WWT Vizlab), meant to o er learners a deeper physical understanding of the causes of the Moon{\textquoteright}s phases. The Moon Phases VizLab is designed to promote accurate visualization of the complex, 3-dimensional Earth-Sun-Moon relationships required to understand the Moon{\textquoteright}s phases, while also providing opportunities for middle school students to practice critical science skills, like using models, making predictions and observations, and linking them in evidence-based explanations. In the VizLab, students use both computer-based models and lamp + ball physical models.\ \ \ \ We present findings from the first two phases of the study - one where we compared learning gains from the WWT VizLab with a traditional 2-dimensional Moon phases simulator; and another where we experimented with diff erent ways of blending physical and virtual models in the classroom.Presented July 20-24, 2013.}, author = {Udomprasert, P. and Goodman, A. and Sunbury, S. and Zhang, Z.H. and Sadler, P. and Dussault, M. and Block, S. and Lotridge, E. and Jackson, J. and Constantin, A.} }