For those who care about physics and/or the average person's understanding of science

[rabid_chemist]

Student attends philosophy class in which TA argues that the moon has no gravity, it was the heavy boots that kept the Apollo astronauts from floating off. Student then finds that this misconception is all too common.

Comments

[justphoenix]

I now feel much better about every TA I've ever had.

[dagmarian]

Wow. That's stunning. I wouldn't expect college-level students to be that unclear on the basics of gravitational pull.

[rabid_chemist]

Heh, it's even worse than that. Here's a great example that pretty much every science ed major sees when they're warning us of the danger of preconceived misconceptions:

[myorangecrush]

Nearly every text book I use has the elipical orbit diagram, so you can see how they get confused.

Then there's the issue of it's the tilt of the Earth and you can use the words closer during that part.

It's a misconception, yes. However, it's an understandable one from the way it's taught.

(Incidently, changing my teaching now).

My favourite is the 'plants photosynthesise in the light and repire at night'.