Students Derive an Exact Solution of the Flatness Problem

Abstract

In everyday life, time and space are essential. Moreover, space and time are fundamental concepts
of physics. For it, Newton made a first proposal with flat space and time evolving at a constant rate
as a basis. Einstein improved it with relativistic and curved spacetime. Accordingly to its relevance
in everyday life and in physics, students are interested in the topic. Here, I present a learning process,
by which learners can achieve the essential insights of special relativity and general relativity in an
exact manner. Thereby, students experience basic principles directly at a free fall tower and by taking photographs in a school observatory. Using these basic principles, they achieve inspiring and
exact results on their own, after an appropriate instruction. I present the learning process and a didactic analysis, so that you can directly use the concept for teaching. I tested the learning process in
various learning groups, and I report about experiences.