Relativity at A-level: a looking glass approach

Abstract

This paper, based on a presentation given at the University of Leeds, proposes a novel way of introducing students to Special Relativity. The main thrust is to start from what the students know and lead them to question their current world view, which is generally Newtonian and constructed within a framework based on the absolute nature of space and time. It must, however, be stressed that what is presented here is no more than an analogy for relativity and as such it does have limitations.