‘View Particles’ Viewing Option
Selecting the ‘View Particles’ button displays the arrangement of the ‘particles’ in the
state of matter (see figure 6.9). The ‘particles’ are represented as small circular blue
balls. In each instance the images of the ‘particles’ are identical and this enables the
visual comparison between screens to show that what is changing is the spatial
arrangement and the speed and freedom of movement of the ‘particles’ and not the
characteristics of ‘particles’, for instance. The opening image of the sequences offer
the traditional ‘canonical’ visual representation of a ‘solid’, a ‘liquid’ and a ‘gas’,
which displays the spatial arrangement of the ‘particles’. In the CD-ROM Multimedia
Science School the process of the weakening of the bonds between the ‘particles’, and
‘moving away’ from one another is represented through movement in terms both of
the speed of the ‘particles’, and the increased space between ‘particles’ in a liquid as
compared with a solid. The representation of ‘states of matter’ in the ‘View Particles’
option offers a visual explanation of the motivation for the change between ‘states of
matter’ seen in the ‘Hide Particles’ viewing option. As the student ‘changes the
temperature’ the representation of the state of matter changes and the particle
arrangement is displayed, in other words the ‘View Particles’ option visually depicts
the motivation for the phenomena.
When the ‘View Particles’ viewing option is selected, the specific example of a solid
(the ice cube) is overlaid by a representation of the spatial arrangement of ‘particles’.
At this point, the image of the specific solid is ‘replaced’ with an image realising a
solid as a generalised theoretical solid in which the theoretical focus is on the spatial
arrangement of the ‘particles’. The presence of both images on the same screen brings
together the everyday view and the scientific view. The tension between these two
different views of the same object creates a visual ambiguity - a gap in which the
students’ uncertainties can reside: are the ‘particles’ a part of a solid? Are the
‘particles’ ‘inside’ the solid? Do the ‘particles’ and the representation of the ice cube
represent the ‘same thing’? This ambiguity emerges in the students’ discussion of the
‘states of matter’ when using the CD-ROM.
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