V magistrskem delu smo podrobneje raziskali predstave o velikostnih razmerjih nebesnih teles. Poudarek je bil na analizi predstav o razdaljah med nebesnimi telesi in predstavah o prostorskih razmerjih nebesnih teles pri učencih in odraslih, pri čemer so nas zanimale razlike med učenci po vzgojno-izobraževalnem obdobju, med učenci po kraju bivanja in razlike glede na spol pri vseh sodelujočih. Raziskava je temeljila na deskriptivni in kavzalno-neeksperimentalni metodi empiričnega raziskovanja. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 290 oseb178 učencev od 4. do 9. razreda in 112 odraslih oseb. Izkazalo se je, da si učenci in tudi odrasli razdalje v vesolju predstavljajo mnogo krajše, kot so v resnici, in da se z oddaljenostjo objektov predstave slabšajo. Pričakovano imajo odrasli boljše predstave o razdaljah med nebesnimi objekti kot učenci. Rezultati so pokazali, da večina učencev ocenjuje razdalji med Zemljo in Luno ter Zemljo in Marsom mnogo krajši, kot dejansko sta, medtem ko ima skoraj polovica odraslih precej realno predstavo o oddaljenosti Lune. Tudi odrasle osebe ocenjujejo razdaljo do Marsa krajšo, kot je realna. Učenci si predstavljajo razdaljo med Soncem in Zemljo ter Soncem in njemu najbližjo zvezdo krajšo kot odrasle osebe, a oboji mnogo prekratko. Ugotovili smo, da imamo najslabše predstave o prostorskih objektih, torej volumnih. Tako si na primer učenci Zemljo (20-krat) in Luno predstavljajo precej večji, kot sta dejansko, medtem ko ocenjujejo, da je Jupiter precej manjši (200-krat) od Zemlje. Za izboljšave predstav in znanja o vesolju so na koncu izdelana priporočila za delo v šoli.There is a detailed research about perceptions of size relations of celestial bodies in the master’s thesis. The emphasis is on analysis of perceptions of distances between celestial bodies and perceptions of spatial relations of celestial objects among students and adults. We were interested in differences according to the students’ grade, their place of residence and differences according to the gender of all respondents. The research was based on descriptive and causal-nonexperimental methods of empirical exploration. The research included 290 persons178 students from grade 4 to grade 9 and 112 adults. The results have shown that students picture distances in the universe shorter than they actually are and that perceptions even worsen as the distance of the objects increases. As expected, adults have better understanding about distances between celestial objects than students. The majority of students imagine the distance between the Earth and the Moon as well as the distance between the Earth and Mars to be much shorter than they actually are while almost half of the adults have rather realistic perception about the distance to the Moon. Adults also assess the distance to Mars shorter than it really is. Students picture distance between the Sun and the Earth as well as the distance between the Sun and its nearest star shorter than adults do. However, both picture distances way too short. We have reached findings that the worst perceptions appear in the field of spatial objects – volumes. Therefore, students picture the Earth (20-times) and the Moon much larger than they really are while they picture Jupiter to be much smaller (200-times) than the Earth. In the end, recommendations for school work have been made in order to improve perceptions and knowledge about universe
