Possible Use of Stonehenge
HAWKINS1,2 has suggested that the Aubrey holes at Stonehenge were used to count the years of a 56-year cycle, important in the motion of the Moon and the occurrence of eclipses. Hoyle3 and Colton and Martin4 have suggested other ways that Stonehenge could have been used to predict eclipses. Here we suggest a use of Stonehenge that has nothing to do with eclipses. We suggest also that the Aubrey holes, if they were used as counters at all, were used to count intervals of 56 months rather than 56 years.
Eclipse Cycles and Eclipses at Stonehenge
Was Stonehenge used to predict eclipses? Previous claims have assumed a high degree of sophistication on the part of the builders of Stonehenge, and that the number of Aubrey holes (56) is particularly significant. It may be that neither assumption is justified or necessary, and that if the builders of Stonehenge did predict eclipses, they did it in much simpler ways.
Cognitive Correlaretes of Physics Achievement of Some Nigeria Senior Secondary Students
Some cognitive correlates of physics achievement of some Nigeria senior secondary students were considered in the study. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between measures of student’s field independency. Cognitive tasks, formal reasoning and their achievement in physics. Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques were employed to obtain a sample of 524 senior secondary two students from six education zones in Kogi State of Nigeria. Three instruments were used. They are science Reasoning Tasks (SRTs). Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) and Physics Achievement Test (PAT). Data analysis using multiple regressions reveals that measures of students’ fields’ independency and cognitive tasks predicted student’s achievement in physics generally. However, only measure of field independency predicted students’ achievement in physics in the higher order cognitive demand questions. Measures of formal reasoning had no significant relationship with students’ achievements in physics generally or in higher order cognitive demand questions in physics. However, the overall relationships between measures of field independency, cognitive tasks, formal reasoning and students’ achievement in physics generally and in higher order cognitive demand questions in physics were both significant. Educational implications of these findings were discussed.