Special relativity is typically approached via equations, using the Lorentz transformation and lots of thought experiments. Students are often surprised by the results of their calculations because they don’t initially understand the meaning of the equations. The use of Minkowski space-time can provide a visual approach to special relativity, providing students with an additional perspective on the subject. According to John D. Norton, “puzzling relativistic effects could be comprehended with ease within the spacetime representation,”1 and the IB curriculum for physics includes significant work with Minkowski spacetime as one of its additional topics.2 In spite of this, most introductory texts spend little or no time on the topic.3 The goal of this paper is to encourage you to make use of these ideas when you teach special relativity at any level.
Relativity involves observers moving relative to each other. In this paper, the frames of reference of...