One approach to interpret students’ scientifically inaccurate ideas that has proved fruitful in the context of physics education research is to consider the framework of knowledge as discrete pieces--called phenomenological primitives, or p-prims--that students develop throughout their lives to make sense of their physical world (di Sessa 1993). For example, the p-prim often referred to as "closer means more" is useful in helping us understand that car headlights appear brighter when cars are closer than when they are farther away. However, students all too often misapply this p-prim when asked to reason about seasons and the corresponding changes in Earth’s temperature. In this context, students will often state that Earth is hotter in the summertime because Earth is closer to the Sun than in the wintertime. Much to the disappointment of faculty, students will often continue to misapply this p-prim to the concept of seasons despite targeted instruction intended to help them understand otherwise.