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Computer models of gas dynamics are used to explain the complex star- formation history of the Carina dwarf-spheroidal galaxy, which comprises a small old ($\sim$ 15 Gyr) population and a much larger intermediate-age ($\sim$ 7 Gyr) population. The model indicates that the first generation of stars quickly photoionized the gas throughout the galaxy, preventing further star formation. Supernova explosions then set the gas in motion away from the center of the galaxy, with much of it accumulating in a dense shell behind the ensuing shock front. The presence of both significant amounts of dark matter in Carina and an inward-directed pressure from the material in the galactic halo prove to crucial in retaining the shell of gas, which oscillates near the boundary of the galaxy on the order of billions of years before cooling sufficiently to recollapse and set off a second wave of star formation. While only Carina's parameters have been explored with this model, the mechanism can be extended to the other dwarf spheroidals, which display similarly complex star-formation histories.
