Natural Selection is prevalent throughout life science learning standards across K-12 contexts. Additionally, undergraduates who are interested in the fields of biology and education must also be well informed on the topic, as it is foundational to some biology research and necessary to touch upon within elementary and secondary classrooms. This…

In this study, the purpose of which is to investigate the effectiveness of conceptual change texts, the data was obtained through 'Concept Achievement Test' by Çalik and Ayas, 'Attitude Scale toward Conceptual Change Text' by Yalvaç and 'Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Belief Instrument' by Enochs and Riggs. The scales were conducted as pre-test…

The aim of this study is to investigate effects of the guiding materials developed based on the "fire context" and related to "expansion-contraction" concepts in the conceptual understanding of students. A quasi-experimental method has been used in the study. The sample group of the study consists of 5th grade students selected…

The aim of this study was to examine the concept development of decimal numbers in 244 Chinese elementary students in grades 4-6. Three grades of students differed in their intuitive sense of decimals and conceptual understanding of decimals, with more strategic approaches used by older students. Misconceptions regarding the density nature of…

REPORTED IS THE DETERMINATION OF THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING CLASSIFICATIONAL CONCEPTS OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGE TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. THROUGH TEACHER-DIRECTED DEMONSTRATION-DISCUSSION, STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-6 WERE INSTRUCTED IN THE CONCEPTS OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGE WITH THE…

Reports study of children in grades two through six to determine concept formation achievement about chemical and physical change. Performance of three tasks by two groups at each grade level after thirty-minute lessons on five consecutive days are used for evaluation. Researcher concludes that these concepts are attainable by sixth graders and…

Reports on a replication study to determine the relative effectiveness of two methods of instruction in teaching classificatory concepts and to determine whether maturity of children was related to level of understanding. (GS)

Reported is a study to determine the feasibility of teaching selected concepts related to the particle nature of matter to students in grades 2-6. The lessons developed for this study did not require a high student reading ability, did not require more than one-half hour of time, included the use of analogous mechanical models whenever possible,…

Illustrated and described is a convection box for classroom use to stimulate concept development in elementary school children. Other equipment and apparatus that may be used in open-ended science activites are listed. (CS)

Students using the Science Curriculum Improvement Study curriculum were informally observed to be incapable of defining a system although they could perform related tasks. A study was performed to determine students' understanding of various aspects of systems. (SD)

Previous research of classroom teaching and learning revealed that students have critical misconceptions about how plants get their food and that these misconceptions remain unchanged despite instruction using activities in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIIS) unit on producers. Because the experimental sequence described in SCIIS is…

This document is the final report to develop a new elementary science curriculum. It contains information related only to the development phase of the Conceptually Oriented Program in Elementary Science (COPES) and was written for an audience that includes all who are interested in curriculum development as it was experienced in this project. The…

To discover how misconceptions occur and how teachers deal with them when they occur, fifth-grade students (N=229) and teachers (N=14) were observed during units on light and photosynthesis. Results suggest that curriculum developers consider childrens' misunderstandings of phenomena and design materials explicitly contrasting these…

Investigated level of concept attainment of selected energy concepts for possible inclusion in the Nigerian Primary Science Project. Subjects (N=450) were taught energy concepts at descriptive, comparative, and quantitative levels. Suggests the need to describe these levels for particular grades and match curriculum with students' thinking…

Basic concepts are often barriers to acquiring easy insight and satisfying understanding in a discipline. The most difficult task in the teaching of science is the recognition of these critical barriers to the student's thinking process. To make the unobvious less so is the responsibility of the teacher. (BC)