Again this year, the 6th grade science curriculum opens with a unit entitled The Nature of Understanding & Misconceptions, organized around the following understanding goals:
What is understanding?
How do we know when we understand something?
How do we acquire understanding?
Why should we teach for understanding?
(What is the consequence of not teaching for understanding?)
What is a misconception?
Where do misconceptions come from?
How do we find and challenge misconceptions?
Students are introduced to the distinction between knowing about something versus understanding through a series of activities and discussions, including the battery and bulb problem (can you light a bulb using only a battery and one wire?), and the explanation of why there are seasons on the planet Earth. (See What is Understanding for a more detailed description of this unit.)
Despite having studied electricity in earlier grade levels, few students were able to light the bulb. Some recalled hearing the word circuit, but none were able to apply the concept with any degree of understanding or flexibility. Nearly all self-assuredly predicted that they could do it.
The result was the same when it came to explaining the cause of the seasons. Explanations included the following:
the seasons are caused by clouds blocking the sun
in the winter a planet comes between the Earth and the Sun, thus blocking its rays
in the winter we face way from the sun
in the winter the Earth is further from the sun
A few students recalled that the Earth is tilted on its axis, and knew that the tilt was somehow connected with the seasons, but none knew about direct and indirect sunlight.
Note the following clips of the kids' discussions and group presentations.
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