Children's Ideas in Science

• Misconception.    Hancock (1940)  defined a "misconception" as "...any unfounded belief that does not embody the element of fear, good luck, faith, or supernatural intervention" (p. 208).  Barrass (1984) wrote of "mistakes" or errors, "misconceptions" or misleading ideas, and "misunderstandings" or misinterpretations of facts, saying that teachers and brighter students can correct errors.
• Preconceptions.   Ideas expressed that do not have the status of generalized understandings that are characteristic of conceptual knowledge(Ausubel, 1968).
• Naive conceptions
• Naive theories
• Alternative conceptions
• Alternative frameworks.
• Alternative [conceptual] frameworks
• Minitheories
• Intuitive theories
• LIPH for "Limited or Inappropriate Propositional Hierarchies." (Helm & Novak, 1983)
  

 The National Science Education Standards have additional information.  See especially Chapter 6  and the age specific Content Standards: K-4  and   Content Standards: 5-8.
 

This page is under construction - check back.   Last updated   October 2006.  Comments?

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Common Earth Science Misconceptions  (top)

Phillips, W.C.  1991, Earth Science Misconceptions,  Science Teacher Feb'91 pp 21-23.

1. The Earth is sitting on something.
2. The Earth is larger than the Sun.
3. The Earth is round like a pancake
4. We live on the flat middle of a sphere.
5. Astrology is able to predict the future.
6. Gravity increases with height.
7. Gravity cannot exist without air.
8. There is a definite up and down in space.
9. Any crystal that scratches glass is a diamond.
10. Coral reefs exist throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic.
11. Dinosaurs and caveman lived at the same time.
12. Rain comes from holes in clouds.
13. Rains comes from clouds' sweating.
14. Rain falls from funnels in the clouds
15. Rain occurs when clouds are shaken.
16. God and angles cause thunder and lightning.
17. Clouds move because we move.
18. Clouds come from somewhere above the sky.
19. Empty clouds are refilled by the sea.
20. Clouds are formed by vapors from kettles
21. The sun boils the sea to create water vapor.
22. Clouds are made of cotton, wool, or smoke.
23. Clouds are bags of water.


Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp. 26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org
Geosphere

1. Dirt is not the same as soil.  Soil comes from rivers, result of volcanic action, or was there since Earth formed.
2. Fossils are actual preserved animals or plant parts.
3. All substances expand when heated.
4. Students are unaware of micro-organisms role as decomposers and recyclers of carbon, nitrogen, water and minerals.
Hydrosphere
1. Water disappears when it evaporates.
2. Clouds are “sponges” that hold water or bags of water than rain when they are shaken by wind or perhaps when they become cold or hot.
3. Ice is smaller than liquid water.  There is a loss of mass when water freezes.
4. Groundwater refers to actual lakes and rivers under the surface of the earth.

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Common Physical Science Misconceptions (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. When things dissolve they “disappear.”
2. Materials can only exhibit properties of one state of matter.
3. Melting and dissolving are confused.
4. Dew formed on the outside of glass comes from the inside of the glass.
5. Expansion of matter is due to the expansion of particles rather than the increased particle spacing.
6. Molecules of a gas “just float” rather than being kept in the gaseous state by their motion.
7. There is not empty space between molecules, rather students believe there is dust, germs or “air" between the particles of air.
8. Particles of solids have no motion.
9. Relative particle spacing among solids, liquids, and gases is incorrectly perceived and not generally related to the densities of the states.
10. Frequent disregard for particle conservation and orderliness when describing physical changes.
11. Gases are not matter because most are invisible.
12. Absence of conservation of particles during a chemical change.
13. Failure to perceived that individual substances and properties correspond to a certain type of particle.  Formation of a new substance with new properties is seen as simply happening rather than as a result of particle rearrangement.
14. The temperature of an object drops when it freezes.
15. Mass and volume, which both describe an “amount of matter,” are the same property.
16. “Steam” is the visible cloud of water vapor over boiling water.
17. Energy is a “thing,” an object or something that is tangible.
18. The chemistry of biological systems does not follow all the same rules of thermodynamics as other systems.
19. “Cold” can be transferred.
20. Energy is truly lost in many energy transformations.

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 Common Misconceptions about Sound (top)

1. Sounds can be produced without using any material objects.
2. Hitting an object harder changes the pitch of the sound produced.
3. Human voice sounds are produced by a large number of vocal cords that all produce different sounds.
4. Loudness and pitch of sounds are the same things.
5. You can see and hear a distinct event at the same moment.
6. Sounds can travel through empty space (a vacuum).
7. Sounds cannot travel through liquids and solids.
8. Sounds made by vehicles (like the whistle of a train) change as the vehicles move past the listener because something (like the train engineer) purposely changes the pitch of the sound.
9. In wind instruments, the instrument itself vibrates (not the internal air column).
10. Music is strictly an art form; it has nothing to do with science.
11. Sound waves are transverse waves (like water and light waves).
12. Matter moves along with water waves as the waves move through a body of water.
13. When waves interact with a solid surface, the waves are destroyed.
14. In actual telephones, sounds (rather than electrical impulses) are carried through the wires.
15. Ultrasounds are extremely loud sounds.
16. Megaphones create sounds.
17. Noise pollution is annoying, but it is essentially harmless.

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Common Misconceptions about LIGHT (top)

1. Light is associated only with a source and/or its instantaneous effects.  Light is not considered to exist independently in space.  Light is not conceived as moving from one point to another with a finite speed.
2. An object is seen whenever light shines on it, with no recognition that light must move between the object and the observer's eye.
3. A shadow is something that exists on its own.  Light pushes the shadow away from the object to a wall, the ground, or other surface where the shadow lies.  Shadows are "dark reflections" of objects.
4. Light is not necessarily conserved.  It may disappear or be intensified.
5. Lines drawn outward from a light bulb in a sketch represent the "glow" surrounding the bulb.  Light from a bulb only extends outward a certain distance and then stops.  How far it extends depends on the brightness of the bulb.
6. An observe can see more of his or her mirror image by moving further back from the mirror.
7. The mirror image of an object is located on the surface of the mirror.  The image is often thought of as a picture on a flat or curved surface.  To be seen in a mirror, the object must be directly in front of the mirror or in the line-of-sight from the observer to the mirror.
8. Light is reflected away from shiny surfaces, but light is not reflected from other surfaces.
9. Light always passes straight through transparent material (without changing direction).
10. When an object is viewed through a transparent material, the object is seen exactly where it is located.
11. An object gives off a "potential image," which travels through space.  When the "potential image" reaches a mirror, the image is reversed.  Also, the image is distorted by a curved mirror.  When the "potential image" reaches a lens, the image may be turned upside down by the lens.
12. Blocking part of the lens surface would block the corresponding part of the image.
13. The purpose of the screen is to capture the image so that it can be seen.  Without a screen, there is not image.
14. An image can be seen on the screen regardless of where the screen is placed relative to a lens.  To see a larger image on the screen, the screen should be moved further back.
15. An image is always formed at the focal point of a lens.
16. The size of an image depends on the size (diameter) of the lens used to formed the image.
17. Gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves, and radio waves  are all very different entities.
18. Colors appearing on soap films and oil slicks are reflections of rainbows.
19. Polaroid sunglasses are just dark glass or dark plastic.
20. When waves or pulses interfere (as in a spring, rope, water wave, or light wave) they bounce off each other and go back in the opposite direction from which they came.
21. When a wave moves, particles move along with the wave from the point of transmission to the point of reception.
22. Color is a property of an object, and color is not affected by the eye-brain system or other receiving system.
Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org
 
1. Light fills the room as water fills a bathtub.  No mechanisms between the light, the object and the eye produces vision.
2. The primary colors for mixing colored lights are red, blue, and yellow.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1998.


1. A mirror reverses everything.
2. An observer can see more of his image by moving further back from the mirror.
3. The way a mirror works is as follows: The image first goes from the object to the mirror surface. Then the observer either sees the image on the mirror surface of the image reflects off the mirror and goes into the observer's eye.
4. Light reflects from a shiny surface in an arbitrary manner.
5. Curved mirrors make everything distorted.
6. Light shines on a translucent material and illuminates it so it can be seen. Light does not travel from the translucent material to the eye.
7. Students will often think about how a lens forms an image of a self-luminous object in the following way. They envision that a "potential image" which carries information about the object leaves the self-luminous object and travels through the space to the lens. When passing through the lens, the "potential image" is turned upside down and may be changed in size.
8. Colors appearing in soap films are the same colors that appear in a rainbow.

Also see misconceptions for Vision and hearing  and Color and Vision.

Common Misconceptions about Color and Vision (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.
1. The pupil of the eye is a black spot on the surface of the eye.
2. The eye perceives upright images.
3. The lens is the only part of the eye responsible for focusing light.
4. The lens forms a picture on the retina.  The brain then “looks” at this picture.
5. They eye is the only organ necessary for sight.
6. A white incandescent or fluorescent bulb produces light of only one color.
7. Sunlight is different from other sources of light because it is colorless and clear.
8. When light passes through a prism, color is added to the light.
9. When light passes through a filter, color is added to the light.
10. The rules for mixing color paints and crayons are the same as the rules for mixing colored lights.
11. The primary colors for mixing colored lights are red, blue, and yellow.
12. A Colored light striking an object produces a shadow behind it that is the same color as the light.
13. The shades of gray in a printed picture are produced with a gray ink for each shade.
14. The colors in a printed picture are produced with an ink for each color.
15. Colored light is darker than white light.
16. Color is a property of an object, and color is not affected by the illuminating light.  The “true” color of an object is seen in white light.  When colored light illuminates a colored object, the color of the light mixes with the color of the object.
Also see misconceptions for Vision and hearing

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Common Misconceptions about Astronomy (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.
1. Stars and constellations appear in the same place in the sky every night.
2. The sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west every day.
3. The sun is always directly overhead or directly south at twelve o'clock noon.
4. The tip of a shadow always moves along an east-west line.
5. Changing distance between the earth and the sun causes seasonal changes  (with the two closer in summer and farther apart in winter).
6. The earth is the center of the solar system and is the largest object in the solar system.  All stars are the same distance from the earth.
7. The moon can only be seen during the night, and its shape always appears the same.
8. The moon does not rotate on its axis as it revolves around the earth.
9. The phases of the moon are caused by shadows cast on its surface by other objects in the solar system, particularly the earth or the sun.
10. The solar system and galaxies are very "crowded."  (Objects are relatively close together.)
11. The surface of the sun does not have any visible features.
12. Because all stars are the same size, the brightness of a star depends only on its distance from earth.
13. Stars are evenly distributed through a galaxy or throughout the universe.
14. All the stars in a particular constellation are near each other.
15. The constellations form patterns obviously resembling people, animals, or other objects.


Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org

 
1. Moon and sun are about the same size.  Stars are smaller than sun or moon.
2. The earth is the center of the solar system and is the largest object in the solar system.
3. Night occurs when the sun is covered by clouds, moon, or atmosphere.
4. Astronomical movements explain day and night:  Sun goes around earth.  Earth goes around sun.  Sun moves up and down.
5. The sun is always directly overhead or directly south at noon.
6. The sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west everyday.
7. The moon can only be seen during the night, and its shape always appears the same.
8. The phases of the moon are caused by shadows cast on its surface by other objects in the solar system, particularly the earth and the sun.
9. All stars are the same size, the brightness of a star depends on its distance from earth.
10. One side of the moon is always dark
11. Stars and constellations appear in the same place in the sky every night.
12. Seasons are caused by changing distance between the earth and sun (the two are closer in the summer and further apart in the winter).
13. Days are shortest in the winter.

 

Common Misconceptions about Matter and Its Changes (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Gases are not matter because most are invisible.
2. Gases do not have mass.
3. A "thick" liquid has a higher density than water.
4. Mass and volume, which both describes an "amount of matter," are the same property.
5. Air and oxygen are the same gas.
6. Helium and hot air are the same gas.
7. Expansion of matter is due to the expansion of particles, rather than the increased particle spacing.
8. Particles of solids have not motions.
9. Relative particle spacing among solids, liquids, and gasses is incorrectly perceived and not generally related to the densities of the states.  (Microscopic model does not represent macroscopic properties.)
10. Materials can only exhibit properties of one state of matter.
11. Particles possess the same properties as the materials they compose.  For example, atoms of copper are "orange and shiny,"  gas molecules are "transparent," and solid molecules are "Hard."
12. Melting/freezing and boiling/condensation are often understood only in terms of water.
13. Particles viewed as mini-versions of the substances they comprise:  oxygen molecules are invisible, water molecules are tiny droplets, and diamond molecules are hard.
14. Particles misrepresented in sketches:  no differentiation is made between atoms and molecules.
15. Particles misrepresented and undifferentiated in concepts involving elements, compounds, mixtures, solutions, and substances.
16. Frequent disregard for particle conservation and orderliness when describing changes.
17. Absence of conservation of particles during a chemical change.
18. Chemical, rather than interactive.  After chemical change, the original substances are perceived as remaining even though they are altered.
19. Failure to perceived that individual substances and properties correspond to a certain type of particle ... formation of a new substance with new properties is seen as simply happening, rather than as a result of particle rearrangement.
20. The "smoke" seen with dry ice is carbon dioxide vapors.
21. The temperature of an object drops when it freezes.
22. The chemistry in biological systems does not follow all the same rules of thermodynamics as other systems.
23. Steam is visible water gas molecules.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1998.

1. 
   
2. The oxygen we breathe does not come from plants.
3. Gas makes things lighter.

Common Misconceptions about Energy (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Energy is truly lost in many energy transformations.
2. There is no relationship between matter and energy.
3. If energy is conserved, why are we running out of it?
4. Energy can be changed completely from one form to another (no energy losses).
5. Things “use up” energy.
6. Energy is confined to some particular origin, such as what we get from food or what the electric company sells.
7. An object at rest has no energy.
8. The only type of potential energy is gravitational.
9. Gravitational potential energy depends only on the height of an object.
10. Doubling the speed of a moving object doubles the kinetic energy.
11. Energy is a “thing.”  This is a fuzzy notion, probably because of the way we talk about newton-meters or joules.  It is difficult to imagine an “amount” of an abstraction.
12. The terms “energy” and “force” are interchangeable.
13. From the non-scientific point of view, “work” is synonymous with “labor.”  It is hard to convince someone that more “work” is probably being done playing football for one hour than studying an hour for a quiz.
    

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Common Misconceptions about Force and Motion and Simple Machines(top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Time can be measured without establishing the beginning of the interval.
2. The location of an object can be described by stating its distance from a given point, ignoring direction.
3. The distance an object travels and its displacement are always the same.
4. An object’s speed is the same as its velocity.
5. If an object is accelerating, then the object is speeding up.
6. An object’s acceleration cannot change direction.
7. Acceleration always occurs in the same direction as an object is moving.
8. If an object has a speed of zero (even instantaneously), it has no acceleration.
9. The only “natural” motion is for an object to be at rest.
10. If an object is at rest, no forces are acting on the object.
11. A rigid solid cannot be compressed or stretched.
12. Only animate objects can exert a force.  Thus, if an object is at rest on a table, no forces are acting on it.
13. Force is a property of an object.  An object has force, and when it runs out of force it stops moving.
14. The motion of an object is always in the direction of the net force applied to the object.
15. Large objects exert a greater force than small objects.
16. A force is needed to keep an object moving with a constant speed.
17. Friction always hinders motion.  Thus, you always want to eliminate friction.
18. Frictional forces are only due to irregularities in surfaces moving past one another.
19. Rocket propulsion is due to exhaust gases pushing on something behind the rocket.
20. When dropped in a vacuum, objects of different masses fall at different speeds.
21. When dropped in a vacuum, objects fall at constant speeds.
22. A simple machine with a mechanical advantage greater than one is easier to use than a simple machine with a mechanical advantage less than one.
23. Any force times any distance is work.
24. Machines put out more work than people put in.
25. Power is the same as force or work.
26. Work is any activity  one gets tired doing, gets paid for doing, or doesn’t like doing.

Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Forces acting on bodies/objects are associated with living things.
2. Constant motion requries a constant force.
3. If a body is not moving, there is no force acting upon it.
4. Objects in a vacuum fall at a constant speed.
5. If a body is in mortion, there is a force acting upon it in the direction of motion.
6. There is no gracity in space.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1998.

1. Time is defined in terms of its measurement.
2. The terms distance and displacement are synonymous and may be used interchangeably. Thus the distance an object travels and its displacement are always the same.
3. Velocity is another word for speed. An object's speed and velocity are always the same.
4. Acceleration is confused with speed.
5. Acceleration is always in a straight line.

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Common Misconceptions about Measurement  (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Measurement is only linear.
2. Any quantity can be measured as accurately as you want.
3. Children who have used measuring devices at home already know how to measure.
4. The metric system is more accurate than other measurement systems (such as the English system).
5. The English system is easier to use than the metric system.
6. You can only measure to the smallest unit shown on the measuring device.
7. Some objects cannot be measured because of their size or inaccessibility.
8. The five senses are infallible.
9. An object must be “touched” to be measured.
10. A measuring device must be a physical object.
11. Mass and weight are the same and they are equal at all times.
12. Mass and volume are the same.
13. The only way to measure time is with a clock or a watch.
14. Time has an absolute beginning.
15. Heat and temperature are the same.
16. Heat is a substance.
17. Cold is the opposite of heat and is another substance.
18. There is only one way to measure perimeter.
19. Only the area of rectangular shapes can be measured in square units.
20. Surface area can be found only for two-dimensional objects.
21. Surface area is a concept used only for mathematics classes.
22. You cannot measure the volume of some objects because they do not have “regular” lengths, widths, or heights.
23. An object’s volume is greater in water than in air.
24. The density of an object depends only on its volume.
25. Density for a give volume is always the same.
26. The density of two samples of the same substance with different volumes or shapes cannot be the same.

Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org

 
1. The location of an object can be described by stating its distance from a given point, ignoring direction. 

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Common Misconceptions about Electricity  (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Objects become positively charged because they have gained protons.
2. Objects become positively charged because their electrons have been destroyed.
3. All atoms are charged.
4. Larger magnets are stronger than smaller magnets.
5. Current flows from a battery (or other source of electricity) to a light bulb (or other item that consumes electricity), but not from the light bulb to the battery.
6. current flows out of both terminals of a dry cell or both connections in an electrical outlet.
7. Current flows around a complete circuit, but it is used u by objects like light bulbs so less current returns than leaves the source of the electricity.
8. All the electrons that make up a electrical current are initially contained in the battery or generator that is the source of the electricity.
9. Electricity is produced in the wall socket.
10. Electrons change into light when a lamp is turned on.
11. Wires are hollow like a water hose, and electrons move inside the hollow space.
12. A larger battery will make a motor run faster or a bulb burn brighter.
13. Pure water is a good conductor of electricity.
14. Electricity from a dry cell will shock or hurt if it is touched.
15. Insulation is used to keep electricity in the wire.
16. All wires are insulated.,
17. Birds can perch on bare wires without being hurt because birds have insulated feet.
18. A charge object can only affect other charged objects.
19. The electrostatic force between two charged objects in not affected by the distance between them.
20. Gravitational forces are stronger than electrostatic forces.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1998.

1. Electrons which are lost by an object are really lost (no conservation of charge).
2. A charged object can only attract other charged objects.
3. 
   
4. Batteries have electricity inside them.

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Common Misconceptions about Magnetism  (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. All metals are attracted to a magnet
2. All silver colored items are attracted to a magnet.
3. All magnets are made of iron.
4. Larger magnets are stronger than smaller magnets.
5. The magnetic and geographic poles of the earth are located at the same place.
6. The magnetic pole of the earth in the northern hemisphere is a north pole, and the pole in the southern hemisphere is a south pole.
7. Only magnets produce magnetic fields.
8. A magnetic field is a pattern of lines (not a field of force) that surrounds a magnet.
9. In a  magnet, the magnetic field lines exist only outside the magnet. 

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Common Misconceptions about Heat and Temperature (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Ice cannot change temperature
2. When the temperature of a boiling substance remains constant, something is “wrong.”
3. The bubbles in boiling water contain “air,” Oxygen,” or “nothing,” rather than water vapor.
4. All liquids boil at 100°C (212°F) and freeze at 0° C  (32°F).
5. Heat is a substance.
6. Heat is not energy.
7. Temperature is a property of a particular material or object (metal is naturally colder than plastic).
8. The temperature of an object depends on its size.
9. Heat and cold are different, rather than being opposite ends of continuum.
10. Boiling is the maximum temperature a substance can reach.
11. Objects of different temperatures which are in constant contact with each other, or in contact with air at a different temperature, do not necessarily move toward the same temperature.
12. Heat only travels upward.
13. Heat rises.
14. The kinetic theory does really explain heat transfer. (It is recited, but not believed.)
15. Objects which readily become ware (conductors of heat) do not readily become cold.
16. All solids expand at the same rate. 

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Common Misconceptions about Forces in Fluids (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1992). Finding a List of Science Misconceptions. MSTA Newsletter, 38 (Winter’92), pp. 11-14.

1. Objects float in water because they’re “lighter” than water.
2. Objects sink in water because they’re “heavier” than water.
3. Mass, volume, weight, heaviness, size, and density may be perceived as equivalent.
4. Wood floats and metal sinks.
5. All objects containing air float.
6. Liquids of high viscosity are also liquids with high density.
7. Adhesion is the same as cohesion.
8. Heating air only makes it hotter.
9. Pressure and force are synonymous.
10. Pressure arises from moving fluids.
11. Moving fluids contain higher pressure.
12. Liquids rise in a straw because of “suction.”
13. Fluid pressure only acts downward.

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Common Misconceptions about Weather (top)

Hapkiewicz, A. (1999). Naïve Ideas in Earth Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(2) (Fall’99), pp.26-30.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Air as a substance is not well understood.  Air has negative weight or no weight.
2. Days are shortest in winter.
3. Water vapor is held or soaked up by the air.
4. Humid air is “Heavier” than dry air.
5. A vacuum or low pressure area “pulls” object into it.
6. Wind speed is related to temperature of air - high speed means cold air and gentle or slow winds are warm.
7. Acid rain, ozone depletion and greenhouse effect are thought to be caused by the same things and produce the same changes in the environment.
8. Air pollution is always caused by human activities.
9. Rain water should be neutral in pH.

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Common Misconceptions in the Life Sciences (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

Organization of Living Things:

1. Plants, fungi, eggs and seeds are not living.
2. Young children do not recognize tress as living although they understand that seedlings are alive.
3. Only large land mammals are animals.
4. Penguins and turtles are amphibians because they are both in and out of water.
5. Whales, jellyfish, and starfish are all fish.
6. Behavior and habitat  are criteria for classification.
7. Food is anything useful taken into the body including:  water, minerals, carbon dioxide (plants), and sunlight.
8. Students concept of digestion is often confused both in the route and the process.
9. Digestion is the process that releases usable energy from food.
10. Respiration is synonymous with breathing.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1999

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Common Misconceptions about Plants - Obtaining and Using Energy (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Plants obtain their energy directly from the sun.
2. Plants have multiple sources of food (heterotrophic as well as autotrophic).
3. Carbon dioxide, water, and minerals are food.
4. Plants feed by absorbing food through their roots.
5. Plants use heat from the sun as a source of energy for photosynthesis
6. Sunlight is a food.
7. Sunlight is composed of molecules.
8. Sunlight is “consumed” in photosynthesis.
9. Plants absorb water through their leaves.
10. Plants produce oxygen for our benefit.

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Common Misconceptions about Cells  (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Students are unsure about the hierarchy of atoms, molecules and cells.  Cells are described as the components of many things including carbohydrates and proteins
2. Students have difficulty discriminating between cell division, enlargement and differentiation.  They may believe that living things grow because their cells get larger.  The role of cell differentiation in growth is poorly understood.
3. Students think in terms of two kinds of cells - plant and animal. 

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Common Misconceptions about Ecosystems (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Stronger organisms have more energy.
2. There are more herbivores because they have more offspring.
3. A species high on the food web is a predator to everything below it.
4. Energy accumulates in an ecosystem so that a top predator has all the energy from the organisms below it.
5. Carnivores can exist in a plant free world if their prey reproduce enough.
6. The food that is eaten and used as a source of energy is part of the food chain; food that is synthesized into the body of the eater is now food for the next level.

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Common Misconceptions about Heredity (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Daughters inherit most of their characteristics from their mothers.  Boys inherit most of their characteristics from their fathers.
2. Variation between species is a result of adaptation to environment instead of inheritance.
3. Sexual reproduction occurs in animals but not in plants.
4. Students do not distinguish between sexual and asexual reproduction.
5. Asexual reproduction produces weak offspring.  Sexual reproduction produces superior offspring.
6. Students believe that transmitted characteristics are acquired during the life time of the animal.
7. Individuals can adapt to a changing environment.  These adaptations are heritable.
8. Students do not understand the relationship between DNA, genes, and chromosomes
9. Students can apply chance and probability to assigned genetics problems, but not to human situations in families.

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Common Misconceptions about Evolution (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Students have difficulty relating an individuals adaptation to environment with changes in species phenotypes over long period of time due to selection.
2. Students believe that transmitted characteristics are acquired during the life time of the animal.
3. Individuals can adapt to a changing environment.  These adaptations are heritable.

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1999

1. 
   
2. Dinosaurs and cavemen lived at the same time.
3. Acquired characteristics can be inherited.
4. Humans are responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
5. Some human races have not evolved as much as others.
6. Evolution is goal-directed.
7. Evolutionary changes are driven by need.

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Common Misconceptions about Vision and Hearing  (top)

Berthelsen, B. (1999). Students Naïve Conceptions in Life Science.   MSTA Journal, 44(1) (Spring’99), pp. 13-19.  http://www.msta-mich.org

1. Objects are seen because they are bathed in light.
2. Light travels from the eyes to the object.
3. We can see because light travels to your eyes and then from the eyes to the object.
4. Light to both our eyes and the object.  There is no link between the two.
5. Light is not necessary to see since we can see a little in a dark room.
6. We see because we look, it has nothing to do with light.
7. We can hear because we concentrate on the source of the sound.
8. There is no similarity between light and sound.

Also see misconceptions for   Light  and  Color and Vision

A list compiled by the Operation Physics Elementary/middleschool physics education  outreach project of the American Institute of Physics. Author/editor is unknown. Bill Weiler of U. Illinois posted these via the PHYS-L group 9/1999

1. The pupil of the eye is a black object or spot on the surface of the eye.
2. The eye receives upright images.
3. The lens is the only part of the eye responsible for focusing light.
4. The lens forms and image (picture) on the retina. The brain then "looks" at this image and that is how we see.
5. The eye is the only organ for sight; the brain is only for thinking.
6. A white light source, such as an incandescent or fluorescent bulb, produces light made up of only one color.
7. Sunlight is different from other sources of light because it contains no color.
8. When white light passes through a prism, color is added to the light.
9. The rules for mixing color paints and crayons are the same as the rules for mixing colored lights.
10. The primary colors for mixing colored lights are red, blue and yellow.
11. A colored light striking an object produces a shadow behind it that is the same color as the light. For example, when red light strikes an object, a red shadow is formed.
12. The shades of gray in a black and white newspaper picture are produced by using inks with different shades of gray.
13. When white light passes through a colored filter, the filter adds color to the light.
14. The different colors appearing in colored pictures printed in magazines and newspapers are produced by using different inks with all the corresponding colors.
15. The mixing of colored paints and pigments follow the same rules as the mixing of colored lights.
16. The primary colors used by artists (red, yellow and blue) are the same as the primary colors for all color mixing.
17. Color is a property of an object, and is independent of both the illuminating light and the receiver (eye).
18. White light is colorless and clear, enabling you to see the "true" color of an object.
19. When a colored light illuminates a colored object, the color of the light mixes with the color of the object.
20. Naive explanations of visual phenomena involving color perception usually involve only the properties of the object being observed, and do not include the properties of the eye-brain system.

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