Misconceptions
in Science
Feedback from
course participants
1
CONTENTS
Page no.
Misconceptions
Models and Analogies
Identifying
Misconceptions
Poems
Cells
2
Interdependence
3
Particles
4
Forces
5
Energy
6
Sc2,3,4
7
Models
8
Analogies
9
Models & Analogies
10
Using Bloom’s
Taxonomy
17
The 4 W’s
18
Developing
Questions
19
21
2
Misconceptions regarding:
Cells
All different
70% water
Cells are like bricks all have walls
Cells and particles being confused
Flat
Links between generalised/specialised cells
Vacuole (vacuum)
Where energy come from in cells
All cells are the same shape
Alive?
Abstract idea of cell?
Other uses e.g. physics, biology, prison!
3D model
- see as 2D – microscopes
The nucleus is the brain that controls the cell, same as atom
Stain-blue/purple – no idea why. Think that Brain cells are purple
because of the stain
Only animal cells have membranes
Semi-permeable – cell membrane
2 dimensional
No concept of size
Cells are as small as atoms.
Lack of knowledge rather than misconceptions
3
Misconceptions regarding:
Life and Energy Transfers
(Interdependence)
Arrows in food chain represent what eats what, not energy transfer
Arrows wrong way round
Food chains/webs rarely isolated
Energy being lost through food chain
As the mass of the animal increases, the amount of energy passed
along the food chain decreases
Respiration – animals and breathing
Biomass/numbers
Definition of HABITAT
‘Pyramids’ of different shapes
Food chains begin with plant material
Food web confusion
Only top consumers are predators
Herbivores and vegetarians are the same
No clear view of what an animal is
Humans – animals – we are not animals
Taxonomic groups – can’t distinguish
If it lives in water and swims it must be a fish
Photosynthesis – process
 Visualising gases going to leaves
 More logical to absorb nutrients through soil
Plants make food at night and respires at night
Water enters plants through leaves
“excrement” and egestion
All plants have flowers
When something dies it is gone-no cycling of energy
4
Misconceptions regarding:
Particles
Smaller as they gain more energy
Particles are solid balls
Atoms and cells the same
Confuse elements, molecules (terminology)
Size of particles – expand as heat applied
Expand or get squashed
Particles change with changes of state
Particles do not change state themselves
Bonds
Pressure and particles
Can’t believe everything made of particles
Don’t change size
Gases are air
spacing
Air has weight
Vacuums/sucking /blowing
Surface area/particle size
Melting = dissolving
Melting point and freezing point same
Language-diffusion
Conceptually difficult
Particles moving at same speed in a liquid
Pupils think there is air between nucleus and electrons
Particles further apart in a liquid than a solid
Freezing point is different to melting point
Particles expand when heated
Particle arrangement in liquids
Particles disappear
Particles ‘melt’
Particles are the same size as cells
Liquids cannot be compressed
Evaporation
Thicker liquid because more particles
Particles expand to fill up gaps
Closer together traps heat
Room temperature can get in
Behaviour of particles different in different materials
Particles like the earth – hot core
Heat as a particle/substance
Air in and out of particles
Heat lets it cool down
Attributing human attributes to particles
Particles stop moving when frozen
Can’t compress liquids
Wrong ideas of crystallise
Changes of state not connected
No links between gases and liquids
5
Misconceptions regarding:
Forces
Objects stop moving when force runs out, slowing moving objects
(‘run out of push’)
Balanced-difficult for constant speed
Speed and velocity
Force/pressure the same
No forces acting on stationary objects
Force and motion
Confusion between mass and weight/air pressure
Force and pressure
Concept of friction
Balanced forces when movement taking place
gravity
No gravity in space
Objects moving at constant speed have no resultant force acting
on them
pressure
Density-Dense=heavy
Act at a distant
Non contact force
Still working in space
 Different masses accelerate at different rates in a vacuum
 No gravity anywhere but on Earth – you don’t weigh anything on
the moon
Moon /earth/gravity
Equal/opposite – reaction?
Bigger the object – faster it falls
Opening parachute goes up/slows down
Light year(time)
Thin=weak and thick rope =strong – lighter materials can’t be
stronger
Terminology(eg proportional)
6
Misconceptions regarding:
Energy
Making energy
Energy is used up – not converted
What is it? – Abstract concept
Wasted?
Is a substance (fuels react with heat)
Can disappear or doesn’t disappear
Dissipation rather than destruction
Comes from somewhere
Spectrum of light – absorbtion of light
Types/forms?
Created/destroyed
Photosynthesis
Endo/exothermic
Different forms of energy water, wind, coal/electricity
Renewable/non renewable – mark schemes of acceptable terms
Heat and temperature are the same
Can’t have it both ways. Common teaching and reality
Series/parallel
Electricity – big problem- force of energy
Confusion about the ways of generating electricity and forms of
energy
Electricity is used up in a circuit
Confusion force/energy/nuclear energy
Heat ‘rises’
Abstract concept of radiation being electromagnetic wave
Electricity is a fuel
A car burns fuel and uses up energy – noisy car wasting energy
Wheels make energy
Vibrations generate heat
Car uses fuel (everyday language)
Law of conservation of energy
7
Further misconceptions from:
Sc2, 3 & 4
Sc2
Fertilisers are plant food
Respiration is the same as breathing
Plants don’t respire
Plants only respire at night
Plants get their food from the soil
The nucleus is like a brain (nucleus of an atom)
Plants breathe in CO2, animals O2
Respiration takes place in the lungs
Only mammals are animals
Sc3
Alkalis (the opposite of acids) aren’t dangerous
Dissolving is the same as melting
Weathering is the same as erosion
Rocks can be broken by freezing
Particles can be broken by freezing
Particles expand on heating
All metals are magnetic
Salts are the same as salt (NaCl)
Materials are just textiles/building materials
Particle same as visible grains e.g. in rocks
Air is good gas is bad
Sc4
Shining objects are sources of light.
Clashing current theory
Current is used up in a circuit
Energy is a material and has a mass (like a Mars Bar)
Heat is the same as temperature.
Thermal radiation is the same as radioactivity (radiation).
Light travels from the eye.
Pitch is the same as loudness.
Gravity = ‘downness
Parallel beams of light get dimmer the further they travel.
When an object is stationary, no forces are acting on it.
Heavy object fall faster than light objects.
Something stops moving because the force runs out.
General
Confusion between microbes/cells/particles
8
Models
Bell jar and balloons – Demo breathing system
Loop of rope to show current doesn’t go away – circuit model
Rope for current – tight grip.
Current – rope around the classroom, pupils hold on and act as
bulbs.
Making 3D cells.
Plastic bag with holes – Pressure in a liquid is the same.
Fair testing – diet and exercise.
Plastic bag for a cell.
Making fossils using plaster of paris.
Erosion – water down a shoot with sand in.
Solar system model showing rotating planets etc.
Rusting showing takes up oxygen:
Model arm – when you relax the arm
(antagonistic pairs of muscles)
Wet iron filings
Forces – Straws for bridges.
Planets distance – role play on school fields
Poppy beads break off for starch.
Chain beads to represent starch – glucose.
9
Analogies
Ammeter
A little devil counting electrons
Arteries and veins
Rubber and vacuum tubing
Atom Centres
Football pitch centre circle
Atoms
Football in the centre of a football pitch
Lego bricks
To show crystals - interlocking
Dissolving
Rice grain between peas.
DNA
Scrunched up cotton.
Electrical Current Fish swimming through water pipes.
Electricity
Role play with marbles.
Gas – released from hall.
Liquids – Moving from assembly.
Multicellular
Multi-national corporations.
Nerves
Telephone cables.
Particles
Solids – Assembly;
Pitch with flies flying round the terraces
Sperm
Swimming in an Atlantic of treacle.
Turgidity in cells
Balloons in a box
Unicellular
Own business.
Variation
Class data.
Building Site
Specialised cells – bricks roof
Shared money
purchase of car £1000 each share the car covalent molecules
Kinetic theory modelling
“bouncing about”
If your head was the size of the earth … an atom would be the size
of a pea.
Measure the solar system with metre rules.
Distance between electron and nucleus (KS4)
Hydrogen atom – electron is a walnut on the head of Nelson
(Nelson’s Column) the nucleus is a melon at the column’s base.
10
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
Jelly cells with sweets
for organelles.





Size
Diffusion
Division
Battery teacher

Electricity not used
up.
 Energy transfer.
 Battery as pushing.
 Resistance.
 DC.
 AC.



Parallel circuits
Energy delivery
Voltage










Relative sizes
Functions
Specialisation

Rope
Children
3D cells
Perspectives
Parts of a cell
3D understanding
Cytoplasm
Memory tool
Cell membrane layer
Cell wall (2 bags)
Nucleus
WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE
 Fixed sealed unit
 Scale
 All cells look the
same
 Colours
Electricity lines have
string in them!
Practicality
(movement through
membrane)
 No differentiation, all
cells are the same
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED

Use ICT to back up
observations, video
microscope.
 Many plant cells put
together.
 Moulds to make
different cells – sperm,
nerve and blood.
 Add a spring balance
to represent voltage.

Video/microscopes
to back up
11
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
Poppet beads



Digestions of starch
Enzymes can not be
used up
Peas/sand


The digestive system is
a long tube that starts
with the mouth and ends
with the anus.

Unwanted materials
pass through the
digestive system are
lost from the body
Bunsen tube
Pressure tubing
Small bore tubing
Blindfolded pupil in room
walking and running

Relative sizes of
artery, vein, capillary

Kinetic
theory/collision theory
–reaction rate
Two pupils each have
£1000 – want £2000 car
how can they buy it.

Covalent bondingsharing of electrons –
neither pupil owns car
Dissolving
Saturation


Breakdown of starch
could take place
without enzyme
Temperature
That digestion is a
very complicated
process
WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE
 Enzymes are little
people pulling
molecules apart
 Molecules are balls!
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED

Kinetic theory
Machine which
mechanically moved
balls in air as in bingo
machine – could you
tally the collisions

Link in to Key Stage
4

More enzymes/
people pulling
enzymes apart.
 Molecules are not
 Solubility –
dispersed but settled.
temperature
 Particle size
dependence
 The tube is the same Development of original
diameter all it’s length
concept to teach
 There are no
increasing complexity of
connections between
the process
other organs
particles have legs
12
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
Water pump
Inc water wheel
Inc split pipe


Current isn’t used up
can explain energy
change
 explains parallel
current splits
 Cells building blocks
 Specific cells
 Organs

Why cells run out


Relative distances

how thing get in and
out of cell
House=organism
House wiring=nervous
system
Beating heart=pump
Pea and beach ball
Model cell
(animal plastic
bag,wallpaper paste,
plasticine nucleus)
Tennis ball in stocking
leg
Electric current as water
flow
Current in circuit as
water through pipes
(Cell-pump, water pipes)
Size of earth and
sun

3D model of cell

peristalsis

Conservation of
current & resistance.
Cell provides the ‘push’
 Why current
decreases when you
have a parallel circuit
 Current is used up
 Cell pro
WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE
 Electricity is stored in
the cell.
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED

Scale it down – do it
outside. Local
landmarks.
Relative distances
muscles ‘stretch’
(where bolus is)
 Electricity can be
stored in the cell.
Wires are wide and
narrow
 Electricity is a
substance
 Electricity is like
water
Actually have a water
pump set up.

Doesn’t lead on to
voltage
 Why cells run out
 Energy

Keep it very simple.
Don’t use a box for a
pump, use a
waterwheel.
13
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
Weighing bag of coins in
a bank


How mass of one
atom was found
originally
Stadium
- Seated
- Standing
- Runners
When metals burn they
gain weight




How you can get
from one state to
another
To explain molecules
– don’t find mass of
one atom, but a group
Solids
Gases
Liquid
WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE
 That they may
imagine that you can
actually find mass of
one atom using a
balance

Metals gain weight
when heated

what add on from the  when metals burn
air
they become heavier
than blu-tack

the movement of air
in and out of the lungs

how air moves into
the lungs –inhaling
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED
Blu tack
Iron wool heated
Pigs lungs
Inflate the lungs when
the lungs deflate the air
rushes out due to the
change of air pressure

that the lungs are
blown up
14
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
Visking tubing for
digestion.


Products are carried
away in the
bloodstream

Why they form
compounds

Humanizes atoms.

difficult to explain
how electrons travel
down cathode/up the
anode to complete the
circuit

humanizes ions

same result every
time
Enzyme action on
starch – to allow it to
pass through the gut
wall
Using pupils to represent  Difference between
atoms (with coloured
compounds and
hats for different
mixtures and different
elements). Form bond
numbers of each atom
(hold hands) to represent to make compounds
compounds.
‘Moshpit’ analogy to
 Resistance –
represent the heating
particles movement
effect of a current
increasing with heat.
Electrolysis – cards to
 migration of ions to
represent ions
anode and cathode
Who’s got the worst
temper
Evaporation by rugby
league tables



WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE
 That it can only
happen to starch.
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED
A larger scale model to
show that some things
can pass through,
others not.
They can follow up by
down what each bit of
the model
represents.writing
fractional distillation
evaporation
competition
reactions
No odd results e.g.
Charlton winning league
15
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
Chromatography
People (size) + attraction
of molecules with
solvents
Sustainable/non
sustainable development
using the analogy of
sprint running and slow
jogging

Fat man in a lift (old style
lift)
Particle role play
Solids/liquids/gases use
people to model
Model arm – muscles –
elastic bands
Kids as particles
Atomic model card etc
polystyrene balls
non-sustainable
development will lead
to environmental/social
disaster – good to
explain meaning of
word “sustainable”
 intro to diffusion

particles movement
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
semi permeable
membranes
 distances- what a
particle is
structure of a
solid/liquid/gas
 expansion/conductio
n/convection,
dissolving
 antagonistic muscles
kinetic theory

3D nature of atoms
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED



WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE

spaces between
particles in a liquid
 could appear
particles get bigger


time collisions
/transfer of energy
 movement of
electrons
muscle appears to
get tighter
 direction of
movement/choice
Make kids more
bouncy/elastic
16
MODEL/ANALOGY
USED
WHAT IT CAN
EXPLAIN
Factory, roads, coal,
houses to explain
electricity

Lung model – bell jar
with balloons
give a more physical
example of current,
electrical energy, etc in
electricity
 Pressure changes.
 Diaphragm function
and relation to inflation
and deflation of lungs
 Main structure of
lungs/thorax
WHAT IT CAN’T
EXPLAIN
WHAT
MISCONCEPTIONS IT
CAN GENERATE





Rib movement
Internal structure of
lungs
 Gas exchange
 Wind pipe and link to
lungs
HOW IT MAY BE
IMPROVED
Ribs don’t move
Lungs are hollow
Diaphragm pulled
down by something not
contraction
 Windpipe is a hollow
tube
 No blood to carry
gases to and from
lungs
17
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy = Developing focused
questions
Rocks
Knowledge
What are the three types of rock?
Comprehension
How does water cause erosion?
Application
Why can’t igneous rocks have fossils?
Analysis
Rate of cooling is linked to size of crystals, which rocks cool fastest
and why (based on size of data)
Synthesis
What conditions are needed for metamorphic rock to form?
Which type of rock would make the best pavement slabs and why?
Evaluation
One unknown sample, one final acknowledgement on sedimentary
and analyse.
Explain how you might find a seashell fossil at the top of a
mountain.
18
Focussed Questions
The 4 W’s
What
What are cells?
What do you need to see them with?
What do the different animal cells do?
What is the difference between X and Y?
What do they look like?
What is it’s job?
Why
Why do we have different cells?
Why are cells different shapes?
Why are we made of cells?
Why are cells small?
Why is it that shape?
Why are plant/animal cells different?
When
when we grow what happens to cells?
When we die what happens to cells?
When do cells respire?
when do the stomach cells acid?
When do they become specialised?
When are they formed?
When was the term cell first used?
When do they die?
When are they used?
Where
Where are cells formed?
Where are the parts of the cell?
Where would you find specialised cells?
19
Developing questions about known misconceptions
MISCONCEPTION
QUESTION
Water comes in through the leaves
and petals.
Why are leaves waterproof?
Water is absorbed through the petals
and leaves.
How does water get into the plant?
Flowers absorb sunlight
What is the purpose of the flower?
Plant growth is better the hotter the
plant is/higher the temperature
Where does the plant make its food?
Do all plants have flowers?
Where does the carbon come from?
Will a plant live well in a hot oven?
20
INTERDEPENDENCE
MISCONCEPTION
Fertilisers as pesticides
QUESTION TO ASK
What is the difference
between …………
Watering the plant not the
Would the plant grow if you
soil
water the soil.
Heat needed for the plant to In which season does grass
grow
grow best.
Petals absorbing water
What happens when the
petals drop off.
No key words.
What is the scientific name
for this process?
Keep insects out.
When might plants need
insects?
Daily watering
Does it rain every day?
No gas exchange.
Why don’t plants grow on
the moon?
Kept in a moist place.
How do plants grow in a
desert?
No products
What are they doing
photosynthesis for?
Leaves aren’t important.
Why don’t plants have
mouths?
Water in through petals.
What are roots used for?
Heat from sun rather than
What form of energy do
light?
plants get from the sun?
Fertiliser/pesticide
What is the difference
between fertiliser and a
pesticide?
No CO2 or gas
What ingredients do plants
need to make food?
Site of photosynthesis
Why do plants need leaves?
21
Poems
1
There was a light lady called joule
Who CONSERVES her ENERGY in a pool
Her POTENTIAL was SOUND
And CHEMICALLY found
Her KINETICS was what made her move.
2
ENERGY is measured with the unit JOULE
This powers a fan which keeps you cool
The ENERGY the fan has is KINETIC
And that’s as far as we go, cause we’re pathetic!
3
JOULE CONSERVED her POTENTIAL
To trip the CHEMICAL LIGHT fantastic.
Which SOUNDS rather ENERGETICALLY KINETIC!
4
CHEMICAL ENERGY is the best,
KINETIC, SOUND, LIGHT and POTENTIAL are the rest.
We use it, can’t lose it as its CONSERVED
JOULE is the unit, the man’s experiments were absurd.
5
My CHEMICAL ENERGY has turned to KINETIC
As I grow more frenetic
At the top of the hill
My POTENTIAL is still
To be CONSERVED as a JOULE
No SOUNDS or LIGHT you fool.
22
6
James Prescott Joule
Was nobody’s fool
The praise that he got, he deserved.
He switched energy round
Light, kinetic and sound
And found it was always conserved.
7
The energy in light and sound
Never goes round
The joule came from a chemical
Converted it’s potential
8
Sound and light are energy
Kinetic and potential too
But without any energy
We would not be able to do!
9
There are many types of en-ergy
Kinetic, sound and light to see
The unit used is the joule
Don’t forget it and be a fool
23
10
Sound, light, kinetic or chemical
All energy is conserved even potential
11
Potential, chemical, light and sound
Are all types of energy that you might have found
It can be conserved or changed as a rule
It’s now all measured in the unit of a joule
12
You make sound as you move around
If the room is bright then that’ll be light
13
There was a young lady from Poole
Who thought she’d used up a joule
Potential was charged
Kinetic was blamed
But sound light and heat were conserved
14
There was an old gimmer called Crispin
Who struggled so much to get jokes in
To the delegates despair
They gave him a one
Just to get him out of their hair.
24