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Change, constancy, and measurement Concepts

See also evolution (change) and equilibrium.

Initial perceptual naive misconceptions (any age)

Misconceptions (Explanations, Naive understanding, Misconceptions, or Perceptual responses)

Beginning (preschool - 7 years)

Concepts

Change

  1. Clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described.
  2. There are more stars in the sky than can be easily counted.
  3. They are not scattered evenly and are not the same brightness or color.
  4. The sun can be seen only in the day time.
  5. The moon can be seen sometimes at day and sometimes at night.
  6. The sun, moon, and stars all appear to move in the sky.
  7. The moon looks a little different every day and the same again about every four weeks.
  8. Earth is a planet.
  9. Gravity pulls objects toward the Earth.

Constancy

  1. Somethings stay the same and some things change.

Measurement

  1. Properties can be counted.
  2. Conservation of number- the number of objects does not change with the position of the objects.
  3. Length of an object does not change when its position is changed or its shape is altered by bending.
  4. Conservation of length.
  5. Objects can be used to compare other objects.
  6. Measurement is a way of detecting change.
  7. Time is the measurement of years divided into seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, decades, centuries.
  8. Linear measurement is the distance between two points.
  9. Volume is the measurement of space an object occupies.
  10. Area measures the surface of an object.
  11. A standard unit of measurement helps communication.
  12. When the thermometer goes up the temperature is hotter.
  13. Measurement helps in making better observations.
  14. Scales measure mass and weight.
  15. Measuring cups measure volume.
  16. Measurements can be compared.
  17. Measurement is used in everyday life (recipes, plans, designing, building).
  18. Time is communicated in standard units.
  19. The duration of an event from the beginning to the end is measured in time.
  20. Time represents past, present, and future events.

Intermediate (7 years - 11 years)

Concepts

Change

  1. Some things may have properties that change and properties that don't change.
  2. Properties of matter, position of objects, motion, form, function of systems all change.
  3. Change varies in rate, scale, and pattern.
  4. Some changes occur in patterns when the changes are looked at in different directions, flipped, or reflected.
  5. Things change in steady repetitive or irregular ways.
  6. Sometimes in more than one way at a time.
  7. Drawing pictures, making charts, graphs, or taking measurements helps to see change.
  8. Observed changes in properties can be attributed to changes of other variables and used to exlplain cause and effect for the observed change.

Constancy

  1. Objects, properties, and events stay the same or happen in similar ways.
  2. Constancy enables people to understand the universe.
  3. Almost anything has limits on how big or small it can be.

Measurement

  1. Properties and change of properties can be quantified.
  2. All measurement is relative to a unit, usually a standard unit.
  3. Scale is proportional.
  4. Measurement helps in making more accurate observations.
  5. Quantitative estimates of familiar lengths, weights, and time intervals can be confirmed by measurement.
  6. Mass does not change when the shape or position of an object is changed.
  7. Conservation of mass.
  8. Volume of a substance does not change when its shape does.
  9. Conservation of volume.
  10. Measurement helps in making better observations.
  11. Rulers are used to measure linear measurement.
  12. Scales measure mass and weight.
  13. Measuring cups measure volume.
  14. Measurements can be compared.
  15. Measurement is used in everyday life (recipes, plans, designing, building).
  16. Rate is based on time Standard units include: Time is measure in units of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries.
  17. Time is used to order events.
  18. Twenty-four hours in a day, about 30 days in a month, 365 days in a year, 52 weeks in a year, 12 months in a year.
  19. Calendar is used to measure time.
  20. Clocks are used to measure time.
  21. Clocks can be analog and digital.
  22. A day is divided into daytime and nighttime.
  23. Time is determined by Earth's movement.
  24. Time is cyclic (seasons, days of weeks, months).
  25. Volume standard units are ml, liter, cup, pint, quart, gallon.
  26. Mass standard units are g, kg, pounds, ounces, tons.
  27. Linear measurement standard units are cm, m, km, inch, foot, yard, mile.
  28. Temperature measures hot and cold.
  29. Degrees in Celsius and Fahrenheit are standard units of temperature.

Literate (11+)

Concepts

Change

  1. Properties of systems that depend on volume, such as weight and capacity, change proportionally according to area and surface tension.
  2. Physical and biological systems often change until they become stable and then they remain the same unless the environment changes.
  3. Finding out how big or small something can be is sometimes as revealing as knowing what the usual value is.
  4. Many systems contain feedback mechanisms that limit changes to specific ranges.
  5. Equations can be used to summarize how the quantity of something changes over time in response to other changes.
  6. Change can include trends and cycles.
  7. Energy can be transferred and matter can be changed, however the sum of the matter and energy in systems remains the same.

Constancy

  1. Objects, properties, and events may change but much about them remains constant.
  2. Constancy makes the universe understandable.
  3. A system may stay the same because nothing is happening or because things are happening to counterbalance each other.
  4. Symmetry or lack of it may determine properties of many objects (molecules, crystals, organisms, and designed structures).
  5. Things that change in cycles (seasons, body temperature) can be described by the cycle length, frequency, highest and lowest value, and when the occur.
  6. Cycles can range from thousands of years to billionths of a second.
  7. As a system get more complicated we can gain understanding by using summaries of average, range, and describing the typical properties of the system.

Measurement

  1. All measurement has error.
  2. Scale is a proportional relationship of characteristics, properties, or relationships within a system as its dimensions are increased or decreased.
  3. Rate involves a measure of change for a part relative to a whole (birth rate as part of population growth and comparing one measured quantity to another measured quantity (km per hour).

 

Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes
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