Product Description

When children begin secondary school, they already have knowledge and ideas about many aspects of the natural world from their experiences both in primary classes and outside school. This collection of support materials is designed especially for teachers of the early years in secondary school to give guidance both on the ideas which children are likely to bring with them and also on using these ideas to help pupils to make sense of their experiences in science lessons. The materials are in 24 sections, structured around three themes - life and living processes, materials and their properties and physical processes. Included in each section is a science map identifying key science ideas and also a set of learning guides which give detailed advice on helping children to develop these ideas. Written in collaboration with teachers, field-tested in schools and suitable for use with any published science scheme, these materials should be a useful resource for all science teachers who are planning teaching schemes and developing science lessons within the National Curriculum.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97060 in Books
• Published on: 1994-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

How can you teach science without reading this?
Any teacher who has ever stood in the front of a class teaching science will, at some time, have encountered some amazing misconceptions held by their pupils. These ideas have come from the children's own life experience.

The late Rosalind Driver and her team at the Children's Learning in Science Research Group at Leeds University have put together a book that looks in detail at many of the common misconceptions held by children in the field of science. It looks in detail at how children's understanding changes over time. This understanding, which is closely related to cognitive development, must affect the teaching of science. To teach science without understanding the nature of these misconceptions would be criminal.

This well written book details the research that has been done into the children's misconceptions, but does not suggest how to overcome the misconceptions. However, knowing the misconceptions that are held will enable you the teacher to target you teaching better and so deal with the misconception.

A revealing and sometimes amusing book. No science teacher should be without it.

Absolutely essential in lesson planning
I bought this book as a student teacher on the recommendation of my tutors. It is now an integral part of my lesson planning as it enables me to anticipate pupil misconceptions. The book examines childerens ideas about the natural world topic by topic, highlighting some commonly held beliefs (such as plants feeding from soil, air being a pure substance and all metals being attracted to a magnet). In using this book I have become more aware of the misconceptions that pupils (and adults!) hold in their understanding of science and can attempt to challenge these ideas before teaching the scientifically accurate idea.