Misconceptions (deel twee)

To answer a previous question-yes I have experienced some misconceptions about the natural world by students.  Recently, I found out from several students (as in 70% of them) that carbon dioxide comes from the sun and the oceans.  Hmmm.  We worked through it and established that there were several sources of carbon dioxide and the sun wasn't one of them.  I am still somewhat confused about the source of that misconception.  Often times I think the misconceptions I hear about are from a lack of knowledge vs. genuinely believing something.  For instance, the age of earth.  Sometimes students think it is anywhere from a few million years old to just over 4,000 years old.  There are reasons for both misconceptions.  Personally, I am interested in where their ideas originated.  However, as a public school teacher I don't think the classroom is the place to track there origins down.  As interesting as it is, there is also a high probability that it will lead into something that detracts from an academic environment.  Then of course there are some misconceptions and powerful judgments about the theory of evolution and global warming.



Click here to take a quiz.  See which misconceptions you have.