3.0+Rationale

Rationale for Energy Transfer and Transformation Teacher Resource Book
A great deal of research indicates that students, especially at the Middle School level, have many strongly held misconceptions about energy content. According to Tiberghien (1983) and Tomasini & Balandi (1987), middle school students do not explain the process of heating and cooling in terms of the heat being transferred. Some think that the cold is being transferred from a colder to a warmer object, or that heat and cold are transferred at the same time. Students often think objects cool down or release heat spontaneously; without being in contact with a cooler object ((Kesidou, 1990; Wiser, 1986). Although specially designed instruction appears to give students a better understanding about heat transfer than traditional instruction, some difficulties often remain (Tiberghien, 1985; Lewis, 1991). Therefore it is important to provide students with as much inquiry, hand-on experience with these concepts as possible.

According to Solomon (1985), students believe energy is associated only with humans or movement, is a fuel-like quantity which is used up, or is something that makes things happen and is expended in the process. Upper elementary-school students tend to associate energy only with living things, in particular with growing, fitness, exercise, and food (Black and Solomon, 1983). It is also often not clear to students in this age group that some forms of energy, such as light, sound, and chemical energy, can be used to make things happen (Carr & Kirkwood, 1988).

In relation to the study of light energy, many early middle school students do not understand that light is something that travels from one place to another. Middle school students have an especially difficult time comprehending that ordinary objects reflect light. According to Anderson and Smith (1983) and Guesne (1985) the conception that the eye sees without anything linking it to the object persists after traditional instruction in optics; however, some 5th-graders can understand seeing as "detecting" reflected light after specially designed instruction.

Additionally, Magnusson and Palincsar (2005) state that, “the study of light gives children an accessible opportunity to see the world differently and to challenge their existing conceptions. Investigations in which students directly observe phenomena, serve several critical functions.” They go on to state the importance of experiments which return unexpected results. This experience helps to address the student’s misconceptions.

As referenced in “Finding a List of Science Misconceptions”, Hapkiewicz (1992) states several misconceptions students often have concerning sound. They include the following: · Sounds can be produced without using any material objects. · Human voice sounds are produced by a large number of vocal cords that all produce different sounds. · You can see and hear a distinct event at the same moment. · Sounds cannot travel through liquids and solids. · When waves interact with a solid surface, the waves are destroyed.

Due to the many common misconceptions related to the understanding of energy, this TRB was designed to include activities that will help students begin to think differently.

Donovan, S.M. and Bransford, J.D. __How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom__. 2005. National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. [|www.musc.edu/grad/NSF/**Sound**mary.doc] http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/ch15/findings.htm
 * References:**