Water is critical to the existence of Earth in its current form; therefore, it stands to reason that a student's science education experiences ought to support the development of increasingly sophisticated ideas about water in socio‐ecological systems. Despite the significance of water, it has tended not to receive systematic treatment in the science curriculum. A framework is advanced to help educators and curriculum developers conceptualize water systems in the science curriculum. The framework is composed of physical dimensions of water systems and aspects of water systems understandings. This framework can be used to plan for curriculum, instruction, and assessment; it can also be used to organize a review of existing research on student ideas about water and associated misconceptions. Misconceptions that have been documented regarding the various physical dimensions of water systems (surface water, groundwater, atmospheric water, water in biotic systems, and water in engineered systems) are discussed. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1178. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1178
This article is categorized under:
Engineering Water > Planning Water
Science of Water > Hydrological Processes
Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented