Misconceptions in 5-6 Year Old Children: Formation of a Cloud

Abstract

Many phenomena and events in which children are included are suitable to be researched and discovered by children within the scope of science education. Children ask many questions while researching the scientific facts and phenomena they are curious about and learn new concepts. In this process, it is essential to teach the concepts children will learn and the new education to be formed. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the concept of cloud, which mainly attracts children's attention, and the current conceptual knowledge and misconceptions about cloud formation. For this purpose, the phenomenology pattern was used in the research. The study group consisted of 60-72 month-old children studying in an independent kindergarten affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Antalya. A total of 12 children and one teacher were included in the study. The research used the 'Personal Information Form', ‘Children's Scientific Concepts Evaluation Form' and 'Teacher Interview Form for Science Education' as data collection tools for children and their teachers. The data were analyzed by the descriptive analysis method. Findings obtained from children were presented in the form of themes by coding. As a result of the research, it was determined that children had concept deficiencies and misconceptions about the formation of the cloud and that there were errors in the formation of meaning. In addition, teachers' suggestions were made to evaluate and change children's misconceptions.

An Analysis of the Development of Preschoolers’ Natural Science Concepts from the Perspective of Framework Theory

“…The result was 53 articles remaining, and out of these, 28 articles were chosen focusing on theoretical variation and diverse natural science content. The fields which were included were: children's perceptions of the Water cycle and Cloud formation [27,28], Evaporation [29], Light [10], Heat [30], Shadow [31], Lunar phases [32], Thermometer [33], Contraction and expansion (iron heated ball) [34], Combustion (candle) [35], Friction [13,36], Animal taxonomy/animal-environment specificity/adaptation [11,37,38], Aliveness [39], Fungi [40], Germs [41], Environmental biology [42], Gardening and early math [43], Understanding of food [44], Conceptions of Water, Molecules, and Chemistry [45], Molecules and atoms [46], Rocks [47], Water Physics [48], Sound in space [49] and Density [23]. The first article included was published in 1985, with an increasing number of published works after 2010 (See Figure 3).…”

“…Water cycle and cloud formation [27,28] Understanding all the necessary scientific fragments of the water cycle. Specifically, that rain is water, clouds consist of tiny water droplets or ice crystals, from clouds, rain water does not disappear when it hits the ground, and that rain water evaporates and becomes a cloud when condensed.…”