Abstract
Fifty-four elementary school students were interviewed to investigate their conceptions about air. The interviewees were 2nd, 4th and 6th graders from three elementary schools in the Taipei area, which were located in an urban, suburban, and r ural area respectively. The study results showed that more than ninety percent students from grade 2 held the concepts of "air is colorless and odorless", "air is all around us", and the incipient idea of "air occupies space". From grade 2 to grade 6 the proportion of students with the concepts of "wind is formed when air moves", "air exerts pressure", "hot air goes upward", "water vapor exists in air", "gas has its own weight" and the further understanding on "air occupies space" increased.. Among the ta rget concepts, "air expands when encountering heat", and "it shrinks when cooled" was the hardest for the students to learn, and the following were "gas has its own weight", "water vapor exists in air" and "wind is formed when air moves". Oxygen and carbo n dioxide were the most familiar gases to the 4th and 6th graders. More students from grade 6 could illustrate how to produce and identify these two gases, however most of them paid particular stress on respiration, photosynthesis and whether it could fac ilitate burning. Based on the research results, the appropriate learning graders for these target concepts were suggested and educational implications were provided.
| Keywords: | air; interview |
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