Abstract
In preparation for an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of teaching conservation principles, we showed a large number of Grade 8 students two cubes of exactly the same size but with very different masses, and two other cubes of very different sizes but with the same mass (confirmed using scales). Students were then asked to predict the extent of the water level rise which would occur if each cube of each pair were to be placed in similar beakers of water and submerged. Initially almost all predicted on the basis of mass being the significant factor. A teaching sequence followed in which students interacted with different objects and measured water displacement. Following this they were retested on the same task and many now predicted that the rise of water level would depend only on the volume of the object being submerged. On the other hand some still stated that only mass would be important, and others believed a balance between the two would be the determining factor.
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Dawson, C.J., Rowell, J.A. Snapshots of uncertainty: A new tool for the indentification of students' conceptions of scientific phenomena. Research in Science Education 25, 89–100 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356462
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02356462