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Children's Ideas About the Solar System
Below are common ideas children in grades K-6 have about this topic,
compiled from research on children's ideas about science (see the
Session 1 Children's Ideas Bibliography).
Consider what evidence might refute this idea, and why a child would
be
likely to believe this?
1. Children's theories of the origin of the solar system
and the Earth include: 1) the solar system has always been there
2) the Sun collided with another celestial body to create the
planets and 3) the origin of the Earth involved explosions or
collisions of stars and galaxies.
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The solar system formed from a cloud of dust and gas
that, as gravity brought the material closer together,
began to spin. This cloud eventually collapsed into a
flat disk, and the planets formed through the accretion,
or accumulation, of matter, which further coalesced into
individual planets. The use of the term "Big Bang" may
skew children's ideas about the Earth's beginnings, but
the term does remind us that there was an event which
started the universe’s growth, and that the universe
is still expanding today. Children's limited perception
of the passage of time can influence their ideas of the
permanence or 'forever-ness' of the solar system. Hide
Response
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2. Earth is flat and motionless.
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The Earth, like the other planets, is spherical in shape.
This is why, even with the strongest telescope, we can’t
see straight across from one end of the country to the
other. The Earth is not motionless — as with every
other planet in our solar system, the Earth rotates on
its axis and orbits the Sun. The fact that we cannot
feel any motion as Earth rotates perpetuates the perspective
that the Earth is motionless. Evidence of movement, like
night and day and the seasons, help us understand otherwise. Hide
Response
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Bibliography:
Marques, L. and Thompson, D. “Portuguese Students’ Understanding
at Ages 10, 11, and 14 – 15 of the Origin and Nature of the
Earth and the Development of Life.” Research in Science
and Technological Education 15, no 1 (1997): 20 – 51.
Sadler, P. “Misconceptions
in Astronomy.” The Second
Proceedings of the International Seminar on Misconceptions in
Science and Mathematics. Ithaca, NY: Department of Education,
Cornell University,
1987.
Samarapungavan, A., Vosniadou, S. and Brewer, W. “Mental
Models of the Earth, Sun and Moon: Indian Children's Cosmologies.” Cognitive
Development 11, no 4 (1996): 491 - 512.
Sharpe, J. “Children’s
Astronomical Beliefs: A Preliminary Study of Year 6 Children
in Southwest England.” International
Journal of Science Education 18, no 6 (1996): 685 – 712.
Vosniadou,
S. “Conceptual Development in Astronomy,” in
The Psychology of Learning Science, edited by Glynn, Yeany, and
Britton. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991.
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