{"id":2838,"date":"2020-04-08T13:28:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T17:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=2838"},"modified":"2020-04-08T13:28:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T17:28:55","slug":"addressing-the-elephant-in-the-room-common-misconceptions-in-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2020\/04\/addressing-the-elephant-in-the-room-common-misconceptions-in-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Common Misconceptions in Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plants can only reproduce asexually. Daughters inherit most of their characteristics from their mothers and sons from their fathers. Eating sugar causes kids to become hyperactive. These are all examples of common misconceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A misconception is defined as: a belief that contradicts the currently accepted state of scientific evidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/41.media.tumblr.com\/111187063d0ff749a1bb25be7ed3f175\/tumblr_nplqxbFQn31rdredko1_1280.png?ssl=1\" alt=\"science myths misconceptions unexplained-events \u00e2\u0080\u00a2\" \/><figcaption>Commonly held misconceptions<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout history, common misconceptions have been passed down from generation to generation. Whether it&#8217;s for religious beliefs or just simple misunderstandings, it is important to address these and understand what makes them misconceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to teaching science in the classroom, it can be difficult to address these misconceptions and discuss them with your students, for several reason:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The misconception is derived from a religious belief<\/li><li>The misconception is something that the student learned at a very young age<\/li><li>The misconception is something that is believed by all of the student&#8217;s family<\/li><li>It is human behavior to construct ideas based on prior knowledge<\/li><li>Students base ideas off past experiences which can be incomplete and incorrect<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is a video that gives some interesting misconceptions that are commonly held in the science community!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Crazy Science Misconceptions\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-RlDci8bOck?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Clearly misconceptions in the science classroom are an issue that every teacher has. So the question is, how do we address them? Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tip #1: Help students understand why you want them to change their belief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order for students to change their belief, they first need to understand why they are doing so. If a student has held a certain belief for the majority of their lifetime, they may not want to change it unless they are shown exactly why they need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coolschoolcentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/CS-teacher-turnover.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Addressing Teacher Turnover in Public Schools\" \/><figcaption>Explain to your students why it is important to understand a certain topic fully.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tip #2: Use Hands-On-Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the biggest tools you can use in helping students understand why a certain idea is a misconception is using hands on experiments to allow students to see first hand an explanation for something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An example of this would be that there is a dark side of the moon. If you set up an experiment with a lamp at the center and a moon revolving around it, students can see that what appears to be a dark side of the moon is just a shadow cast on the moon based on its position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/edu\/images\/activities\/newmoon.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Moon Phases Activity | NASA\/JPL Edu\" \/><figcaption>An example of a moon phases experiment<br><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/physics.weber.edu\/schroeder\/ua\/MoonsOnSticks.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Understanding Astronomy: The Moon and Eclipses\" \/><figcaption><br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tip #3: Addressing What Is Appropriate Inside vs. Outside the Classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Addressing certain misconceptions can be a sticky situation. For example, a religious student might believe that humans walked the earth at the same time as dinosaurs. While their religion might tell them this, the scientific community disagrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s3.amazonaws.com\/lowres.cartoonstock.com\/religion-scientist-science_vs_religion-holy_books-answers-philosopher-cman366_low.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Science Vs Religion Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from ...\" \/><figcaption>Science vs. Religion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In these types of situations, it&#8217;s crucial to tell your students that they have the freedom to believe what they want to believe <strong>outside the classroom<\/strong>. However, in the science classroom, you must follow the ideas that the science community accepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Helping your students to understand that your classroom has specific rules and accepted theories can help to crush the common misconceptions that are seen in the classroom and allow for more complete and thorough learning and understanding of the scientific world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Helping students to view the difference between fact and misconception is crucial to a learning environment that allows for discussion and thorough understanding. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EDT432?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EDT432<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/scienceteaching?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#scienceteaching<\/a><\/p>&mdash; emma (@emmamariesimps) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/emmamariesimps\/status\/1247938986229796869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 8, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Plants can only reproduce asexually. Daughters inherit most of their characteristics from their mothers and sons from their fathers. Eating sugar causes kids to become <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2020\/04\/addressing-the-elephant-in-the-room-common-misconceptions-in-science\/\" title=\"Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Common Misconceptions in Science\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2785,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[160],"class_list":["post-2838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc","tag-edt432-scienceteaching"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2785"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}