Let's Talk about Childhood Misconceptions!!

Let's talk about childhood misconceptions! Today during class we discussed common scientific misconceptions that many of us had as children and that many children still have. A misconception is defined as "a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding". Children are filled with imagination and wonders. Not being in school very long children have a lack of knowledge in certain subjects. Of course a child might believe that the sun comes up every morning and goes down every night because that is what they observe. However this is a common misconception because those that already learned about the solar system now know that the earth is constantly revolving as well as moving around the solar system and the sun is not "actually" coming up or down. In the class PowerPoint we outlined common misconceptions that we have personally had as children for the given topics.
The Solar System- The moon/sun follows us. The moon is made out of cheese. There’s a man on the moon. The sun goes down and it becomes the moon. The sun goes down and then comes back up (didn’t understand the sun’s rotation).
Mammals- Anything with four legs and fur must be a mammal- some misconceptions came from movies ex.) Bats drink blood.
Volcanoes- People were in the center of the volcano and press a button to make it erupt. Volcanoes are erupting constantly.
The Zoo- We did not know that animals are taken from their natural habitats to bring to public zoos. We had thought the animals were born and raised there and that the animals belonged there.
Green Plants- Trees, plants and veggies are not plants. Plants are not alive.
Human Reproduction- thought that the stork dropped you off, baby was considered a gift/present, Had no concept of reproduction.
Dinosaurs- Believed that they were a made up story. They were all bad and dangerous. They would come destroy my house and eat me.
Violent Weather - The rainstorm with intense wind would pick me up and blow me away. The twisters were going to suck my house up.
Space Travel- They could only travel to the moon and no other planet. Space ships keep the booster rocket even after orbit.
Rocks and Minerals- all minerals are diamonds. Rocks could only be one specific color.
Life in the Desert- Animals with fur cannot live in the desert. Animals don't need water to survive in the desert.
As a teacher it is extremely important to acknowledge misconceptions in the classroom. Misconceptions come from prior knowledge that children have developed from imagination, observation or from other people. Many children will have the same misconceptions and it is important that teachers know the misconception in order to address it and inform the students with the truth. Teachers can develop an entire lesson based off a misconception and could use the misconception to direct a lesson in a certain way. Constructivist teaching is the process in which teachers are accessing the students’ prior knowledge and building off of what they know. Misconceptions are what the students know prior to teaching the lesson, whether it’s right or wrong. We identify how student misconceptions relate to constructivist teaching so that we can take the student's ideas and build more engaging lesson plants around the topic. Constructivist teaching builds on misconceptions in that students will either assimilate or accommodate new information built on prior knowledge. Teachers must know misconceptions in order to design lessons which challenge students to assimilate or accommodate them. Constructivist teaching recognizes that each child brings results in different beliefs and knowledge.