Title 1

Running head: Density Conceptual Change

Density Conceptual Change Illinois State University Shay Goff

Title 2 Abstract This paper will address the misconception of density and buoyancy of objects. There are several misconceptions that students have when dealing with density. The one this paper will discuss is the concepts of density and buoyancy. Many students do not understand that the buoyancy of an object is not only determined by the objects density but the medium the object is in. Peg Convery addressed this in her candle experiment on the video Mass Versus Density (Convery 2009). Many times students think that an object floating is dependant only on the object itself and not on the medium it is in (Dabagyan 2011). The New York Science Teacher listed density misconceptions as its top three. (Chemistry Misconcepttion). This paper will describe an experiment that will hopefully help students overcome this misconception.

Title 3 Conceptual Change The activity that is going to be described in this section will hopefully aid in student understanding of the concept of density and buoyancy. The activity will be described in detail along with the thought process that go along with this activity to help students overcome the misconception. The ultimate goal of this lesson is to help students understand that the density of the medium the object is in combined with the density of the object itself both determine whether it sinks or floats. Students have usually been introduced to the concept that rocks sink and wood floats. I start out with doing this demonstration. I ask students what the density of water is and then discuss that it is 1 g/ml if they do not know this already. I take a beaker with water in it and hold up a rock and ask students what will happen if it is placed in the water. They invariably say it will sink. I then drop the rock and it sinks. I then ask them if it has a density greater or less than one. The answer is greater than one and we go through the thought process of discussing if it is greater it sinks. I then get a piece of wood and ask them if it will sink or float and they say float and of course it does. I ask them, what is its density, and the usual response is less than one. I take a large beaker and place some dry ice in it, a terrarium works better if you have one, and let it sit for just a minute. While this is going on I take some bubbles and blow them and have the students watch and observe what happens. I then ask them if the bubbles have a density less than or greater than one. A lot of the time they will say greater than one because it sinks. I do not try to revise their knowledge right now and teach them the correct concept that it is not greater than one. This will come later on.

Title 4 I then blow some bubbles and let them fall into the beaker with the dry ice and they float. I then ask the students if the density of the bubbles are less than or greater than one and they are unsure of what to say. At this time I ask students why the bubbles floated in the beaker but not in air. I get many different answers and then I try and build on their answers to the question. I try and direct the discussion and help them learn for themselves that not only does an object sinking or floating depend on the objects density itself but the density of the medium in which it is in. I then discuss with the students, which has a greater density air or bubbles. Then I discuss with them which has a greater density dry ice (carbon dioxide) or bubbles. I try to help them understand the relationship between the object and the medium. We then discuss how an object sinking or floating is determined by both the object and the medium. Then to reinforce the concept and check for understanding I take a nail and ask students if it floats or sinks? I do not tell them in what. Hopefully the conversation will lead to them posing the question, In what? If they ask the question, in what, then hopefully they are starting to understand the concept and build new knowledge. I then take some mercury and float the nail in the mercury to reinforce the idea that it does depend on In what, because nails are usually supposed to sink because they are made of metal. Students seem to understand new concepts better if they can build on ones that they have previously learned. Situating learning in contexts that are familiar to students can serve to provide them with a cognitive anchor as they begin to explore new conceptions and branch out from their own (Weaver). I try to start students out with a small amount of background and information that they know and then build on that and change it to new knowledge.

Title 5 The constructivist thought says that learners must construct their own knowledge rather than absorb it from others (Weaver). Hopefully students will start to construct a model of density and buoyancy from what they already know and combine that with the new concepts that are being presented. The demonstration at the first of class with the water, rock, and wood is just an introduction to see where the students are in their thinking and to review some concepts they have already been taught. It is usually a good introduction to the lesson that will follow. I like starting out on familiar ground and then shocking them and building from there. In Weavers paper I liked the ideas that she states will cause conceptual change among students they are dissatisfaction, intelligibility, plausibility, and fruitfulness (Weaver). When a student is dissatisfied with a concept they will try and replace it with a new concept. If students can observe an event that their old concept cannot explain they will have to replace it with a new one. This is a good way to start students to think about the concept and a new possible better one. If we are never in a situation where our knowledge fails us, we have no need to revise it (Mulford and Robinson pg. 739). This is a reason that students must be exposed to an event that does not fit what they have been taught. They must be ready to revise their knowledge and be ready to accept new ideas and concepts. When the students are exposed to the bubble floating on the carbon dioxide but not in air they must change what they know. The carbon dioxide looks just like regular air but the densities are different. Now seeing the same object sink in air and float in another brings up a whole new perspective to the concept of density.

Title 6 The explanation section of the demonstration will hopefully fulfill the other two concepts that it must be intelligible, which means that the learner is able to understand the new concept and plausible, which means it can be used to explain observations and solve problems. I try and take students to a new level of understanding by explaining how the event occurs and the science behind it. Density should take on a new meaning for students at this time. The fruitfulness part of the lesson is the example at the end with the nail and the mercury. If it works for bubbles and carbon dioxide then it should work for other situations also, which it does. The nail and mercury is another example of the bubbles floating in air but not carbon dioxide. When doing this experiment I like students to come up with their own ideas and explanations of events that have occurred. I liked the statement Roadruck made in the On the Level demonstration when he said that we as teachers need to develop the art of questioning (Roadruck 2009). Students seem to grasp the concepts better and place them in the knowledge base if they can help come up with them and form their own ideas. This also goes along with the constructivist view that students build their own knowledge. I enjoyed Lewiss discrepant event Sewer Lice because of the idea that he did not tell students what occurred and let them believe what they wanted whether it was true or not (Lewis 2009). This has a place in the chemistry classroom and is of great value. I not did use this in my demonstration because I was trying to get students to learn a concept and not just spark interest. Students are used to having density and buoyancy being explained using water because it is common and easy. Exposing students to new observations that bubbles will float will take some new knowledge on their part and hopefully foster learning a new concepts. The ability to

Title 7 construct new knowledge and revise concepts in the brain is ultimately up to the learner but us as educators can help mold and facilitate ideas for learning. Henry David Thoreau stated It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know. If we can get learners to reconstruct their knowledge through discrepant events then learning can take place.

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References Brainy Quotes. (n.d.) retrieved September, 20, 2011 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_david_thoreau.html Chemistry Misconceptions. (n.d.), Retrieved from http://newyorkscienceteacher.com Convery, P. (2009). Density Versus Mass, Retrieved September, 19, 2011, from http://elearning.flinnsci.com Dabagyan, E. (n.d.), What Makes Things Float?, Retreived September, 19, 2011 from http://www.csun.edu/~eed39911/coursework/690/Density%20Misconceptions%20Paper. pdf Lewis, B. (2009). Sewer Lice. Retreived September, 15, 2011 from http://elearning.flinnsci.com Mulford, D. and Robinson, W. (2002, June). Journal of Chemical Education Vol. 79 No. 6. pp. 739-744. Roadruck, M. (2009). On the Level, Retrieved September, 15, 2011 from http://elearning.flinnsci.com Weaver, G. (n.d.),Teaching to Achieve Conceptual Change, Retreived September 15, 2011 from https://blackboard.ilstu.edu/webct/, pp. 35-45.