Formation of Electric Current Concept―Intensity of an Electric Current in a Closed Circuit―

Abstract

The concept of conservation of electric current that the intensity of a current is maintained equally at any point in a closed circuit is one of the most fundamental concepts. The purpose of the present study is to investigate children's conception of the intensity of the current and its changes with age. The subjects were children from fifth to ninth grade. The closed circuit used for this investigation was composed of one dry cell and one or two flashlight bulbs. As to the intensity of the current at several points in the circuit, the children answered by choosing one out of several items described in words and by writing the numerical value. The results showed that the two types of children's answers had a good agreement with each other irrespective of the correctness of the answer and that children held various conceptions as to the intensity of the current. It was also found that the concept of conservation of electric current gradually developed with children's learning and was completely established in the eighth grade.