A STUDY ON TEACHING MATERIALS AND TEACHING PROCEDURES FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING PUPILS' UNDERSTANDING -THROUGH THE GUIDANCE FOR THIRD GRADERS' LEARNING OF "AIR AND WATER"-

Abstract

It is said that when popguns are given to third graders as a teaching material for the purpose of teaching the elasticity of air, they handle them with keen interest. However, through the survey conducted when they became fourth graders, it has turned out that they did not understand that they had been taught about the elasticity of air. Therefore, in this paper, the authors presumed that their failure to understand the elasticity of air might be attributed to the teaching materials and teaching procedures, and examined the use of the push rod rocket as a more effective teaching material and better teaching procedures. As a result, the following facts have been clarified from the present research: (1) It would be more effective for the pupils' better understanding of the elasticity of air to use the push rod rocket than to use the popgun in the introductory stage of the unit, and then the popgun in the final stage. (2) The popgun made of an empty mayonnaise bottle may become an obstacle to the pupils' process of thinking in understanding the elasticity of air. (3) For the understanding of the elasticity of air, syringes and clyster pumps are effective as teaching materials. (4) A water pistol (a kind of popgun in which water is filled instead of air) should not be used for the experiment of making sure that water cannot be compressed.