PRACTICAL STUDIES
A study on children’s naive concepts of the embryonic development of killifish (Oryzias latipes) before studying it in elementary school science
1994 Volume 34 Issue 4 Pages 328-335
Details
1994 Volume 34 Issue 4 Pages 328-335
In this study, the present author attempted to clarify children’s naive concepts of the embryonic development of killifish, a topic which has seldom been attempted in the past.
The author tried to (1) examine whether the children had some naive concepts of the embryonic development of killifish or not before they were taught about it in elementary school science, (2) categorize the children’s naive concepts of this, if any concepts had been identified by (1), and (3) based upon these categories, analyze and consider each child’s naive concept of the development of Killifish.
His findings include: (1) children who had not learned about the development of killifish yet already held some naive concepts of it, (2) the children’s naive concepts of this could be divided into four categories, (3) more than 60% of the children exmined in the fourth grade showed awareness of some concepts of epigensis, but none of them had a firm grasp of the concept, and (4) some concepts of the development of animals similar to those held by the ancient Greeks (including Aristotle) were found among the children.
