Using the Analogy between the Flow of Water and that of an Electric Current in the Science Class

Abstract

In the national curriculum, the electric current wasn't treated as the flow of free electrons. Then the model of the flow of water came to be used in order to treat this subject in science textbooks. In these textbooks, current and voltage were explained in terms of water current and fall. In this research project, the guidance method of a scientific analogy was investigated, based on the actual use of the analogy between a water current and an electric current circuit. As a result, there were many junior high school students who used the analogy based on objective resemblances in the first stage of study. These junior high school students then became able to use the analogy to describe an electric current circuit in a scientific manner.