Understandings on the Origin of Sands by Elementary School, Lower Secondary School, and University Students, and Problems on the Lesson of Rock Weathering

Abstract

The purposes of this research are to exhibit understandings on the origin of sands by elementary school, lower secondary school, and university students, and to discuss problems on the lesson of rock weathering. The fifth-grade students of elementary school have a variety of ideas on the origin of sands. After the lesson of stream water, many students explain the origin of sands by two models: erosion model (29.9%) or collision model (25.6%), rather than weathering model (0%). The percentage of the students who prefer the erosion model increases to 52.5% after the lesson of rock weathering and erosion in lower secondary school. The percentage of the students who prefer the weathering model is only 8.8%. The results exhibit that the erosion model and the collision model are acquired by the lesson of stream water in elementary school and that the erosion model is strengthened by the lesson of erosion in lower secondary school. Introduction of a lesson of soil may help secondary school students understand the sand-grain formation by rock weathering.