Introduction
Misconception is considered as “any unfounded belief that does not embody the element of fear, good luck, faith, or supernatural interventions” (Hancock, 1940, p. 208). This can be also misunderstandings, misleading or misinterpretating ideas and facts (Barrass, 1984).
This particular essay aims at explaining some of the misconceptions that kindergarten students have concerning the behavior of the sun. The conceptual frameworks of all the kindergarten students are developed from their day to day experiences, and as they mature up, they get new perspectives about life and things around them.
Nevertheless, children’s understanding of the world and everything that surrounds them runs counter to many scientific explanations. For instance, a lot of kindergarten students have numerous misconceptions about the sun.
Misconception
Some pupils after being asked “Where does the sun go at night?” argue that it disappears, runs away from the moon, goes behind the moon, is covered by the cloud up or goes to sleep. This type of answers shows how the pupils relate the behavior of the sun to what they normally see around.
Other students when they are asked about what the sun is argue that it is a ball of fire, something that reflects light, a kind of a foil or something that is shiny (Sweetland’s, 2011).
Children have always thought their way in trying to explain or analyze the occurrences of nature. So, there are many misconceptions of the sun, there are correct answers to some assumptions or incorrect statements that children make trying to explain the behavior of the sun.
Correct scientific explanations
The sun moves from east to west across the sky
Answers:
The sun actually appears to be moving from east to west across the sky. This is due to the clockwise rotation of the earth; the sun moves behind a cloud. The clouds are actually the ones that move across the sky between the sun and earth, so the sun does not come up on stormy days.
The sun is still in the same place in the sky, but the thickness of the clouds prevent the light from getting through them. When the sun goes down the moon comes up.
The orbits of the sun and that of the moon do not depend on each other. Sometimes the moon comes out during the day, but the brightness of the sun makes it invisible. The above mentioned are the main truths about our sun. A kindergarten child should be given detailed information for him/her to grasp the facts of earth science.
The correct explanation of where the sun goes during the night is that the earth is always in a constant clockwise motion when the sun is in the place when we seeit, we call this period daytime. As the day goes by, the earth slowly turns on its own axis (Kagan, 2011).
Finally, when the sun is in the position when we do not see it, this is called night time. Therefore, the sun does not hide from the moon or go to sleep or disappear. Another correct answer is on what is the sun. The sun is not a ball of fire, or a shiny object, or something that reflects the light.
The sun is actually a star. There is no difference between our sun and the rest of the stars, the sun is a star which is the closest one to us (Cain, 2009). Children with their naĂŻve mind set cannot imagine things which really conflict with scientific explanation, and that is why they need someone to explain to them some occurrences, helping them to understand facts and reasons correctly.
For us to really eliminate most of the misconception about the sun, it is better we have a look at some of the major facts about the sun. The sun in itself is just one of billions of stars. The sun happens to be the nearest star to the earth. It takes 27 days for the sun to make a complete rotation on its own axis.
The sun is currently a middle aged star. It is about four and a half billion years old. The sun will keep shining for the next five billion years. The surface of the sun is known as the photosphere. 10,000 Fahrenheit is the temperature of the photosphere (Bernard, 2001).
The core of the sun is about 27 million Fahrenheit. The diameter of the sun is approximately 870, 000 miles. The sun compared to the earth is about 109 times wider and 333,000 times heavier. It is so bright that it is not advisable to gaze at the sun directly.
It is impossible for the earth to support life without the sun. For everything to support life, it must receive light and heat from the sun. In the entire solar system, the sun is the largest mass. The moon receives its light from the sun; it does not have its own light. In the universe, stars are the only objects that can emit their own light. Without the sun, there is no life.
The major obligation of kindergarten teacher is to ensure that the naĂŻve ideas of a child are organized in a rational concept that is explicit and accurate. Nevertheless, regardless of whether the process involves replacing, discarding, reorganizing or developing the former knowledge, there is a concern that raises two opposing views that deal with the occurrence of conceptual development in science.
The teacher should be able to help the child to understand the concepts of nature and earth science without raising any points of concerns. Children need someone who will help them to see the real facts to have a mental picture of the main issue of concern.
There are many misconceptions that surround a child’s life and with no one around to show the way, a kindergarten student can grow up having a very misguided perspective about life and things in particular which can be a very big setback to the advancement of that child.
References
Barrass, R. (1984). Some misconceptions and misunderstandings perpetuated by teachers and textbooks of biology. Journal of Biology Education, 18, 201-205.
Bernard, N. (2001). Geography, Climates, and the Heavens Above. In Nebel’s Elementary Education (pp. 109-112). Maryland: Nebel’s Press for Learning.
Cain, F. (2009). Earth, Sun and Moon. Web.
Hancock, C. (1940). An evaluation of certain popular science misconceptions. Science Education, 24, 208-213.
Kagan, M. (2011). Does the sun go to sleep at night?. Web.
Sweetland’s, R. (2011). Space, seasons, space objects, moon, stars, planets, solar system, gravity misconceptions. Web.