Rocks and Minerals. Science Education Research Unit. Working Paper No. 204.

The Learning in Science Project has adopted the view that science teaching might be improved if teachers can be given some appreciation of students' views of the world and the beliefs, expectations, and language that learners bring to new learning situations. This investigation focuses on the views that children (N=34) may have about rocks and minerals. Information was obtained from interview protocols, word responses, and sorting tasks to examine ways in which: (1) children and adolescents view and describe rock/mineral samples and how they relate these ideas to rock/mineral origins and composition; (2) learners tend to categorize rocks/minerals; and (3) learners respond to key stimulus-words that are considered by earth scientists to be important in the study of rock/mineral samples. Results of the investigation indicate that the children focused on different attributes than those of earth scientists. In addition, their approach to developing categories for rock/mineral samples was in stark contrast to the approach likely to be taken by earth scientists (such as using appearance, origin, weight, and composition to categorize samples as either "rocks" or "not rocks"). (A discussion of earth scientists' views of rocks, minerals, crystals, and classification of the 15 samples used in the study is included.) (JN)