RECTIFYING EARTH SCIENCE MISCONCEPTIONS IN A DIVERSE SECONDARY EDUCATION CLASSROOM

Introduction: Coatesville Area School District is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the city of Coatesville. Its setting is comprised of an urban environment surrounded by suburbs, horse farms and townhouse communities. This setting lends to a diverse high school environment of African American, White, and Latino populations. Due to exposure to various media, such as movies and television, paired with previous inaccurate teachings, many of these students will have attained Earth Science misconceptions.

Objective: These students, like all students, will become functioning members of society and as such will need to make personal and political decisions on science related topics. The objective is to remedy possible Earth Science misconceptions so these science related topics can be assessed in an educated manner. Students will be able to make well-informed decisions on topics such as climate change, global environmental impacts as a result of pollution, the need for sustainability and perhaps most importantly, the ability to differentiate information presented as science, which has no scientific basis.

Method: During a semesters worth of student teaching at the diverse Coatesville Area High School, these Earth Science misconceptions will be: identified; remedied throughout respective unit lessons; and the results verified with the aid of pre- and posttests. Along with traditional teaching materials and methods, I will use the aid of science fiction movies to help identify where these misconceptions came from, helping students to discern real science from Hollywood’s rendition. These methods, combined with the rectification of common misconceptions will help facilitate a better grasp on how the Earth works. These procedures will hope create a well-rounded group of individuals who can make educated decisions on science related topics in the future.