Project 2061 Launches New Science Assessment Website:
Some Things Middle and High
School Students Know
and Misconceptions They Hold
Some things students know (number in parentheses is % who answered correctly)
- DNA is the molecule that contains the genetic information that is passed from parents to offspring. (95%)
- Changes in a population of organisms in a food web (worms) can affect the population of its predator (robins). (84%)
- Animals compete for resources when they are limited. (80%)
- The lungs both take in oxygen molecules and eliminate carbon dioxide molecules. (75%)
- Populations increase when the number of births is greater than the number of deaths. (73%)
- Children need food as a source of energy and as a source of material for building or repairing body structures such as muscles. (66%)
- Both wind and rain can wear away the solid rock layer of a cliff. (65%)
- Matter is made up of atoms. (64%)
- A car has the most motion energy when it is traveling at the highest speed. (64%)
- Both ocean basins and continents are part of earth's plates. (64%)
- A blood cell is bigger than an atom. (63%)
- Increasing an object's temperature increases its thermal energy. (62%)
Some frequently held misconceptions (number in parentheses is frequency of selection of this misconception across items)
- The different cell types (skin, muscle, cartilage, etc.) found in a given individual’s body contain different DNA. (58%)
- Each cell contains only the specific genetic information required for its function. (43%)
- The heart is the mixing place for air and blood. (40%)
- Molecules from food are distributed by way of special tubes to the rest of the body, not by way of the circulatory system. (38%)
- Air is distributed through the body in air tubes. (43%)
- Under the influence of a constant force, objects move with constant speed. (44%)
- The atoms of the reactants of a chemical reaction are transformed into other atoms. (40%)
- New atoms are created during chemical reactions. (40%)
- Atoms can be destroyed during a chemical reaction. (36%)
- When a liquid in a closed container is heated, the mass of the liquid increases as the liquid expands. (41%)
- During biological decomposition in a closed system, the total mass of the system decreases. (37%)
- Earth's plates are located deep within the earth and are not exposed at the earth's surface. (49%)
- Mountains form by the piling up of pieces of rock. (52%)