This study examines students’ (aged 9-12) understanding of the day-night cycle, including mental heliocentric and geocentric models. The research also addresses some ideas about the motion of the Moon, which some students link to day and night. The research was carried out a by university researcher in Cyprus.

Learners’ ideas

The number of students holding each misconception, from the sample size of 80, is shown below.

• The majority of children (69) adopted a geocentric model to explain day/night.
• The majority of children (43) believe that the Moon is a self-luminous object that is necessary for night to exist.
• Some children (16) believe that the Earth and Moon move in an "instant" or "conjoint" movement at two predetermined moments, so that day changes into night and night into day again.
• Some children (27) believe that the Moon is stationary.
• Some children (8) thought that the durations of day and night were always equal.
• Most children could not connect the length of day/night to the seasons.
• Some children (11) thought that the speed of the Earth's rotation around its axis is not always constant.
• Some children (5) could not conceive that a longer duration of the day would result in a shorter night.
• 1/3 of teachers believed the Earth's rotation around the Sun was responsible for the day/night cycle.

Evidence-based suggestions

The study shows that day and night cycle conceptualisation is more complex than previously thought.

• A set of essential prerequisites for understanding the day/night cycle include:
  • Earth has a spherical shape
  • The day/night is caused exclusively by the Earth's rotation around its axis
  • It is impossible to have only day or only night in all places on Earth at once
  • The Earth's axis is tilted
  • The Moon is a non-luminous body and is not related to the day/night cycle
  • Both luminous and non-luminous objects emit or reflect light rays that travel in straight lines 

Study Structure

Aim

To investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ conceptual understanding of the day/night cycle, seasonal changes, solar system composition and size of the Universe.

Evidence collection

Evidence was collected via individual semi-structured interviews lasting 15-25 minutes. These were recorded, transcribed and analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to demonstrate the differences in understanding between students of different ages using a constant comparative analysis method.

Details of the sample

The research sample consisted of 40 9- to 10-year-olds and 40 11- to 12-year-olds with an equal number of males and females.