CTS Guide: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition, pp 230-231- Section IV Research Summaries
Earth Processes of Weathering, Erosion, Deposition
AAAS (2015): AAAS Project 2061 tested middle and high school students for common misconceptions and alternative ideas. A multiple choice item that revealed whether students understand that plant roots could break up rocks showed that 27% of the students who answered the item failed to recognize this.
Sexton (2012): When interviewed about how a canyon was formed, some college students used catastrophic events in their explanation. They believed either a catastrophic event such as a flood, earthquake, or volcano formed a canyon or that a canyon started with a catastrophic event and then formed through river erosion. Some students also provided a biblical explanation of a giant flood.
Cheek (2010): A literature review revealed that misuse of terminology is an issue when describing Earth processes. Even college students confuse the terms weathering and erosion. Studies also show that some students view the Earth as static and unchanging.
Blake (2005): When children ages 7–11 years old were shown a picture of a weathered gravestone, most were able to recognize that it was worn away by a natural process, which mountains and cliffs also experience, but students inconsistently understood that the process would continue to wear away the gravestone and sometimes were able to cite a cause. Some of these children thought that age was the causal agent that wore away the gravestone.
Macintosh (2005): Some students think rivers get heavy and sink into Earth, thus carving out the land and the river.
Dove (1997): In a survey of 236 students ages 16–19, many of the students regarded weathering as solely related to atmospheric elements such as rain and wind. Human actions were perceived as types of erosion accelerated by humans. Students were not sure whether animal activities were examples of bioerosion or biological weathering.
Ault (1994): The aspect of scale may be problematic for students. For example, comprehending the length of time it takes for mountains to weather is difficult for some students.
Freyberg (1985): Students of all ages may hold the view that Earth is the same now as when it was formed and that any changes must have been sudden and comprehensive.