Uncovering Student's Concept Of Matter Summary

In the article, “Uncovering Student’s Concept of Matter”, author Paige Keeley discusses the importance of helping students understand the concepts of matter. Keeley states that while children form their own concepts of matter at an early age, they still need assistance on the harder more abstract concepts. There were three main strengths that I found in the article: first the teacher must listen to the students and their ideas concerning matter, then the teacher should provide students examples of different types of matter and gather their feedback on those and lastly remind the students to use the different types of evidence to show that matter exists. The reason I chose listening to the students as a strength is because I feel that it is important to see what the students already know so that you know where to start in teaching them. In this article Keeley stresses that it is important not to tell the students whether or not they are wrong or right. I understand that by not focusing on if the answer is right or wrong that it encourages conversation and could make the students feel more …show more content…
I liked this activity because it makes the information relative to the students. By incorporating items that the students encounter on an almost every day basis, I feel that it makes the students desire to know the answer. The third strength that I found in this article was the way Keeley made sure to mention to keep having the students focus on the evidence on whether matter exists. As Keeley mentioned at the beginning of the article, matter is sometimes a hard concept for students to grasp, especially where air is concerned. By having the students point on the evidence, I feel that it helps make the information real to