Chapter 6, page 82
Interview:
Interviewer: Would you ever reach the end of the earth?
Child: No ... because it’s so high.
Interviewer: Could you fall off the edge of the earth?
Child: Yes.
Interviewer: Where would you fall?
Child: Down on the ground.Commentary:
The “earth” that the child refers to is
the earth high up in the sky. There is
an edge to the earth, and if one fell
off the edge, one would fall
downward, onto the flat ground that
is under the earth in Figure 6.4b.In Vosniadou and Brewer’s study, the dual-earth conception was held by almost half of the first
graders who had a coherent conception of the earth’s shape. Ten percent of third graders also held this
conception. No fifth graders held this conception. Most first grade teachers are probably unaware that a
large number of their students think that there are two separate earths!
Figure 6.4: Five conceptions of the earth’s shape