DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING DIGITAL MATERIAL TO
IMPROVE PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ IDEAS ON
SEASONS FORMATION
Vassiliki Pilatou, Dimitrios Marinopoulos, Christina Solomonidou and Kosmas Athanasiadis
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to detect primary school students’ conceptions on the formation of the seasons and to
develop and evaluate an educational package based on digital and printed material to cope with these conceptions.
In total, 83 6th grade students from four primary school classes participated in the research. Initially, they
answered a written pre-test questionnaire with ten multiple choice and open-ended questions, and drawing tasks.
The students’ answers showed that they believe that the formation of seasons in a region depends on the distance
between the earth and the sun, on the inclination of the earth’s axis or the weather/climate conditions of that
region. These outcomes were used for the design and development of an educational package based on digital
material and printed worksheets. The package was implemented within a constructivist and collaborative learning
environment on seasons’ formation phenomenon, in which 44 6th grade students from two of the four classes
mentioned above participated. During teaching, students worked with two simulations of the phenomenon of the
seasons’ formation. The first one simulates the earth’s movement around the sun and its rotation on its axis.
During the movement pictures of Greece corresponding to the seasons’ succession are also shown. The second
simulation shows how the light beams propagate through space from the sun on to the earth’s surface. Special
attention was paid to the beams inclination relatively to the position of the earth’s axis. Students controlled these
simulations, discussed about the phenomena and drew conclusions about the phenomenon. After teaching, the 44
students answered a post-test questionnaire and their answers depicted an improvement of their initial ideas about
the formation of the seasons in several regions on our planet. It seems that the new constructivist and collaborative
learning environment helped them understand the phenomena by developing appropriate representations.
KEYWORDS
Seasons formation, educational package, digital material, simulations, students’ conceptions, collaborative
learning, constructivist approach, primary school
INTRODUCTION
The alteration of the day and night, the seasonal changes, the moon faces and the eclipse of the sun or
of the moon are astronomical phenomena that influence people’s everyday lives (Sadler, 1987;
Trumper, 2006). These events concern concepts and procedures, such as the inclination of the earth’s
axis, its elliptical orbit, planets’ movement, etc., that people cannot observe through immediate personal
experience.
According to Greek national primary curriculum students of the 1st, 2nd and 6th grade are taught issues
about the space (e.g. planetary system, revolution and rotation of the earth round the sun and its axis,
etc.), the natural environment (e.g. changes in plants according the season of the year) and the
environment that people work and live in (e.g. people have different habits according the season of the
year). So, during teaching students should have the opportunity to use dynamic models or simulations,
in order to develop mental representations about those phenomena and understand their causes.
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STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE FORMATION OF SEASONS
The existing research studies on students’ ideas about the formation of seasons show that students are
interested in understanding the phenomenon of seasons alteration, whereas they express a variety of
alternative conceptions regarding the way one season ‘follows’ another.
Baxter’s study (1989) revealed that young children’s conceptions about the causes of this phenomenon
involved familiar objects. The most common idea places the sun further away during the winter and
closer to the earth during summer (Trumper, 2001; Chai & Chang, 2005).
Concerning the phenomenon of seasons change, 57 students of the Pedagogic Department of Primary
Education of Jyvaskyla University in Finland answered a questionnaire, about the reasons causing the
change of temperature in one region, and by extension, the seasons’ alteration. The students’ answers
gave shape to seven different models explaining this phenomenon (Ojala, 1997):
• The earth revolves around the sun at a suitable distance and the earth is just at the right angle from
the sun.
• Air masses and sea currents cause differences in temperature.
• Variation in distance between the sun and the earth causes differences in temperature.
• The main reason for differences in temperature is the earth’s angle of inclination.
• The location of the area causes the differences in temperature.
• The earth is round and revolves at an angle and orbits the sun. The angle of the sun’s rays to the
earth varies.
• The earth rotates around its axis once a year.
It is quite important and of special interest to investigate primary school students’ mental models about
the planetary astronomical event of seasons’ formation in order to improve those ideas during teaching.
Also, research data about mental models formed by primary school students could help curriculum
designers develop educational packages students understand astronomical events. These educational
packages could comprise digital dynamic models, e.g. simulations, to represent the celestial bodies’
movement, and allow students interact with the special characteristics of each astronomical
phenomenon simulated on the computer.
METHOD
The aim of this study was to detect primary school students’ (aged 11-12 years) conceptions about the
formation of the seasons and then to design, develop and evaluate an appropriate educational package
based on digital and printed material to cope with these conceptions during an innovative constructivist
and collaborative teaching approach. In total 83 12-year-old students from four 6th grade classes took
part in the research.
Data came from the elaboration of students’ answers to a pre- and a post-test questionnaire that students
answered before and after teaching. More specifically, before the innovative teaching students answered
a pre-test questionnaire, which comprised ten multiple choice and open-ended questions, as well as
drawing tasks, through which they expressed their initial ideas about the seasons’ formation
phenomenon.
The students of the sample had been taught in the 2nd grade the unit: The weather from season to season
and in the 3rd grade the units: The weather from season to season, The plants from season to season and
The animals from season to season. Before the initial study and during the year of the research students
had been taught the unit: The rotation of the earth and the seasons about the cause of seasonal changes.
The innovative teaching approach was implemented in two of the four classes mentioned above, in
which 44 6th grade students participated. During teaching students worked in small groups and
collaborated on a PC using the digital and printed material of the educational package. Students formed
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heterogeneous groups of 2-3 persons according to their academic abilities, gender, ethnic backgrounds,
etc. in order to interact and communicate with the others, become tolerant of diverse viewpoints,
consider others thoughts and feelings in depth, and seek more support and clarification of others’
positions (Stahl, 1994). During instruction each student had the opportunity to express orally his or her
own ideas about the phenomenon under study, write his/her opinion on the worksheet, talk with the
other children in the group and collaborate with them to carry out the learning activities, and also come
to group conclusions based on specific arguments.
After teaching, the 44 students answered a post-test questionnaire, which was analogous to the pre-test
one, in order to detect whether the new collaborative and constructivist learning environment and the
use of the educational package helped them improve their initial conceptions about the phenomenon of
seasons’ formation.
THE EDUCATIONAL PACKAGE FOR TEACHING THE PHENOMENON OF SEASONS’
FORMATION
The educational package that was applied for teaching the phenomenon of the alteration of seasons in
the 6th grade of primary school based on digital and printed material that is described further down. The
philosophy of this learning material was to create a constructivist and collaborative learning
environment in order to encourage students express their personal views about the phenomena under
study, to actively participate to the activities, to communicate and discuss with the other students in the
group and the whole class, and draw conclusions about the results of the activities. Additionally, the
digital material helped students to create mental representations about the formation of seasons by
controlling miniature simulations in the PC. This technological reach learning environment allowed
them to ‘observe’ the planets’ movement in space, understand the differences to the inclination of the
sunbeams relatively to the position of the earths’ axis and come to conclusions about the cause of the
seasons’ formation.
A. The digital material
In order to teach the phenomenon of seasons’ alteration we developed two simulations: ‘The four
seasons in Greece’ and ‘The seasons and the inclination of the sunbeams’. The aim was to help students
interact with the celestial bodies -earth and sun-, control the characteristics of their movement and
observe the phenomenon, in order to understand how one season ‘follows’ another in a specific region.
The two simulations are described in some detail in the following paragraphs.
Simulation 1: The four seasons in Greece
On the first simulation with the title ‘The four seasons in Greece’ (see figure 1), the earth revolves
round the sun and rotates around its axis having a steady inclination of about 23 degrees. As the earth
moves, the students observe in a miniature simulation the inclination of the sunbeams relatively to the
position of the earth’s axis (centre and left part of the screen).
Students can use the bar control (horizontal bar with keys to control the progress of the video tape) in
order to ‘control’ the running of the simulation. They write down their observations and discuss about
the inclination of the sunbeams on each hemisphere considering the season of the year. Choosing the
button at the left bottom part of the screen with the phrase ‘Greece on the global map’ a new picture
appears on the right top part of the screen with a red dot presenting the position of Greece on the global
map. By choosing the button at the bottom of the screen with the phrase ‘The four seasons in Greece’
typical pictures of the four seasons in Greece appear on the screen (bottom and right part) (e.g. seethe
winter scenery on the screenshot in figure 1).
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Figure 1. Screenshot of the simulation ‘The four seasons in Greece’
Simulation 2: Seasons and inclination of the sunbeams
The aim of the second simulation is to help students develop mental representations about the sun rays
action on the earth’s two hemispheres during the phenomenon of seasons alteration (see figure 2).
Students can observe a part of the planetary system, where the elliptical orbit of the earth and the
inclination of its axis appear. In their worksheets they are proposed to discuss about the distance
between the sun and the earth considering the season of the year, and predict about the way the
sunbeams reach on to the two hemispheres of the earth. As the earth moves round the sun one season
‘changes’ after another and typical pictures of the Greek natural environment appear on the screen (top
and right part of the screen).
On the top left part of the screen an enlargement of the sphere of the earth lighted by sun is simulated.
Students can observe the five well-known parallel circles on the earth: equator, Tropic of Cancer, Arctic
Circle, Tropic of Capricorn, Antarctic Circle. Pressing the button at the bottom of the frame, they can
stop the simulation and watch the characteristics of each celestial body in a more systematic way. They
are called to study the inclination of the earth’s axis, try to find the position of Greece and Australia on
the earth, and discuss about the angle of the light beams on each region to come to conclusions about
the way seasons are formed in these two regions of the earth.
In order to help students to better understand the phenomenon under study, an enlargement of the
sphere of the earth at the left bottom of the screen represents the action of the sun rays concerning these
two different regions, Greece and Australia. Students can understand that the sun rays’ action is more
drastic round the equator because they drop vertically, whereas they have a less drastic action at the
poles because they drop at a smaller angle. They can discuss about the inclination of the sunbeams on
Greece and Australia that are located on the north and south hemisphere respectively, and try to
interpret the temperature differences in these regions. During winter the light beams come down
inclined on to Greece, their action is less drastic and the temperatures low. At the same period of time
Australia has summer, not because the sun comes closer to the earth, but because the sun rays come
down vertically on to the region and the temperatures are high.
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On the right part of the screen the route of the sun in every season of the year is represented, just like an
observer can see this earth’s movement from outside. Students can realize that during summer in a
region, the sun follows the longest route on the sky and on the biggest height from the earth. This means
that the day lasts longer that the night in that region. On the other hand, during winter at the same
region, the sun follows the smallest route on the sky and on the smallest height from the earth, which
means that the night lasts longer than the day.
Figure 2. Screenshot of the simulation ‘The seasons and the inclination of the sunbeams’
B. The printed material
An educational package about the phenomenon of seasons’ formation was developed according the
results of the initial research. The aim was to formulate an innovative learning environment, where
students could work with the appropriate digital material, in order to substantially improve their
understanding about seasons’ alteration. A special students’ worksheet was developed, inspired by
social constructivist and co-operative views of learning (Cohen, 1994; Duit & Treagust, 1998). It
comprised students’ activities on the computer, and specific questions which they had to discuss to
come to conclusions about seasons’ change. A teacher’s guide presenting the didactical aims of the unit
and a booklet with technical instructions and general information were also developed to facilitate the
use of the educational package.
At the beginning of the teaching unit a scenario introduces the problem. Two kids, Asteris and Urania,
are posing a question to the students: the difference of the temperature between Greece and Australia
during winter.
Then, individual activities are proposed, to allow students express their personal views about the
phenomenon of seasons’ formation. One of these activities asks them to make a drawing in order to
show what is happening and two places –Greece and Australia– that belong to different hemispheres of
the earth have a different season at the same period of the year.
During the group activities students work in small groups of 2-3 persons in front of a computer by using
the simulations and the printed material described above.
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At the end of the instruction, students use the Microsoft Word program to make an acrostic about the
seasons’ alteration phenomenon on the basis of issues concerning this subject. The answers to a series
of questions (e.g. what do you believe that would happen if the earth didn’t revolve round the sun?,
what do you believe that would happen if the earth didn’t rotate around its axis?, how much time do
you believe that the day/ night lasts at the equator/ poles?, etc.) can help them make this acrostic. Each
group prints and distributes its own acrostic to the members of the other groups and students discuss the
results of this activity in the whole class and they draw their final conclusions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results presented here derived from the elaboration of students’ answers to the question ‘How do
you believe that the seasons change?’ that was included to the pre-test and the post-test questionnaire.
From students’ initial answers to the pre-test questionnaire it becomes obvious that before the
innovative teaching the students seemed to hold a variety of alternative conceptions about seasons’
alteration. Many of them (18) mentioned that the change of seasons depends on the inclination of the
earth without explaining how this specific characteristic of the earth influences the alteration of seasons.
Some other students (18) seemed to believe that seasonal changes are due to the distance between the
earth and the sun, which is a well known alternative idea (Baxter, 1989; Trumper, 2001; Chai & Chang,
2005). Also, they make drawings such as the one in figure 3. Students sustained that while the earth
moves around its axis, the regions on the earth that come closer to the sun have summer and higher
temperatures, whereas the regions that are away from the sun have winter or autumn and low
temperatures.
Figure 3. Students’ initial representations about the cause of seasonal changes
Other students (15) correlated the phenomenon of seasons’ formation with the weather or the climate
conditions in a region and replied that seasonal changes are due to the rain or snow that falling on to a
place, the intensity of the wind, etc. Twelve (12) students mentioned that the phenomenon is due to the
revolution of the earth around the sun and its rotation around its axis without explaining how this
procedure ‘makes’ one season ‘follow’ another.
Some other students (7) gave insufficient answers (e.g. the seasons change as the months change, the
seasons change due to temperature changes, the seasons change every three months, etc.) and eight (8)
students did not reply (table 1 presents the students’ initial answers to this question).
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Table 1. Students’ initial statements about the formation of the seasons
How do you believe that the seasons change?
Students’ statements
1. Because of the inclination of the earth
2. It depends on the distance between the earth and the sun
3. According to the weather / climate conditions of the region
4. Because of the revolution of the earth around the sun and its rotation around its
axis
5. It depends on the inclination of the sunbeams (when the rays of the sun fall
straight/vertically on to a region the temperature is high and the region has summer,
whereas when the sunbeams fall inclined, the temperature is low and the region has
winter)
6. Insufficient answers
7. No answer
Pre-test
n=83
18
18
15
12
5
7
8
The results of the pre-test questionnaire also revealed that even though students had been taught issues
about the inclination of the earth’s axis and the inclination of the light beams causing seasons’
formation, only five (5) out of them gave an acceptable answer. These students replied that summer
‘comes’ to a region when the sun rays fall vertically on to the region, whereas winter ‘appears’ when
the sunbeams fall inclined on to it.
During the innovative teaching students used the educational package and interacted on the computer
with the two simulations described above, discussed in their group about the movement of the earth and
the sun, drew attention on to the earth’s axis, observed the revolution of the earth around the sun and its
rotation around its axis, ‘followed’ the propagation of the sunbeams from the sun through space on to
various regions on to the earth, and concluded that all these characteristics of the astronomical events
contribute to the change of seasons.
Figure 4. Students’ final representations about the cause of seasonal changes
The study of the students’ final answers to the post-test questionnaire (see table 2), it became obvious
that most of them had understood the phenomenon of seasons’ alteration phenomenon and had created
satisfactory mental representations about the way one season ‘follows’ another on a region. The
majority of the students (36) had conceived that the seasons’ change relates to the earth’s axis and the
inclination of the sunbeams falling on to a region. Specifically, students mentioned that when the sun
rays fall vertically on to a region this has summer, whereas when they fall inclined this has winter. They
also made satisfactory drawings, such as the one in figure 4. Only two (2) students continued to write
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that the seasons’ change depends on the distance between the earth and the sun. Also, a small number of
them (2) noticed that the places that are just opposite to the sun have summer and the other ones winter
and three (3) other students gave several insufficient answers. Students’ answers to the post-test
questionnaire appear in table 2.
Table 2. Students’ final statements about the formation of the seasons
How do you believe that the seasons change?
Students’ statements
1. Because of the inclination of the earth’s axis. When the rays of the sun fall
vertically on to a region this has summer, whereas when they fall inclined this has
winter
2. The earth’s hemisphere that is found first by the sunrays has summer or spring,
whereas the other hemisphere has winter or autumn
3. As the earth rotates around its axis the regions that are closer to the sun have
summer and the regions that are far away from the sun have winter
4. Insufficient answers
Post-test
n=44
36
3
2
3
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
The initial survey prior to the design of the educational package has shown that primary school students
create and hold alternative conceptions about the phenomenon of the seasons’ formation. Especially,
many students seemed to have limited representations about seasons’ alteration and have difficulty in
understanding the way this phenomenon occurs. Many of them seemed to believe that the most
important factor for the seasons’ change is the distance between the earth and the sun, as they sustained
that when the earth –or some regions- come closer to the sun then the temperature becomes higher and
the summer or the spring ‘begins’. On the contrary, when the earth is far way from the sun, autumn or
winter starts in those regions and temperature becomes lower day by day.
The educational package especially developed to cope with those students’ empirical conceptions
contains appropriate simulations and visualizations of the phenomena under study as well as learning
activities and questions, which students have to answer after having collaborated on the computer. The
design of this package was based on previous science education research results and has taken into
consideration contemporary theories and research results from the literature about learning (Finkelstein,
2005). More specifically, it is inspired by social constructivist and collaborative views for learning,
which are leading new approaches to classroom teaching, especially when Information and
Communication Technologies are used (Solomonidou, 2006).
The new learning environment that was created and the educational package that was developed on the
basis of the appropriate digital material helped students to understand the way that the seasons alternate.
After the innovative teaching students realized that while the earth revolves around the sun and rotates
around its axis, its inclination and also the inclination of the sun beams falling on to regions of the north
and the south hemisphere are the basic factors which provoke seasons’ change in those regions.
The results of this research showed that in order to help students understand basic astronomical events
which influence their everyday life, teaching should be based on the use of digital dynamic models,
such as the simulations described above. These models can help students interact with the celestial
bodies -the sun and the earth-, observe the characteristics of their movement, change the parameters of
the digital environment and create mental representations about the whole procedure of the phenomena
under study.
The educational package comprising digital and printed material which was developed for the needs of
this research is based on the aims of the Greek primary national curriculum for teaching Geography in
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6th grade of primary school and also on constructivist and collaborative views for learning. Curriculum
designers should take into consideration the results of this study, since the teaching material has used in
real classroom conditions and students who participated substantially improved their initial
understanding about the seasons’ formation phenomenon.
REFERENCES
Baxter, J. (1989). Children’s understanding of familiar astronomical events. International Journal of
Science Education, 11, special issue, 502-513
Chai, C. C. & Chang, C. Y. (2005). Lasting Effects of Instruction Guided by the Conflict map:
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Cohen, E. (1994) Restructuring the classroom: conditions for productive small groups. Review of
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Duit, R. and Treagust, D. (1998) Learning in science: from behaviourism towards social constructivism
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Finkelstein, N. (2005). Learning Physics in Context: A study of students learning about electricity and
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Ojala, J. (1997). The concept of planetary phenomena held by trainee primary school teachers,
International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 6(3), 183-203
Sadler, P. M. (1987). “Misconceptions in Astronomy”, Paper presented at Second International
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University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Solomonidou, C. (2006). New trends in educational technology: constructivism and new learning
environments. Athens: Metaihmio editions (in Greek)
Stahl, R. (1994). The essential elements of cooperative learning in the classroom. ERIC digest.
Clearinghouse for Social Studies/ Social Science Education, p.4
Trumper, R. (2001). Assessing students’ basic astronomy conceptions from junior high school throw
university. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 41, 21-31
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Vassiliki Pilatou
University of Thessaly
School of Humanities
Department of Primary Education
Argonafton and Filellinon st.
38221, Volos, Greece
Email: [email protected]
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Dimitrios Marinopoulos
University of Thessaly
School of Humanities
Department of Primary Education
Argonafton and Filellinon st.
38221, Volos, Greece
Email: [email protected]
Christina Solomonidou
University of Thessaly
School of Humanities
Department of Primary Education
Argonafton and Filellinon st.
38221, Volos, Greece
Email: [email protected]
Kosmas Athanasiadis
Primary School Teacher
Saronis, Attika
19013, Greece
Email: [email protected]
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