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The role of ontological categories and syntactic cues in inferences about word meanings

Abstract

Density is defined as mass over volume and determined by mass or number of molecules per unit volume. However, density is also easily understood as "weight of substance." This study examined college students understanding of density, especially the density changes from ice to water. Students were asked to predict weight, volume, and density changes when ice melts into water. The results showed that a majority of the students did riot understand that the density of water is higher than that of the ice. Also, their explanations reviled that students understood density at the intuitive level as "solidness", "crowdedness", or "weight of substance." The developmental origin of the intuitive understanding of density was discussed and implications for science education was also mentioned.

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