This study is aimed at investigating the patterns of the misconception of \'wind\' taught in the
science subjects of elementary curriculum and its formation process, correcting them and
developing them into right conception. In order to conduct this research, 107 students in urban
and 100 students in rural are chosen among 6th grade elementary school students in Jeju
province. The earth unit about \'wind\' in the elementary science textbook are analyzed, and
questions about scientific conception and their misconception are chosen. The followings are the
analyzed results through survey.
According to the results from students\' misconception about the concept of \'wind\' through
the survey, more than 30% of students seem to show the misconception in the 7 questions out
of 18 questions. The reasons of the misconceptions were classified into an immature cognitive
development, difference in experience of individual, generalization by hasty decision and
deduction, difficulty of question, textbook and so on.
When urban students and rural students are compared, the urban students have a higher
rate of misconception. The reason why students have such a high rate of misconception is that
the rural students usually get knowledge through \'their own experience\', and the urban
students normally get knowledge through \'private academic school, some books and so on.\' It
means their surroundings have a great impact on their concept formation.
When the differences of misconception between both gender about \'wind\' are analyzed,
female students have a higher rate of misconception. Male students are likely to have more
interest in science than female students, so they have more chances to do kinds of outdoor
activities than them.
As most of conceptions on the \'wind\' come from natural phenomena, so the invisible
properties of wind is difficult to understand for the elementary students. To correct the
misconceptions, therefore, it needs to do inquiry activities, explanation of various examples,
discussion activities through small groups, and so on. From this research, it may help teachers
carrying out education for elementary students to reconsider their conceptions on ‘wind’.