The earth's mantle is solid: teachers' misconceptions about the Earth and plate tectonics
Chris King 2000 School Science Review v82 p57-64
Many science teachers who are asked questions about the scientific background to plate tectonics, get the answers wrong. This is not surprising because rarely have they received teaching in Earth science during their own education. Their main source of information on the subject is science textbooks for 11-16 year-olds, some of which contain errors, whilst some double-award syllabuses and examinations also contain errors. This article discusses the misconceptions revealed by the teachers' answers. It outlines more accurate answers and explanations based on established evidence and uses these to provide a more complete understanding of platetectonic processes and the structure of the Earth. Details are given of interactive INSET on this topic provided by members of the Earth Science Education Unit based at Keele University.
