The persistence of primary school students’ initial ideas about acids and bases in the mental models of adults

Abstract

The paper describes our research aimed to verify the durability of pupils' initial ideas and concepts on the issue of acids and bases. First, we mapped their existence among primary school pupils and then compared them with the ideas of secondary and university educated adults. It has been confirmed that some initial ideas are very lasting and are also reflected in the understanding of acids and bases in adults. By comparing these results we identified which initial ideas were overcome by education and which persisted.