Explorations of ideas about water transport in plants: A cross-age survey

Science education literature includes many studies of plant misconceptions commonly held by science students, but few of those address what students know about water transport in plants. This cross-age study explored the typical kinds of expert thinking and typical kinds of problems identified in written responses to survey questions about water transport in plants. Patterns in student responses revealed that expert ideas of turgor are held by some students at all levels from grade five through college. Similarly, students living in environments as different as Alaska and southern California accurately explain the effect of temperature, humidity, wind conditions, and soil saturation on plant water uptake. In contrast, although experts explained transpiration as the primary reason for plant water loss, no elementary or middle school students used the term transpiration and very few high school and undergraduate students cited transpiration in their explanation of water lost by plants. Implications for classroom teachers related to instruction about plants are addressed.