Our Biology Books, Source of Knowledge or a source of Misconceptions Common Misconceptions in Biology Books Presentation Credits: Ummaimah

1. OUR BIOLOGY BOOKS, SOURCE
OF KNOWLEDGE OR A SOURCE OF
MISCONCEPTIONS
Presented To:
Ma’am Anam Ilyas
Presented By:
Ummaimah

2. MISCONCEPTION
 A view or opinion that is incorrect, wrong or
mistaken idea based on faulty understanding
 Misconception is a conclusion that’s wrong because
it’s based on faulty thinking or fact that is wrong.
 Misconception is a belief or an idea that is not
based on correct information, or that is not
understood by people

3.  Some terminologies used for these ideas are:
I. "Alternative Frameworks"
II. "Alternative Conceptions"
III. "Misconceptions "
IV. "Intelligent Wrongness"
 Misconceptions in science education are
commonly held beliefs about science that have
no basis in actual scientific fact.
 Scientific misconceptions can also refer to
preconceived notions based on religious or
cultural influences.

4. TYPES OF MISCONCEPTIONS
Misconceptions can be broken into five basic
categories namely:
 Preconceived notions
 Nonscientific beliefs
 Conceptual misunderstandings
 Vernacular misconceptions
 Factual misconceptions

5. SOURCES OF STUDENT MISCONCEPTIONS
 Informal ideas formed from everyday
experiences.
 Erroneous ideas developed during teaching
due to lack of understanding.
Wrong concepts propagated by interaction
with teachers and textbooks.
 Social Interaction
 Cultural Aspects

6. EXAMPLES FROM BIOLOGY
PUNJAB TEXTBOOK OF 9TH
GRADE

7. RESPIRATION
 Many students believe that respiration is same as
breathing. In actual, Breathing is the biophysical process
which involves the inhaling and exhaling of air through
lungs, whereas respiration is the biochemical process
which involves in generating the energy by breaking
down the glucose which is further used by cells in various
functions.
 Breathing takes place in the lungs and respiration occurs
in cells.
 It takes place through respiratory organs like the nose,
lungs, etc. Respiration takes in each cell of the body of
an organism, especially in organelles like mitochondria,
etc.

9. SMALL AND LARGE INTESTINE
 By analyzing this topic, it has been observed that
students suppose small intestines are short and
large intestines are long. But, in reality, the
opposite is true.
 The Small intestine is around 20 feet
long while Large intestine is only 1.5 m long in
size.
 The small intestine is called small because of
its small diameter as compared to the large
intestine,

11.  On page # 165, Figure 8.9, labeling of diagram is
also another source of misconception regarding
small and large intestine. Labeling of the diagram
is incomplete. Neither labeling of parts of small
intestine (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) nor of
large intestine (colon, rectum, caecum and anal
canal).

13. XYLEM AND PHLOEM
 Xylem transports only minerals
and waters from the roots.
 Phloem transports mainly food
materials that are prepared by
the green parts of the plants to
other parts of the plant along
with water.

17. TRANSPIRATION IMAGE:
 On page # 182, Figure 9.9, consist of three various
images. All these images are unable to clear the
concept of transpiration and transport of water,
even though they are the cause of misconception
among students.

20. BLOOD CELLS AND CELL LIKE BODIES:
 Figure 9.12 and 9.13, on page # 188 and 188,
various images are pasted showing variety of blood
cells in Human Plasma.
 All these images are blurred plus all look so alike
that student can’t be able to identify variation
among those. In my opinion, it is also a major
source of misconception.

22. PIE CHARTS

23. PIE CHART:
 On page # 42, the author inserted 3 Dimensional
(3D) Pie Chart for showing some percentage
division of Biodiversity. This 3D look is not enough
for the clarity of students. As the book paper is in 2
Dimensions, so the best representation of any
chart is 2D.
 As a contrast, on page # 8, the Pi chart is in 2
Dimension (2D) showing percentage compositions
of Bioelements in Human Body. That chart is
covering all aspects of concepts for students at 9th
grade.