Students’ alternative conceptions of heat and temperature begin at a young age and
persist through school. Because of the young age at which children experience warmth,
experience being cold, and experience touching hot or cold things, naïve conceptions of
heat, temperature and heat transfer are often resistant to change. Even young children
intuitively develop a “framework theory of physics” to describe and explain the world
they experience. The once-popular caloric theory that heat is a substance made of
particles that flow still dominates children’s thinking, and they rely on their senses to
measure temperature, not understanding the kinetic theory and its implications in heat
transfer. The belief that cold is a substance that moves is prevalent with middle and high
school students. These students also think that metal objects are naturally colder than
plastic ones because metal attracts the cold. The directionality of heat transfer is not
understood because heat is not seen to be a form of energy. Without explicit interventions
designed to target these alternative conceptions, chances are that they will persist into
adulthood