Analysis of Carbon Cycle Concepts based on Earth Systems Perspective of High School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze carbon cycle concepts based on earth systems from the perspective of high school students. The subjects for this study were seven students who have completed Earth-scienceI curriculum. to analyze of carbon cycle concepts based on earth systems perspective, the methods of word association, casual map and drawing were used. The results of this study were as follows: first, 5 out of 7 students have suggested carbon cycle concepts less than three. Second, the carbon cycle concepts on the change of state were 2. Also, the carbon cycle concets on process were 8. Third, 2 out of 7 students present 2 feedback loops, 3 out of 7 students 1 feedback loops, but 2 out of 7 students couldn’t present the feedback loops associated with carbon cycle. Finally, As for carbon cycle concepts through drawing, 1 out of 7 students drew 9 concepts, 3 out of 9 students drew 7 concepts and the rest of them drew 5, 4, 3 concepts respectively. These results suggest that concept and feedback loop thinking skills on carbon cycle are a low level. Therefore, It is suggested that more educational programs be developed on various topics in order for high school students to improve their system thinking skills as well as knowledge integration of earth systems. keywords : Carbon cycle, Concept, Earth system, Earth-science