• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2006

This study analysed student teachers' notable questions about the earth science contents in the elementary science textbooks. The contents of notable questions were defined as ‘notable question contents 1' and 'notable question contents 2'. Both the question contorts are contents about which the number of questions is above three times and from two times to three times as much as the mean number of questions per page of each unit respectively. The results are as follows. First, question contents 1 are found as 'clouds observation', 'geological strata formation' and so on. Question contents 2, 'rainfall measurement', 'moon's movement during one night' and so on are found. Second, the number of interrelationships of main terms in questions increased in each question of question contents 1, but 4 term-patterns are found more in question contents 2 than question contents 1. Third, high interrelationship patterns of terms in question contents 1 are 'coal and petroleum-generation', 'metamorphosis-heat and pressure', 'metamorphosis-heat and pressure-metamorphic rocks', 'planet-sun-comet-revolution' and in question contents 2. 'constellation plate-use', 'dryness and wetness hygrometer-principle', 'seismograph-principle-earthquake', 'earth rotation axis-tilting-occurrence', 'dryness and wetness hygrometer-principle-humidity' and so on. The sources of questions analysed in this study are estimated as the content construction system of textbooks, or students' general questions about the earth science contents. If this is the former, the problems in texts and illustrations in textbooks should be articulated and resolved. And if the latter, the elementary science curriculum has to be reconsidered in view of scientific literacy in earth science.