Development and differentiation of force and energy concepts for animate and inanimate objects in children and adolescents

We looked at how far students aged 10–17 years differentiate between the force and energy concepts for animates and inanimates. Within a structured interview format, participants described situations in which inanimate objects and animate agents interacted. Results showed that the younger students made no distinction between the two concepts for the inanimate objects. They regarded force and energy as the objects’ intrinsic properties, related to their height and weight, and tended to attribute both concepts to animates rather than to inanimates. With age, force came to be seen in terms of interactions, while energy continued to be considered in relation to the physical dimensions that affected it (i.e., height or weight). Even so, force continued to impinge on energy, the reverse being less frequent. Conceptions remained unchanged for the animate agents, insofar as younger and older students alike expressed undifferentiated force/energy conceptions, relating both force and energy to the agents’ effort or the results of their action.