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Abstract
Fifty‐three eleven‐year‐old children were interviewed individually, using a modified ‘interview‐about‐instances’ technique to ascertain the level of their understanding of the concepts of force and energy. The pupils had received no formal instruction on the topics in their science lessons prior to the investigation. From the pupils' responses it was possible to identify three frameworks which appeared to guide the pupils' thinking, only one of which was consistent with the accepted scientific definitions of force and energy. Of the group holding this scientifically consistent framework the majority were boys.