A survey of conceptions of energy of Israeli pre‐service high school biology teachers

The conceptions of energy of the pre‐service high school biology teachers were identified by means of a two‐part written questionnaire which was presented to them in the first day of class. These students: are considerably anthropocentric in their associations, their choice of pictures and their alternative conceptual frameworks; hold a number of different alternative conceptual frameworks when describing physical situations, instead of the accepted scientific concept; think that energy is a concrete entity; do not accept the idea of energy conservation and energy degradation; confuse the concepts of energy and force.