ABSTRACT
A continuing long-term research project designed to address this problem has been under way since 1993. Beginning at grade 7 in one Berlin Gymnasium (grammar school), pupils are being observed through to grade 11. In grade 7 the pupils do not study physics or chemistry, both subjects starting in grade 8. From grades 8 to 11, the pupils cover themes such as the particulate structure of matter (solids, liquids and gases), electrons in metals as carriers of electric current, radioactivity and the use of atomic models for understanding compounds in chemistry.
