Scientific concepts are abstract human constructions, invented to make sense of complex natural phenomena. Scientists use specialised languages, diagrams, and mathematical representations of various kinds to convey these abstract constructions. This book uses the perspectives of embodied cognition and conceptual metaphor to explore how learners make sense of these concepts. That is, it is assumed that human cognition - including scientific cognition - is grounded in the body and in the material and social contexts in which it is embedded. Understanding abstract concepts is therefore...
Scientific concepts are abstract human constructions, invented to make sense of complex natural phenomena. Scientists use specialised languages, di...