Investigation of student mental models on sound

As a course of its nature, the lesson of science covers subjects comprehended hardly by students. One of these subjects is sound which has a broad field in teaching programs. The importance of the subject 'sound' brings to minds the question of how students construct the point in their minds. The basic objective of this research is to determine 8th grade primary school students' mental models related to topics of sound formation, transmission, hearing and reflection in sound unit of Science and Technology, and to detect students' general mental models in the topic of sound by considering the determined mental models. The research was carried out as a case study. The tool developed for data gathering was applied to 416 8th grade students from schools chosen randomly in province, Kastamonu. When all of the findings gained were examined, it was established that mental models of students on the subject of sound were mostly Scientific Model. At the end of the research, it was concluded that general mental models of students were sufficient. By considering the results attained, to remedy inadequate mental models of students, it was recommended to teachers and writers that they should give more places to contents which are in the quality of complementary for incompatible, verbally and visually dominant students' lacking perception.