This article is the first of a two-part review of research on
children’s and adults understanding of gravity and on how best
to teach gravity concepts to students and teachers. This first
article concerns free fall—how and why objects fall when they
are dropped. The review begins with a brief historical sketch of
how these ideas were developed in human history, followed by a
summary of the relevant standards and benchmarks. The body of
research is organized by the nature of the findings, beginning
with studies of the youngest children, followed by older
students, adults, and teachers. Although a diversity of
misconceptions are found at all age levels, in general children,
between the ages of 7 and 9 progress from the idea that things
fall because they’re not supported to things fall because
they’re “heavy.” Between the ages of 9 and 13, students begin to
use the term “gravity,” an unseen force, to explain falling,
such as “gravity acts just on heavy objects,” or “things fall
because air is pushing them down.”