The basis for this study is to use students' creative texts in science as a mean to gain insight into their conceptual ideas. Eight grade students' creative writing tasks (n = 26) were analyzed with respect to the conceptual metaphors that were used to describe the abstract concept chemical bonding. The conceptual metaphors were identified and sorted into two main categories; location event-structure conceptual metaphors and object event-structure conceptual metaphors. Results show that most metaphors can be categorized as location event-structure conceptual metaphors. Embodied concepts and everyday language rooted in senso-motoric experiences from students’ daily life as well as from former science education seem to play a central role when they attempt to make meaning of the abstract concept ‘chemical bonding’ within a creative writing context. Creative writing tasks in science may have an unutilized potential for both uncovering and developing understanding of abstract phenomena on sub-microscopic level, such as chemical bonding.
Bruk av metaforer om kjemiske bindinger i kreativ skriving