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| Issue | Naive Idea* | Scientific Idea |
| Community | A community consists of a group of organisms of the same type. | A community consists of all the organisms living in a given environment. |
| Population | A population consist of all living organisms in a geographical area. | A population is a group of interbreeding organisms, often in a given geographical area; the members of a population are of the same species and have the same chromosome number and type. |
* A misconception or alternative idea has three primary features: it is a cognitive idea that differs in a significant way from the scientific idea, it is held by a sizable proportion of the population, and it is notably resistant to being taught away; it is often described as a conceptual primitive (Clement, 1982). There are many other types of errors in understanding besides misconceptions (Fisher & Lipson, 1986).
Clement, J. (1982). Students' preconceptions in introductory mechanics. American Journal of Physics, 50 (1), 66 - 71.
Fisher, K. M. & Lipson, J. I. (1986). Twenty questions about student errors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23 (9), 783-803.
