The aim of this study is to investigate eighth grade students’ misconceptions related to heat and temperature, to compare the effectiveness of 5E model and traditional instruction on eighth grade students’ understanding of heat and temperature concepts and their attitudes towards science and technology and, to determine whether consisting of conceptual change to be retentive. The subjects of the study were 37 eighth grade students at a primary school in Erzurum, who were in two different classes and taught by the same teacher at 2009-2010 education year. One of the classes was randomly selected as experimental group in which students were thought by means of activities which were prepared according to the 5E model, and the other was determined as the control group in which students were thought by traditional methods (teacher-centered, based on straight narrative and question-answer method). The data were obtained through the use of three-phase Heat and Temperature Misconception Test (HTMT) and the Attitude Scale towards Science and Technology (ASST). The study results were analyzed by SPSS. To analyze data, independent and paired sample t-test, percentage and mean scores were conducted. Results of Heat and Temperature Concept Success Test revealed that 5E model is more successful on remediation of misconceptions and effective in providing a permanent conceptual change than the traditionally designed instructions. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group in terms of students’ attitude towards science and technology.