Studien syftar till att bidra med kunskap om, i vilken utsträckning läromedel i matematik föreslår laborativa aktiviteter. Forskning visar att det är gynnsamt för elever att arbeta laborativt. Metoden som valdes är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Det skapades ett analysschema med hjälp av tidigare forskning och läroplanen från 2011, specifikt för den här studien. Utifrån analysschemat analyserades tre olika läromedel för årskurs fyra i matematik. Studien har använt det sociokulturella perspektivet för att skapa förståelse för laborativa aktiviteter. En laborativ aktivitet genomförs antingen med ett laborerande arbetssätt eller ett konkretiserande arbetssätt. För att analysera och tolka resultaten har tidigare forskning och variationsteorin används.  Resultatet visar att laborativa aktiviteter främst förekommer inom kunskapsområde Taluppfattning och tals användning. Det visar även att det är laborerande arbetssätt som används mer än konkretiserande arbetssätt vid de laborativa aktiviteterna.  Pedagogiska material föreslås till störst andel av de laborativa aktiviteterna. Läromedlen i studien föreslår laborativa aktiviteter i olika stor utsträckning. Ett läromedel som föreslår få laborativa aktiviteter kräver mer av läraren. Det betyder att läraren själv får hitta och producera laborativa aktiviteter. Läromedel som föreslår många laborativa aktiviteter skapar förutsättningar för lärare att arbeta laborativt. Studien har bidragit till mer kunskap om laborativa aktiviteter i läromedel. / This study aims to contribute knowledge of what extent teaching materials in mathematics suggest laboratory activities. The teaching materials in the study suggest laboratory activities to various extent. The method chosen is a qualitative content analysis. An analysis scheme was created using previous research and curriculum from 2011, specifically for this study. Based on the analysis scheme, three different teaching materials for grade four, mathematics were analyzed. The study has used the socio-cultural perspective to create an understanding of laboratory activities. A laboratory activity is carried out either with a laboratory method or a concretized method. In order to analyze and interpret the results, previous research and the theory of variation have been used. The result shows that laboratory activities mainly occur in the knowledge areas of numerical understanding and the use of numbers. It also shows that laboratory methods are used more often than concretized methods in the laboratory activities. Educational materials are suggested for most laboratory activities. Research shows that it is beneficial for students to work with laboratory activities. A teaching material that suggests few laboratory activities requires more from the teacher. This means that teachers themselves have to find and produce laboratory activities. Teaching materials that suggest many laboratory activities creates conditions for teachers to work laboratory. This study has contributed to more knowledge about laboratory activities in teaching materials.

In this study, the aim has been to investigate how different educational materials in the nature science subjects are designed with the intention of how many and what types of laboratory activities the pupils will encounter to contextualize the abstract nature of science to develop their understanding of the content and working methods of science. In order for the pupils to have the opportunity to develop a scientific understanding, it is necessary that they have the opportunity to use their senses to interpret the text that is presented to them. Through various sensual, experimental, and practical activities, pupils can gain an understanding of the abstract phenomena, concepts, and explanatory models of natural science. In today's schools, there are many teachers who use educational materials as their point of departure when teaching science. Educational materials have an important role in science teaching, but depending on how the educational materials are designed, they provide different conditions for learning. In this study, the number of laboratory activities, that appear in different educational materials for science teaching, is investigated, as well as whether these laboratory activities are designed in terms of their degree of freedom and openness. The following questions have been addressed in order to achieve the purpose of the study: - How many laboratory activities can be found in the various educational materials?-  Are there more laboratory activities in any of the three nature-oriented subjects, biology, physics, or chemistry? - What types of laboratory activities do the pupils encounter in the educational materials and what degree of openness and freedom do they include? The investigation has been carried out through a qualitative and quantitative text and content analysis where various educational materials have been analyzed based on the context-based learning (CBL) theory and the theory of laboratory classification. The results of the qualitative and quantitative text and content analysis showed that certain educational materials give the pupils more opportunities to connect the scientific content to real experiences. The results also showed that some educational materials have a greater variety of different laboratory forms where the pupils have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the different working methods and content of the natural sciences. The conclusion that can be drawn after this study is therefore that it is important that teachers carefully review the various2educational materials to gain insight into their design. Through insight into the design of the educational materials, the teacher can then supplement the educational materials with, for example, laboratories of varying degrees of openness and freedom to give the pupils the opportunity to fulfill the goals in the curriculum.