<p>Den här rapporten undersöker vilken uppfattning och kunskap lärarna i förskolan har om naturvetenskap och hur den införlivas i praktiken enligt förskolans läroplan och lokala styrdokument. Syftet med den här undersökningen är att ta reda på: (i) Vad är naturvetenskap för lärarna i förskolan? (ii) Vilka mekanismer styr lärarnas planering och realisering av naturvetenskapen i det pedagogiska vardagsarbetet?</p><p>Material och data till undersökningen har samlats ihop genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sju lärare i förskolan.</p><p>Rapporten visar att övervägande delen av lärarna i förskolan ser naturvetenskapen som att vistas i skog och mark. Vad det gäller faktorer som påverkar planering och realisering av naturvetenskapen framkom det genom intervjumaterialet att det är: (i) Kompetens, (ii) förståelse av naturvetenskapen och dess innehåll och (iii) insikten av de styrdokument som förskolan lyder under.</p><p>Utifrån gällanden styrdokument i förskolan är naturvetenskapen ett kunskapsområde som bör lyftas och synliggöras i den pedagogiska vardagen. För att uppfylla dessa krav bör lärarna i förskolan öka sin kunskap inom denna vetenskapsgren.</p> / <p>This report investigates the perception and knowledge of natural science amongst pre-school teachers and how natural science is currently incorporated into the pre-school curriculum. The aims of these investigations are in particular to: (i) Establish what natural science means (and implicates) to pre-school teachers. (ii) Identify factors that influence planning and implementation of natural science in the pre-school curriculum.</p><p>Material and data for the abovementioned investigations have been gathered through qualitative interviews with seven active pre-school teachers.</p><p>The report finds that a majority of the interviewees only have a very basic understanding of natural science and therefore often fail to adequately incorporate natural science in the daily pre-school curriculum. The report furthermore finds that amongst the interviewees the factors that influence planning and implementation of natural science in the pre-school curriculum are: (i) competence, (ii) perception and knowledge of natural science and (iii) interpretation of the pre-school curriculum guidelines.</p><p>Current pre-school curriculum guidelines stresses the importance of natural science and encourages pre-school teachers to increase the awareness of natural science by incorporating it in the daily curriculum. This report argues that in order to increase the awareness of natural science the knowledge and perception of natural science amongst pre-school teachers must first be improved.</p>

<p>How do you see on natural science within preschool? Does education and interest play a role for how the educationalist works with natural science? And is the children’s interest for natural science affected by the educationalist, what does the educationalist think himself? These questions have I under my teachers training and under deputyship in preschool asked myself and these questions lies to behalf for my investigation. I interviewed five educationalists on different preschools for my investigation.</p><p>My investigation resulted in that I have been able to see a certain conjunction between how you work with natural science in preschool and the educationalist education or interest. What also plays a role is that you often associate natural science with knowledge of nature. The educationalist seems overall positive to natural science, but depending of a lack of knowledge it feels strange and difficult. What I also received is that the educationalist thinks that their sight on natural science is infectious.</p> / <p>Hur ser man inom förskolan på naturvetenskap? Spelar pedagogens utbildning och intresse en roll för hur man arbetar med naturvetenskap? Och påverkar pedagogen barns intresse för naturvetenskap, vad tror pedagogen själv? Dessa frågor har jag ställt mig under min lärarutbildning och under vikariat i förskoleverksamhet och de ligger till grund för min undersökning. Jag har i undersökningen intervjuat fem pedagoger på olika förskolor.</p><p>Resultatet i min undersökning blev att jag kunnat se ett visst samband mellan hur man inom förskolan arbetar med naturvetenskap och den utbildning eller intresse som pedagogen har. Att man ofta förknippar naturvetenskap med naturkunskap spelar också roll. Överlag tycks pedagoger vara positiv till naturvetenskap, den känns främmande och svår beroende på avsaknad av kunskaper. Vad jag också fått fram är att pedagoger tror att deras syn på naturvetenskap smittar av sig.</p>

The aim of the study was to investigate the quality of diagrams and explanations of moon phases in grade 6 to 8 Natural Science textbooks; to establish whether the textbooks provide scientifically correct content information for learners and teachers and to investigate whether the textbooks used for teaching are effective conceptual development tools for grade 8 learners, specifically when exploring moon phases. The research consisted of two phases, where the first phase investigated the quality of textbooks, and the second phase investigating learners’ ideas about moon phases.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2013. / The integration of indigenous knowledge into the mainstream science curriculum has been advocated for by science educators around the world. The Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS) for Grades R-9 (Natural Sciences) clearly advocates for the incorporation of indigenous knowledge into the science curriculum. They stipulate that learners must learn science within the context of their historical, societal and cultural knowledge and values. It is important that learners should understand other systems of knowledge, such as indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). The underlying assumption is that teachers can help learners integrate science and indigenous knowledge but in order to do that, they too must have adequate knowledge and understanding regarding the two thought systems. The challenge is that some teachers are not well informed about the varying indigenous knowledge that typifies the multi-cultural situation in South African classrooms as they have been schooled in western science The study aimed at eliciting learners‟ and teachers‟ knowledge about traditional medicinal plants and their attitudes towards integration of that knowledge into the science curriculum. This was with a view to exploring any differences or similarities between the views of teachers and learners. A case study was carried out at a secondary school in Meadowlands, Soweto. A sample of 36 Grade 9 learners and 10 teachers of Natural sciences was selected using the convenience sampling technique. Structured pictorial questionnaire was used to collect data from both teachers and learners. Field notes were taken during a class debate on the effectiveness of traditional medicines versus western medicines. Unstructured follow up interviews (5 learners- group interview and 3 teachers-individual) were performed on selected participants to probe further their responses to the questionnaire. A ROSE1 type questionnaire was used as a follow up when learners were in grade 10 (2013). Analysis of the findings showed that a majority of learners and teachers that participated in this research have opposing attitudes regarding the need to integrate knowledge about traditional medicinal plants into the science curriculum. The 1ROSE-Relevance Of Science Education, a questionnaire distributed in many countries by Prof Svein Sjøberg, ILS, University of Oslo, Norway. learners in this study had generally more knowledge that the teachers about traditional medicinal plants. The majority of learners are willing to learn about indigenous knowledge (IK). Nine teachers out of ten in this study were generally less enthusiastic about teaching about traditional medicinal plants. In light of the findings it is recommended that teachers need to have in-house training in so far as the methodological aspects of integrating components IK into the science curriculum relate. This may go a long way in limiting conceptual conflicts amongst the learners.

Detta är en fallstudie som ämnar undersöka hur förskolans yngsta barn utforskar naturvetenskap i utemiljön samt hur förskollärare interagerar med dem i deras utforskande. Den tidigare forskning som är relevant för studien presenteras sedan beskrivs utvecklingspedagogiken vilken är studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt. De metoder som använts för studien är observationer av barn och förskollärare samt samtal med förskollärarna. Resultatet visar att de yngsta barnen utforskar naturvetenskap på flera olika sätt och förskollärarna både initierar utforskande och tar tillvara på barnens egna utforskande. Studien visar viktiga aspekter för barnens utforskande; - vad som finns tillgängligt för barnen i utemiljön - att förskollärarna är närvarande där barnen är - att den yta som finns tillvaratas så att barnen får möjligheter till lugn och ro att utforska. / This is a case study that intends to investigate how the preschool's youngest children explores natural science in the outdoor environment and how preschool teachers interact with them in their exploration. We will present previous research that is relevant for the study and describe the developmental pedagogy which is the study's theoretical starting point. The methods used for the study are observations of children and preschool teachers and conversations with preschool teachers. The result shows that the youngest children explore natural science in several different ways and the preschool teachers both initiate exploration and capture the children's own exploration. The study shows important aspects for children's exploration; - what is available for the children in the outdoor environment - that preschool teachers are present where the children are - that the available area is utilized so that the children have the opportunity for peace and quiet to explore.

Uma das principais características das exposições museológicas é o seu potencial de representatividade histórico-cultural, sobretudo quando dirigimos nossa atenção aos museus de história natural dos séculos XIX e XX, período de constituição do museu público, impulsionado pelos discursos nacionalistas, civilizatórios e modernizantes. A análise de projetos expositivos desse contexto possibilita inferir que o novo modelo de museu é resultado da busca do equilíbrio entre os estudos científicos desenvolvidos através das coleções de pesquisa e as formas efetivas de instrução pública. Centenas de museus foram construídos enquanto outros reformaram suas áreas técnicas e administrativas, de forma a atender os novos parâmetros estabelecidos pelos programas museológicos, arquitetonicamente definidos como área restrita de pesquisa e área restrita da exposição pública. As exposições museológicas abertas à visitação ganharam impulso a partir de uma perspectiva objetiva. Os recursos comunicacionais, que nasceram e se desenvolveram nestes museus, reforçam o sentido da educação popular a partir da leitura do discurso expositivo presente nas narrativas polissêmicas estabelecidas nos novos espaços de consagração da ciência. O objeto museológico, o espaço museal e o público das exposições formam a base desse fenômeno moderno de comunicação. A modernidade forjada tanto pela Revolução Industrial quanto pela Revolução Francesa gerou este tipo de organização institucional que, por meio da reunião de objetos extraídos do mundo natural, como referências patrimoniais, registros documentais e testemunhos materiais, assumiu a responsabilidade pela conservação, pesquisa e difusão de uma nova visão sobre a natureza, a partir de critérios científicos. A este processo de seleção, de transferência de elementos naturais para o interior dos museus, para composição de coleções e cenários museais didáticos, foi cunhada a ideia de Musealização da Natureza. Essa proposição deve ser entendida pela abrangência do percurso da nova vida do objeto, enfocando as formas de representação do mundo natural por esta tipologia de museu, apresentando em seus sistemas comunicacionais uma natureza compartimentada, classificada e reconhecida. Com o desenvolvimento e aplicação de diferentes recursos expositivos, sobretudo os dioramas, os museus de história natural passaram a preencher as salas expositivas com uma museotecnia nascida na Europa, que ganhou forte e determinante impulso nos Estados Unidos e se difundiu por todo o mundo, inclusive no Brasil. Com a instalação de cenários de ambientes naturais, didaticamente preparados, consolidou-se no museu público uma nova forma de olhar para o mundo natural: uma forma científica. É justamente no limiar da ciência moderna, que os museus de história natural se proliferam e declaradamente passam a se preocupar com a popularização da ciência. Os processos modernos de produção econômica transformaram definitivamente a relação do homem com o mundo natural. Ao mesmo tempo, estabeleceram novas formas de vivência com a natureza, seja através de parques naturais, jardins ou mesmo pelas exposições museológicas com seus dioramas, aqui considerados como verdadeiras janelas para o mundo natural. / One of the main characteristics of museum exhibitions is its potential historical and cultural representativeness, especially when we focus our attention on the museums of natural history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Those were periods of constitution of the public museum that was driven by nationalistic, civilization and modern speeches. The analysis of exhibition projects in that context makes it possible to infer that the new model of museum is the result of the search for balance between scientific studies developed through the research collections and the effective ways of public instruction. Hundreds of museums were built while others reformed their technical and administrative areas in a way they could attend the new parameters established by the museum programs that were defined as restricted area for research and restricted area for public exhibition. Museum exhibitions opened to visiting won strength based on a focused perspective. Communicational resources that had been born and had developed in those museums reinforced the sense of popular education based on the reading of the exhibition speech that were present in the multifaceted narratives established in the new spaces of consecration of science. The museum object, the museum space and the exhibition\"s public form the basis of this modern phenomenon of communication. The modernity forged by the Industrial Revolution as well as the French Revolution generated this kind of organizational institution that - by the means of reuniting objects extracted from the natural world such as heritage references, document data and material testimonies - have assumed the responsibility for the conservation, research and diffusion of a new vision about the nature based on scientific criteria. To that process of selection and transfer of natural elements to the interior of museums to form didactic museum collection and scenarios was coined the idea of Musealization of Nature. This proposition must be understood by the comprehensiveness of the path of the new life of the object focusing the ways of representing the natural world by this typology of museum and presenting in its communicational systems a compartmentalized, classified and recognized nature. With the development and application of different exhibition resources, especially the dioramas, the natural history museums began to fill the exhibition rooms with a museumtechnique born in Europe that gained strong and determining strength in the United States and had spread all over the world including Brazil. With the installation of scenarios of natural environments that were didactically prepared, a new way of looking to the natural world in the public museum were consolidated: the scientific way. It is precisely on the threshold of modern science that the museums of natural history proliferate and reportedly began to worry about the popularization of science. The modern process of economic production definitely transformed the relationship between man and natural world. At the same time thei established new ways of living the nature whether through natural parks or gardens or even through museum exhibitions with its dioramas that we consider in this research as are true windows to the natural world.

This diploma thesis focuses on verifying the proposed inquiry-based activity and comparing its effectiveness with a traditionally concieved theme for experimental activity of pupils with the same topic. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the role of experimental activities in Czech schools, their options, helpful equipment and generally inquiry-based teaching. The practical part of the thesis is focused on the verification of the proposed research activity in comparison with traditionally concieved experimental activity. The traditionally concieved activity was taken from the website of the company Vernier, the research activity was created by modifying these tasks. The proposed research activity consists of two logically connected tasks. The aim of this thesis was to design and verify research activity based on experimental activities and to compare the internal motivation of pupils in performing research-oriented and clasically concieved activities. The pupils worked in groups that were created based on the pupils' preferred themes. For comparison purposes, the groups were divided into two research halves and each half used a different approach. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and group conversation were used to evaluate the affective area. The benefit in the cognitive area...

Teaching in pre-school usually takes its starting-point in children’s reality and curiosity. Apart from that it has also been important to take contains of a special subject under consideration, for example development of language and communication or mathematics development. The purpose of this study was to investigate how natural science as a special subject in pre-school education is expressed by five trainee teachers when they teach children at the age of 2-7. Generally the study focuses on the students’ teaching actions as well as their line of argument about their teaching and the choices they have to make. More specific the study focuses on the goal and important perspectives in young children’s natural science education, from the students’ point of view. Observations and interviews were carried through during the students’ last period of practical training in five different pre-schools. Natural science as a subject was predetermined but the students were free to choose any contain within the subject. The study is inspired by hermeneutic research, mainly in the procedure of analyzing the students’ expressions and statements. The results show that the trainee teachers have different goals with their science teaching. The purposes for individual learning focus on the subject, the individual child and/or the society in a more wide perspective. The students also have purposes for the pre-school activity which they express as taking the starting point in children’s experiences, interest, specific conditions and letting the children have fun during learning. The two perspectives “The Child or the Subject” became of special interest. The trainee teachers made their teaching choices from the child’s point of view and also from the natural science subject. These perspectives were used in a mix by the students, and even if their first focus was at the subject they immediately took the child’s interest under consideration. / Undervisning i förskolan utgår av tradition från barnens verklighet och nyfikenhet. Under de senare åren har undervisningen också kommit att fokusera på innehållet. Syftet med föreliggande kvalitativa studie var att undersöka hur naturvetenskap i ett didaktiskt perspektiv kommer till uttryck när fem lärarstudenter undervisar barn i åldrar 2-7 år, och efteråt resonerar kring undervisningen. Intressant var vilka mål de hade samt vilka perspektiv som blev viktiga att utgå ifrån i undervisningen. Observationer och intervjuer genomfördes under studenternas sista verksamhetsförlagda utbildning (termin 7), då de undervisade kring något eget valt naturvetenskapligt innehåll. Deltagarna har alla läst inriktningen ”lärande i tidiga åldrar” och får behörighet att undervisa barn i förskolan och grundskolans första år. Studien är inspirerad av den hermeneutiska forskningsansatsen, och genom ett analysförfarande som bygger på tolkning av deltagarnas uttryck och utsagor har skilda mål och perspektivval vuxit fram ur datamaterialet. Resultatet visar att de val deltagarna gör kan vara riktade mot individuella lärandemål utifrån tre perspektiv. Målen kan vara ämnesfokuserade, individfokuserade eller samhällsfokuserade. Valen kan också vara riktade mot mål för verksamheten och då innebära att det måste vara roligt, undervisningen måste utgå från barnets intresse och förutsättningar samt från barns erfarenheter. Även om verksamhetsmålen verkar samstämmiga har de ibland skilda innebörder för studenterna. Det är tydligt att lärarstudenternas undervisning utgår både från barnet och från ämnet. Resultatet belyser hur lärarstudenterna förutom de naturvetenskapliga målen också har mål som är mer allmänna, till exempel tematiskt, ämnesövergripande och värdemål som att vänta på sin tur och att visa hänsyn. I studien kallas detta för ämnesdidaktisk respektive allmändidaktisk preferens. Resultatet visar inte på preferenser som kan knytas till personer. Det visar sig att även om ämnet ibland har första preferens så tas det direkt hänsyn till de individer som skall undervisas. Det förekommer inte vid något tillfälle att studenterna både planerat och genomfört utan att ta hänsyn till de barn eller den barngrupp de undervisar. I diskussionen belyses bland annat resultatet ur ett styrdokumentsperspektiv samt vilka konsekvenser resultatet kan få för lärarutbildningen.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vad i de naturorienterande ämnena som intresserar elever och varför. Syftet var även att undersöka vad elever finner intressant inom andra skolämnen och om detta kan användas i undervisningen i de naturorienterande ämnena, samt utifrån elevernas intresse få fram undervisningsinnehåll inom de naturorienterande ämnena. För att besvara dessa frågor användes en kvalitativ metod baserad på intervjuer. Studien utgick ifrån ett elevperspektiv där ambitionen var att elevernas egna åsikter skulle komma fram. Nio parintervjuer genomfördes med elever i årskurs sex i en och samma klass på en mellanstor skola i Västsverige. Resultatet av studien delades upp i tre olika dimensioner utifrån det som framkom angående elevernas intressen inom de naturorienterande ämnena och andra skolämnen som kan relateras till dem. Den första dimensionen var intresse för att deras prestationer resulterar i ett färdigt resultat, där den färdiga produkten var grunden för intresset. Den andra dimensionen var arbetssättets och arbetsformens påverkan för intresset där laborativt arbete, praktiskt arbete och grupparbete togs upp. Om dessa arbetssätt och arbetsformer användes menade eleverna att arbetspasset blev roligare och mer lustfyllt. Den sista dimensionen var elevernas intresse för omvärlden, både med koppling till de naturorienterande ämnena och andra skolämnen som kan kopplas till undervisningen i dessa. I diskussionen berörs bland annat att det finns risker då inte arbetssättet används för att belysa en teori och även att det verkar som görandet i sig är det intressanta för elever och inte varför ett moment görs. / The aim of this study was to find which areas within the natural science subjects interests students the most and why this is the case. The aim was also to investigate if an interest in another subject can be used when teaching the natural science subjects. To answer these questions, a qualitative method was used where students were interviewed. The study was performed from a student point of view with ambition to obtain their opinions. Nine interviews in pairs were carried out with students in the sixth grade from a single class in a medium sized school in western Sweden. The results were divided into three different aspects with regards to the students' interest in the natural science subjects and other related subjects. The first aspect describes the interest that their achievements results in actual progress, where the finished product was the foundation for the interest. The second aspect was the impact of the ways of working on the interest, where laboratory, practical and group work were covered. When these ways of working were used the students felt that the work was more joyful. The last aspect was the students' interest for the surrounding world, both with regard to the natural science subjects and other subjects connected to the teaching of these. The discussion covers, among other things, the risks when the way of working is not used to illustrate a theory and the fact that the actual performance of a task seems more interesting to the students, than the aim of it.

Den här rapporten undersöker vilken uppfattning och kunskap lärarna i förskolan har om naturvetenskap och hur den införlivas i praktiken enligt förskolans läroplan och lokala styrdokument. Syftet med den här undersökningen är att ta reda på: (i) Vad är naturvetenskap för lärarna i förskolan? (ii) Vilka mekanismer styr lärarnas planering och realisering av naturvetenskapen i det pedagogiska vardagsarbetet? Material och data till undersökningen har samlats ihop genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sju lärare i förskolan. Rapporten visar att övervägande delen av lärarna i förskolan ser naturvetenskapen som att vistas i skog och mark. Vad det gäller faktorer som påverkar planering och realisering av naturvetenskapen framkom det genom intervjumaterialet att det är: (i) Kompetens, (ii) förståelse av naturvetenskapen och dess innehåll och (iii) insikten av de styrdokument som förskolan lyder under. Utifrån gällanden styrdokument i förskolan är naturvetenskapen ett kunskapsområde som bör lyftas och synliggöras i den pedagogiska vardagen. För att uppfylla dessa krav bör lärarna i förskolan öka sin kunskap inom denna vetenskapsgren. / This report investigates the perception and knowledge of natural science amongst pre-school teachers and how natural science is currently incorporated into the pre-school curriculum. The aims of these investigations are in particular to: (i) Establish what natural science means (and implicates) to pre-school teachers. (ii) Identify factors that influence planning and implementation of natural science in the pre-school curriculum. Material and data for the abovementioned investigations have been gathered through qualitative interviews with seven active pre-school teachers. The report finds that a majority of the interviewees only have a very basic understanding of natural science and therefore often fail to adequately incorporate natural science in the daily pre-school curriculum. The report furthermore finds that amongst the interviewees the factors that influence planning and implementation of natural science in the pre-school curriculum are: (i) competence, (ii) perception and knowledge of natural science and (iii) interpretation of the pre-school curriculum guidelines. Current pre-school curriculum guidelines stresses the importance of natural science and encourages pre-school teachers to increase the awareness of natural science by incorporating it in the daily curriculum. This report argues that in order to increase the awareness of natural science the knowledge and perception of natural science amongst pre-school teachers must first be improved.