Results
This is my results section.
This is my sections for results about Hypothesis 1.
This is how I prepared the data for this analysis. The figure was based on the table converted from the collected raw frequency data. This table has the percentage of the sphere and not sphere responses made by younger and older children. However, only sphere data for younger and older children were selected. By graphing this data, we are able to make a comparsion between the percentage of younger children and older children who endorse the sphere model. The data is presented below in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Sphere mental model response of the earth given by younger and older children.
Figure 1 shows that the percentage of older children who endorse
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This figure was made by choosing the data looking at the total amount of responses given by younger and older children broken down by different mental models of the earth. The data is presented below in Figure 3. Figure 3. Frequency of alternative models of the earth as a function of age.
Figure 3 shows that except for the sphere model, the frequency of younger children endorsing the other mentals models (flat sphere, hollow sphere, dual earth and disc earth) is higher than that of older children.
Discussion
The aim of the study is to examine the influence of age and gender on children’s scientific understanding of the earth. The hypotheses related to age factor are supported. The present results show that a higher percentage of older children would endorse the sphere model more often than younger children, thus supporting the hypothesis emphasizing that age is associated with a scientific understanding of the structure of the earth. The current study also supports the hypothesis that younger children construct different mental models of the earth compared to older children. However, the hypothesis that gender is associated with a scientific understanding of the structure of the earth. The present study shows that the number of female and male children endorsing the sphere model is roughly the same.
The findings of the present study coordinate positively with the past findings, thus advocating the first hypothesis and the third
These experiments seem to agree with Piaget’s theory that children from the ages of two and six cannot understand conservation. However, some believe that this was inaccurate and that simple changes to Piagets’ initial experiments would have different outcomes and children can grasp conservation at the pre-operational stage. As described by Oates et al. (2005), Donaldson argued that children could operate at higher levels than Piaget predicted. They made changes to the conservation of liquid experiment so that it would make more sense to children. They observed forty children and instead of using water they used pasta shells and were told that they were going to use these in a competitive game. After the children agreed that the two beakers had the same amount of pasta shells, the experimenter pointed out that there was a chip on the rim of one beaker. The beaker was then changed to a wider one and the pasta shells were poured into it. The children were asked if they had the same amount of shells or were they different and this time 70 per cent of children said that they were the same. This would suggest that children could conserve from the age of four as long as it made sense to the child. Having a logical reason
During this stage, the child can engage in symbolic play, and have developed an imagination. This child may use an object to represent something else, such pretending that a broom is a horse. An important feature a child displays during this stage is egocentrism. This refers to the child’s inability to see a situation from another person’s point of view. To test whether or not children are egocentric, Piaget used the ‘Three Mountain Task’. Piaget concluded that the four-year olds thinking was egocentric, as the seven year olds was not. Children, at this stage, do not understand more complex concepts such as cause and effect, time, and comparison.
Jean Piaget investigated how children think. According to Piaget, children’s thought processes change as they mature physically and interact with the world around them. Piaget believed children develop schema, or mental models, to represent the world. As children learn, they expand and modify their schema through the processes of assimilation and
At the age of 4-7 the child reaches the, ?Intuitive?, stage, at this stage the child has some concept of differences i.e. the child can distinguish between the size and colour of different coloured bricks. However the child is still what Piaget called, ?Egocentric?, unable to see things from another?s point of view.
The science that is connected with planet earth encompasses geosciences or earth science among others. Containing old histories, this is considered as a part of planetary science while it possesses holistic and reductionist approaches in the science of the planet Earth. This discipline can cope with lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere or hydrosphere. Quantitative understanding has been developed by the scientists to understand the ground systems with the tools by mathematics, physics, chronology, biology, chemistry alike that help to know how the universe is evolved.
| The discussion refers often to the topic and with adequate evidence from the literature. There is appraisal of the literature(19-21)
Hence children have misconceptions on the weather elements and changes in the environment (Reference book Year 1) Probing questions and discussing with the students about the moon’s phases
The thinking patterns of a 3-year-old preschooler versus a 9-year-old student differentiate in terms of cognitive development. The 3-year-old child is just gaining the ability to inquire with actual words about the world around him/her. Also, in this stage the preschooler only focuses on one particular future of an object versus taking it in in it's entirety. This is primarily explained by the acquirance of what is known as conservation by psychologists. It's the ability to understand that even thought the appearance of an object has been changed, the volume and mass is not affected. A 9-year-old has the freedom to be more flexible in his/her thinking as opposed to the preschooler. They're able to recall and categorize objects based on specific
Piaget and Binet conducted research into the role of cognitive schema and it’s involvement in the process of learning. They carried out an experiment where they conducted a series of intelligence tests on both children and adults. From this research, Piaget found that children and adults look at the world differently, which as a result causes children to build upon their own schemata on their own term. This is because their reasoning differs from that of adults, so they need to make sense of the world using their own rational.
Children are unable to comprehend the difference between reality and what the child believes. According to Piaget cognitive development between the ages of 2-6 is called preoperational. Logical reasoning is not prevalent during this age frame. (Berger, 2011, pg. 237) Piaget described the thinking characteristics of children ages 2-6 as centric: two of the four contraction characteristics specifically apply to intent and they are egocentrism and static reasoning (Berger, 2011, pg. 238). Six year olds are egocentric or self-centered, which means the child can only view the world from his own perspective, and the use of static reasoning means the child believes that the world remains the same as long as he is not watching. Vygotsky discovered that children are "apprentices in thinking" (Berger, 2011, pg. 240).
Science is the process of observing, thinking, and reflecting on actions and events, for young children science involves constructing the relationship within which the factual information can be organized into meaningful concepts ( Brewer, J.A,2007)Therefore, engaged in the science and discovery centre children will firstly, gain the knowledge the basic science concepts and show the familiarity with the terminology. Secondly, children would adopt the scientific skills for observing, communicating, comparing, classifying, organizing , measuring and experimenting. Thirdly, being involved in the science and discovery centre children will develop dispositions, and show interest to investigate unusual objects and events. Likewise, children will
Well to start off, Earth is round and everyone knows that. The earth was formed from clouds and dust which created stars and other things. The earth’s core was made first because it was like winds were swirling around with all this dust. The gravity started to pull everything together and then the earth was made. Then the earth’s crust was made. Gravity is the reason why the earth is a sphere. The earth is round because all the sides have to be equal if you were to measure from the center. And if you were to measure it from the center then it would be the same length all the way around in anyway that you measured it. Flat Earth Society members believe the earth is flat because they walk on it and because it looks and feels flat. But did they ever look at the pictures and wonder why the earth is a
In the study conducted (1974), 180 children aged 4 to 6 were experimented upon to gather knowledge on a child’s conservation of properties; matter, weight and volume as Piaget had believed that a child a pre-operational stage would not be able to comprehend conservation and believes that to be
In the short video documentary by the Annenburg Foundation, The Private Universe, the viewer is shown how students have theories that continue even after graduating from school. It starts with Harvard graduates to explain the mechanism of the seasons and the phases of the moon. It later shows Heather, a 9th grader, who has her own theories on the mechanism of the seasons and the phases of the moon. The video demonstrates her experiencing disequilibrium, solving the disequilibrium by assimilation and accommodation, and the stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development which her cognitive abilities are currently located.
Next, the "pre-operational stage" is the second stage of Piaget’s theory. This stage lasts from around 2 - 7 years. In this stage, Piaget proposed that a child fails to understand the concept “conservation” - the belief that things remain constant in terms of number, quantity and volume irrespective of variations in appearance. In experiments to test number conservation, Piaget showed the child two sets of checkers, which had exactly the same number of checkers in each set. He then changed one of the checker sets, keeping the same amount of checkers in it, so that it was only different in appearance. When the experiment ended, the results showed that the children believed that the sets were of different quantity, thereby, proving Piaget’s theory factual. (Piaget 1952)