’Men det åker inte upp i himlen!’ Förskolebarn resonerar om vattnets kretslopp illustrerat i ett tärningsspel

The study investigates how multimodal illustrated teaching material can contribute to, or possibly hinder, the creation of meaning around a scientific content.

The researchers investigate how 4-6-year-old kindergarten children understand the water cycle using an educational dice game. The following research questions were asked: (1) How does the game multimodally illustrate what happens in the water cycle? (2) What type of meaning do children seem to create about the water cycle and what happens to the water in our environment based on the resources the game offers?

The results indicate that although the children referred to and accounted for several of the illustrated water phenomena, it was difficult for the children to understand the water cycle. The main reason is that the phenomenon of evaporation is too abstract and difficult for the children to understand.

The study was primarily conducted using a cultural-historical perspective based on the Vygotsky tradition. The study is part of a larger project that investigates how children work with scientific content using multimodal illustrations. The researchers visited two kindergartens over the course of four days. A department from each kindergarten participated, with a total of 16 children aged 4-6 years old taking part in the project. The game sessions were video recorded.

Bergnell, A. & Åberg-Bengtsson, L. (2019). “’Men det åker inte upp i himlen!’ Förskolebarn resonerar om vattnets kretslopp illustrerat i ett tärningsspel”. NorDiNa, 15(3):283-298.