Barns meningsskapande i ett projekt om biologisk mångfald och ekologi.

The purpose of this article, which forms part of an article dissertation, is to examine children’s exploration of animals in a preschool project about biodiversity and ecology. More specifically, the study investigates the different ways in which children make sense of content related to animals and nature, in which order the content emerges during the activities, and how the preschool teachers influence the process.

The study finds that, when making sense of content related to animals and nature, children tend to start by identifying similarities and differences between the tongues of humans and animals (in this case frogs). Later on, the children become aware of the ecological form and function of the animal. The children alternate between giving explanations of a physiological nature, and providing ecological and evolutionary explanations of biological phenomena. With respect to the question of the order in which content emerges during activities, the study finds that children explore 'why' questions concerning animal behaviour and functions, before they assimilate their knowledge about the form, differences and similarities of organisms (morphology), and their functional movements (physiology). With respect to the preschool teachers’ influence on the process, the study finds that the teachers’ utterances are few, but significant. The teachers ask productive questions in connection with the children’s exploration, and thereby they catch the children’s attention.

Data collection was based on observations carried out by means of video footage at a unit in one preschool (förskola). The unit consisted of 20 children and three preschool teachers (förskollärare and barnskötare). Nine 5-year-old children were observed for a total of 9.5 hours. In addition to this, photographs of the children’s work, pedagogical documentation and the children’s drawings were collected, and, in combination with the video footage, they form the basis of the analysis.

Caiman, C. & Lundegård, I. (2015). Barns meningsskapande i ett projekt om biologisk mångfald och ekologi. NORDINA 11(1), 73-87.