”Den här är trä och den här är med trä, då kan den bara åka så där!” : Att tillämpa ett undersökande arbetssätt för förskolebarns lärande om fysikaliska fenomen utifrån det lutande planet

Sammanfattning

The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge of how an investigative approach can assist children of different ages in acquiring new knowledge and reinforcing existing knowledge about the falling motion of various artifacts based on an inclined plane. Eight children participated in the study, from three different age-divided departments. The starting point of the activity was inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy's thoughts on the unfinished material, where the children were asked to examine the fall movement of four different artefacts along an inclined plane. The observation is based on Predict, observe, explain scientific methodology. In the initial discussions, the children were asked to formulate hypotheses about the various artefacts’ motion along the incline, and then test and observe the phenomenon. The activity ended with reflections on their experiences about the practical elements. The study studied how the children in different ages acted and expressed themselves during the activity. The analysis is based on Piaget's stage theory and Vygotsky's view of learning about how children mediate knowledge. The results show that the children have a good ability to express themselves to try to explain and understand different physical phenomena such as friction, force and speed based on their own conditions. However, the ability to reflect differs between the different ages. The children aged 5–6 years show not only the ability to formulate hypotheses but also to explain their hypotheses, where they link their explanations to the shape of the object. At the same time, the younger children thought outside the box and explored the phenomenon of friction thoroughly. A crucial role is how the educator formulates his or her questions to develop the children's lifelong learning.