CHILDHOOD COGNITION, AND SPECIFICALLY

Childhood cognition, and specifically, on children's understanding of the earth

Childhood cognition and specifically on children's understanding of the earth

Introduction

Our knowledge about the world is mediated by sense organs, material and mental mediators, which convey information that may appear conflicting. This is why both children and adults experience difficulties in integrating and conceptualising the information. The article examines the development of children's knowledge from initial beliefs and knowledge to synthetic and scientific knowledge. Empirical studies investigating the knowledge of Estonian children about planet Earth, the possibility of living on earth and reasons for seasonal changes are described. Examples from interviews with children illustrate the complexity of constructing and conceptualising knowledge. Children are notorious for being impulsive (they get into everything) and perseverative (they get into the same things over and over again). Children experience problems in expressing their thoughts and passing on their knowledge to others, which further complicates the study of the actual extent of their knowledge.

Children's explanations (the level, complexity, integration) are affected by situation, interviewers, asked questions At the time of the first interview the children were 7 years old and were only beginning to construct their first sentences and make their first drawings.

Interview

The children were asked the following questions about the earth: 1. What is the shape of the earth, where people live on? If the answer was round, two models were shown towards the end of the interview - a paper disc and a table tennis ball - and they were asked: Which round object is the earth - this or that? 2. If you walked and walked in a straight line, where would you end up? If you walked even further, where would you end up? 3. Can you fall down from the earth? If the child replied affirmatively, the next question was: Where? As was expected, fewer children referred to the edge of the earth than those who were directly asked about it.

Furthermore, the third question is relevant only when the child believes that the earth has an edge. Therefore many children reinterpreted the question as 'Can you fall off?'. Table 1 indicates the number of children relative to years, who gave no reply, who provided the correct answer and who made independent reference to the edge of the earth (those who pointed to the disc-shaped model of the earth, replied that walking takes one to the edge of the earth and one can fall down over the edge). As indicated, several 7-year-olds already replied that people can fall over the edge of the earth. Children tend to select the disc model at the age of 8 and 9, rather than at the age of 5 or 6. With the advancement of age, the number of children who believe that by walking directly one can end up at the edge of the earth increases. The responses reveal that some preschoolers conceptualise the earth as a finite object with an ...