Young children’s ideas about physical science concepts

Abstract

This chapter focuses on young children’s ideas in physical science, specifically on the concepts of matter and the changes in the state of matter, heat, evaporation and the water cycle, force, floating and sinking, electricity and light. It reports on the main research findings, the theoretical perspectives and the methodologies (along with their limitations) that guided the research studies, including a framework for analyzing children’s reasoning patterns about phenomena and concepts. The evidence concerning the effectiveness of those studies in relation to children’s conceptual development trajectories, the implications of the findings of those studies for classroom practices, and the directions for future research are also discussed.