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1Behavioral and neuroimaging studies have recently demonstrated that symbolic numerical order 2 processing (i.e., deciding whether numbers are in an increasing/decreasing sequence or not) may 3 engages different cognitive mechanisms and brain regions compared to symbolic numerical 4 magnitude processing (e.g., deciding which of two numerals is larger). Because of this behavioral 5 dissociation, growing interest has emerged to better understand the neurocognitive mechanisms of 6 symbolic numerical order processing and their relationship to individual differences in arithmetic 7 performance. In the present functional imaging work we further investigated this link in a group of 8 thirty children (7.2-10.25 years) from elementary school, who completed a symbolic numerical 9 order verification (are the numbers going up? e.g., 1-2-3), a symbolic numerical magnitude 10 comparison task (which is the larger number? e.g., 5-7), as well as an arithmetic fluency test 11 outside the scanner. Behavioral results demonstrated the unique role of numerical order to predict 12 children's arithmetic skills and confirmed its mediating power to explain the association between 13 numerical magnitude and arithmetic performance. Imaging results showed a significant association 14 between numerical order and arithmetic in the intersection of the right inferior frontal gyrus and 15 insula, as well as the posterior middle temporal gyrus. An age-dependent change in brain activity 16 was found in the left intraparietal sulcus. These findings solidify the developmental importance of 17 symbolic numerical order processing in children and provides new evidence that the semantic 18 control network may mediates the relationship with arithmetic performance.19 20 Word Count (200): 234 21 Key Words (max 5): 22 Numerical Order; Arithmetic Development; fMRI; Cognitive Control; Inferior Frontal Gyrus Highlights (3-5 max. 85 char): 1 1. Reaction times of numerical order are a unique predictor of arithmetic (73) 2 2. Numerical order mediates the relationship of numerical magnitude with arithmetic (83) 3 3. Brain activation of numerical order processing changes with age in the left IPS (82) 4 4. The semantic control network mediates the relationship with arithmetic (79) 5 6

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Studies on quality in preschools point to possible improvements in the area of cognitive stimulation milieu, especially related to nature and technology. Little is yet known about the significance of this area of education among skilled staff in Austria, and there are no surveys among students in the bachelor’s degree program in Preschool Education. A representative survey of skilled staff who are in the first semester of the part-time bachelor’s degree program in Preschool Education (n = 49) shows that – although the educational fields of Nature and technology is often covered – scientific ways of thinking and working are only partly present and at the same time there is high interest in further training.