Children's Encounters With Friction as Understood as a Phenomenon of Emerging Science and as “Opportunities for Learning”

Children's explorations of the concept of spinning in preschool: Science learning in mediated activity

“…These observations follow well with the analysis of Klaar & Öhman (2014) where preschool children explore concepts with their actions and how teachers' promotion of actions can enable further learning opportunities. This is also somewhat valid in Larsson's (2013) results. At the same time, it diverges somehow from Larsson's (2013) observation that teachers fail to observe children's learning opportunities.…”

“…Through listening and attending to this larger and uneven construction, it enables the child to explore how spinning artifacts might be affected by symmetrical imbalances. Like in Larsson's (2013) observations, this can be seen as a critical moment that arises when artifacts are not working as children expect them to, promoting possible reflection.…”

“…The children explored friction in everyday activities, sometimes in disjunction with the institutional agenda. Larsson (2013) observed critical moments when children played in the preschool environment and used its artifacts, such as when friction increases when a sledge gets stuck, creating an opportunity for reflection about the phenomena. However, she observed that such opportunities often fail to be observed by teachers.…”

“…This emphasizes how science learning in Swedish preschools is not content-based, but rather multifaceted and relies heavily on the child's experiences of everyday phenomena. Larsson (2013) studied four children's exploration of friction during their days at a preschool. The children explored friction in everyday activities, sometimes in disjunction with the institutional agenda.…”

Children’s Exploration of Physical Phenomena During Object Play

“…One hypothesis we can draw from existing literature as well as the findings of the present study is that teachers' ability to attentively observe children's play and recognize physical concepts that may apply to children's experiences is an important skill to scaffold children in further discovering and learning about these concepts. Citing Siraj-Blatchford (2001), Larsson (2013) explains that, "When children are attentive to the world around them, the teacher's mission is to support their discovery and exploration of scientific phenomena [sic] and to involve them in investigations that allow them to collaborate and talk about science" (p. 379). How teachers can be prepared and supported to enact the instructional moves necessary to draw out the science embedded in play experiences with objects is a research area with important implications for improving preschool curriculum and instruction.…”