Bugs, butterflies, and spiders: Children's understandings about insects

Daniel P. Shepardson

107 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Science Education

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Science Education and Pedagogy Animal and Plant Science Education Science Education and Perceptions

Abstract

This article explores elementary children's ideas about insects. The study involved 20 children from each grade level, kindergarten through fifth-grade, for a total of 120 children. The data collection procedure was designed to investigate what an insect means to children, through the use of three different tasks: draw and explain, interview about instances, and the formulation of a general rule. Considering children's responses to the three tasks, I found that their ideas about insects reflect understandings based on physical characteristics of size and shape, arthropod characteristics, insect characteristics, human-insect interactions, life habits of insects, feeding habits of insects, and means of locomotion. Children's understandings are juxtaposed to that of a scientific perspective, elucidating implications for curriculum development and instructional practice.

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References

1990Qualitative evaluation and research methods 1962Thought and language 1990Qualitative evaluation and research methods 1996Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data 1995National Science Education Standards 1995Handbook of Qualitative Research.1968Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View 1990Apprenticeship in Thinking

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