Children’s Astronomy. Shape of the earth, location of people on earth and the day/night cycle according to polish children between 5 and 8 years of age

JAN AMOS JELINEK

Abstract

This article presents findings with regard to mental models of the shape of the earth, location of people on earth and the day/night cycle, established on the basis of statements of 49 polish children aged from 5 to 8 years. During the interviews, the children made moving representations of the day and night sky and explained the position of and mutual relations between the earth, sun and moon using self-made plasticine models. The article establishes a high degree of similarity with the Vosniadou and Brewer models and states that children's astronomical knowledge mainly comes from extracurricular sources of information.

Keywords

Shape of the earth, location of people on earth, the day/night cycle, mental models, children

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References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.26220/rev.3345

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