Introduction and exploration of natures water cycle in preschool

V diplomski nalogi sem se v teoretičnem delu posvetila razvoju intuitivnih in napačnih pojmovanj otrok ter predstav otrok glede sprememb vode in kroženju vode v naravi. Opisala sem raziskave drugih avtorjev, ki so v svojem delu opisovali predstave otrok glede izhlapevanja, kondenzacije ter kroženja vode. Povzela sem teorijo razvoja mišljenja po Piagetu in opisala kognitivni ter socialno kognitivni konflikt kot strategijo zgodnjega učenja v naravoslovju. Del diplomske naloge sem posvetila naravoslovju v vrtcu in opisala pomen konstruktivizma v začetnem naravoslovju, ki temelji na Piagetovih načelih asimilacije, akomodacije in uravnoteženja. V empiričnem delu diplomske naloge sem predstavila raziskavo, ki sem jo izvedla s petnajstimi otroki starimi 5–6 let. Z otroki sem izvedla polstrukturiran intervju, s katerim sem preverjala njihove predstave glede kroženja vode v naravi. Z otroki sem nato izvajala eksperimente,prek katerih so otroci lahko spoznavali izhlapevanje, kondenzacijo in kroženje vode.Na koncu pa sem z njimi ponovno opravila intervju ter primerjala njihove odgovore in razumevanje pred in po končanih dejavnostih. Rezultati raziskave na vzorcu otrok so pokazali:čeprav otroci vedo, da voda v naravi kroži, se je s poskusi skoraj polovici otrok izboljšalo razumevanje procesa izhlapevanja vode.Otroci pa niso razumeli kondenzacije in reverzibilnosti procesa izhlapevanja, kar je dejansko potrebno za razumevanje procesa kroženja vode.In the theoretical part of my thesis I focused on children’s intuitive and false comprehension of water modifications and water circulation in the nature. I have described research of other distinguished authors that wrote about children’s idea of evaporation, condensation and water circulation. I have summarized Piaget’s cognitive evolution theory and described socially cognitive conflict as an early learning strategy in natural sciences. Part of my thesis is dedicated to natural sciences in kindergartenI write about the role of constructivism in early natural sciences that is based on Piaget’s principles of assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. In the empirical part of my thesis I introduced a study on 15 children aged 5 – 6 years. I used a half-structured interview to test children’s idea of water circulation in nature. Using 6 different demonstrations I have then presented to them processes of evaporation, condensation and water circulation. Then I repeated the same interview and compared answers before and after demonstrations. The results have shown that although children are aware of water circulation in nature, almost half of them understood water circulation better afterwards. However, they failed to understand process of condensation as well as reversibility of evaporation that are crucial to fully understand process of water circulation