Children´s exploration and conversing about a scientific content : A qualitative study on children´s exploration and conversing during an experiment consisting of mixing and separating

The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge of children´s exploration and conversing during an experiment consisting of mixing and separating. The study was conducted on the basis of an inductive and qualitative approach where semi-structured interviews were used as a method. A socio-cultural perspective was used as it is the children´s exploration and conversing about a scientific content that is in focus. The collected data was analyzed with inspiration from a phenomenographic analysis model. The result shows that the children asked questions and made descriptions regarding the content of the experiment, but there were also questions that were not about the scientific content of the activity. The children compared the different processes mixing and separating with more everyday events and their conceptual use increased during the course of the experiment and this after they had been introduced to them. The conclusions show that the active role of the interviewer was crucial for the visibility of the scientific content of the activity