Children’s exploring of physical phenomena on hills : A design-based research on how children explore friction.

The aim of the study is to provide knowledge about how children explore, understand and reason about the physical phenomenon of friction. This study have been based on the younger children’s exploring. The method of the study has been observation in order to get as close to the environment that’s being investigated and to bring attention to the younger children’s actions. A nonparticipating observation was also used for the observer to influence the children as little as possible. The observations that have been made have taken place over two days and have been video recorded to ensure documentation of children's reasoning, body language and actions. The result shows how the children focused on overcoming the friction to get an object to slide instead of getting stuck. The participants’ interaction also emerged in the result as central to driving the exploration further. The conclusions drawn after the study is that the result can be linked to the preschool’s curriculum, which addresses the fact that the children should be given the opportunity to explore, discuss and develop understanding of physical phenomena. The study has also highlighted that hills can be used as a tool for teaching and exploring the phenomenon of friction