Young children's ideas about plants

Abstract

Children develop a set of expectations about natural occurrences around them from an early age. They often do this in an attempt to make sense of the world they live in, in terms of their limited experiences, knowledge and use of language. Research has shown that children at a young age have a restricted meaning of the word 'plant'. This research focuses on very young children aged four and five, and probes their knowledge and exposure to the different range of plants. It also probes the source of this information. This age range was chosen as it includes the overlap between kindergarten and the first year of compulsory education in Malta. This research shows how limited young children's knowledge about plants is. The children gave various interpretations of what a plant is. Each child has at one time or another seen a plant, but each of them interprets it in his/her own way, therefore giving it a personal meaning. It is evident that few children mentioned talking about plants at school. Showing that very little is being done to extend their view of the world, and to make them aware of things that are around them at these ages. The children attending an independent school had greater exposure and did mention television programs occasionally. One is never too young to start learning how to learn, and although many are those who have vast sources of information at hand at home, few are those (both teachers and parents) that use them to help children discover and extend their experience of the world.