Children’s learning about water in a museum and in the classroom

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a combined museum and classroom intervention project on science learning in low-income children. The focus of the program was on children’s content knowledge and concept complexity. Thirty children were in the experimental group. A control group of 18 children visited literacy and social studies exhibits at the museum. Results indicate that children in the experimental group learned content knowledge about the components of bubbles and the definition of a current. Although children in the experimental group exhibited more complex concepts about buoyancy, they did not become more correct in their judgments. In general, the program supported children’s science literacy development with regard to both concept complexity and content knowledge. Results are interpreted in relation to socio-cultural and constructivist frameworks from developmental psychology.