Developmental Trends: Science at Different Age Levels

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Infancy (Birth–2)

What You Might Observe:

• Knowledge of a few basic principles of physics (e.g., two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time)
• Emerging awareness that humans and animals are fundamentally different from nonliving things
• Increasing ability to infer cause-effect relationships

Diversity:

• Infants with sensory impairments (e.g., blindness, hearing loss) are more limited in the scientific phenomena they can observe.

Implications:

• Put infants and toddlers in contexts in which they can safely explore and experiment with physical objects.
• Let toddlers interact with small, gentle animals (e.g., rabbits, Cocker spaniels) under your close supervision.

Early Childhood (2–6)

What You Might Observe:

• Increasing differentiation between living and nonliving things (e.g., they “grow” differently)
• Increasing understanding that members of a biological category (e.g., birds) share many characteristics in common despite differences in appearance
• Naive beliefs about the solar system (e.g., the earth is flat)

Diversity:

• Children in some cultures (e.g., Japanese children) are more likely to think of plants and nonliving objects as having “minds.”
• Children who grow up in inner-city environments may have little exposure to life cycles (e.g., calves being born, trees losing leaves in the fall and growing blossoms in the spring).

Implications:

• Read simple nonfiction picture books that depict wild and domesticated animals.
• Take children to zoos, farms, arboretums, and other sites where they can see a variety of animals and plants.
• Talk with children about natural phenomena, pointing out the physical properties of objects (e.g., some objects float and others sink).

Middle Childhood (6–10)

What You Might Observe:

• Intuitive understanding that biological entities are defined by their genetic heritage and internal makeup
• Tendency to think of all physical phenomena as having physical and potentially touchable substance
• Some ability to discriminate between valid and invalid tests of hypotheses

Diversity:

• Children differ considerably in their early exposure to scientific ideas (e.g., through family visits to natural history museums and access to age-appropriate science books).
• Some children are apt to view supernatural forces (e.g., God, the devil) as being largely responsible for hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Implications:

• Have children conduct simple experiments with familiar materials; for example, have them raise sunflowers with varying amounts of light and water.
• Obtain computer programs that let students “explore” human anatomy or “dissect” small animals.

Early Adolescence (10–14)

What You Might Observe:

• Some ability to think abstractly about scientific phenomena and to separate and control variables
• Formulation and testing of hypotheses influenced by existing beliefs (confirmation bias)
• Some tendency to misapply scientific concepts (e.g., thinking that gravity pulls objects toward the South Pole)

Diversity:

• Especially in adolescence, boys tend to have more positive attitudes toward science than girls. Girls are more likely than boys to underestimate their science abilities.
• Influences of religion on beliefs about natural phenomena (e.g., evolution) become especially noticeable in early adolescence.

Implications:

• Have young adolescents explore individual interests in science fair projects, scaffolding their efforts at forming hypotheses and controlling irrelevant variables.
• Provide scientific explanations that are sufficiently concrete that young adolescents can understand and apply them.

Late Adolescence (14–18)

What You Might Observe:

• Increasing ability to understand abstract scientific concepts
• Increasing ability to separate and control variables
• Continuing confirmation bias in experimentation and interpretation of results
• Increasing awareness that science is a dynamic and changing (rather than static) discipline

Diversity:

• Boys and girls perform similarly on relatively easy science tasks; boys sometimes have the advantage on more challenging tasks.
• Boys are more likely to aspire to careers in science.
• Cultures that place high value on honoring authority figures tend to promote simplistic epistemological beliefs about science (e.g., that scientific findings should not be questioned).

Implications:

• Increasingly introduce abstract explanations for phenomena; for example, introduce the idea that heat results from molecules colliding at a certain rate.
• To increase girls’ interest and involvement in science, occasionally form same-gender groups in science labs and activities.