Abstract

This study examines the conceptual understanding of the mechanisms of rainwater among elementary educational level children by means of two different experimental procedures: a semi-open questionnaire and drawings. The sample study comes from four different schools located in The Basque Autonomous Community (Spain) and is comprised of 124 children enrolled in two different educational levels: the final course of preschool education (5-6 year old children) and the first course of primary education (6-7 year old children). This paper describes the differences with regard to the performance in the drawing tasks among children from the different educational levels considered in the investigation. However, no difference was found concerning their verbal explanations. The results are discussed in the light of a socio-cultural standpoint. Therefore, the study attempts to contribute to the growing body of investigations that aim to understand the process of the comprehension of natural phenomena during the early education.

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