Why Should Children Learn Science

    Learning science helps children to develop ways of understanding the world around them. For this they have to build up concepts which help them link their experiences together ; they must learn ways of gaining and organizing information and of applying and testing ideas . This contributes not only to children's ability to make better sense of things around them , but prepares them to deal more effectively with wider decision-making and problom-solving in their lives . Science is as basic a part of education as numeracy and literacy ; it daily bacomes more important as the complexity of technology increases and touches every part of our lives.

    The word can is used advisely here ; it indicates that there is the potential to bring these benefits but no guarantee that they will be realized without taking the appropriate steps . In learning science the development of the process side and the product side must go hand in hand ; they are totally interdependent . This has important implications for the kinds of activities children need to encounter in their education . But before pursing these implications , there are still two further important points which underline the value of including science in primary education.

    The first is that whether we teach children science or not , they will be developing ideas about the world around from their earliest years . If these ideas are based on casual observation , non-investigated events and the acceptance of hearsay , then they are likely to be non-scientific , "everyday" ideas . There are plenty of such ideas around for children to pick up . My mother believed （ and perhaps still does despite my efforts ） that if the sun shines through the window on to the fire it puts the fire out , that cheese maggots （ a common encounter in her youth when food was sold unwrapped ） are made of cheese and develop spontaneously from it , that placing a lid on a pan of boiling water makes it boil at a lower temperature , that electricity travels more easily if the wires are not twisted . Similar myths still abound and no doubt influence children's attempts to make sense of their experience . As well as hearsay , left to themselves , children will also form some ideas which seem unscientific; for example , that to make something move requires a force but to stop it needs no force. All these ideas could easily be put to the test ; children's science education should make children want to do it . Then they not only have the chance to modify their ideas , but they learn to be sceptical about so-called " truths" until these have been put to the test . Eventually they will realize that all ideas are working hypotheses which can never be proved right , but are useful as long as they fit the evidence of experience and experiment .

    The importance of beginning this learning early in children's education is twofold . On the one hand the children begin to realize that useful ideas must fit the evidence ; on the other hand they are less likely to form and to accept everyday ideas which can be shown to be in direct conflict with evidence and scientific concepts. There are research findings to show that the longer the non-scientific ideas have been held , the more difficult they are to change . Many children come to secondary science , not merely lacking the scientific ideas they need , but possessing alternative ideas which are a barrier to understanding their science lessons.

    The second point about starting to learn science , and to learn scientifically , at the primary level is connected with attitudes to the subject . There is evidence that attitudes to science seem to be formed earlier than to most other subjects and children tend to have taken a definite position with regard to their liking of the subject by the age of 11 or 12 . Given the remarks just made about the clash between the non-scientific ideas that many children bring to their scondary science lessons and the scientific ideas they are assumed to have , it is not surprising that many find science confusing and difficult . Such reactions undoubtedly affect their later performance in science . Although there is a lesson here for secondary science , it is clear that primary science can do much to avoid this crisis at the primary secondary interface.

    學習科學可幫助孩子學會認識世界的方法。為了認識世界，孩子們需建立一些科學概念，這些概念可幫助他們總結的經驗。還需要學習搜集和組織信息，以及運用和辨別思想的方法。這些概念和方法不僅有助于提高孩子們認識周圍事物的能力，而且為他們將來在生活中高效地作出決定，解決問題奠定了基礎。科學就像識字和識數一樣，是教育中最基礎的部分之一。科技越來越復雜且滲透到我們生活的方方面面，科學的重要性更是日益增加。

    科學既是一種方法，又是一種思維方式，既是過程，又是結果，因此學習科學有雙重益處。科學過程提供了找出信息，辨別思想，尋求解釋的方法。科學的成果即思想，思想可用于認識新經驗。

    這里多次提到了"能夠"這一詞，意思是科學有可能帶來這些益處，但不采取合適的方法，這些益處也無法保證。過程和結果是緊密相連的，學習科學時，過程和結果這兩點必須齊頭并進，這影響到孩子將來在學習中遇到的各種各樣的活動的效果。但是在達到這些要求之前，還有兩個要點需注意，這是在初等教育中開設科學課程的基礎。

    第一點是我們是否教會孩子科學了。孩子們在學前就會初步建立一些關于周圍世界的概念。如果這些概念是通過隨意觀察，沒經過調查，且捕風捉影的一些事件得到的，那么就很有可能是非科學的生活經驗。孩子們在生活中會得到許多這樣的經驗。下面這些事情是我母親深信不疑的：如果太陽穿過窗戶照在火堆上，火堆便會熄滅（我努力糾正過，但也許到現在她還這樣認為）;奶酪蛆（奶酪未經包裝就會生蛆，她小時侯經常遇到的情況）是用奶酪做的，而且蛆是自然生成的（沒經過外力）;給一鍋煮沸的水上蓋上鍋蓋，水雖然還在沸騰，但溫度會降低；如果電線不是纏在一起的話，電流傳播的速度會更快。這樣的"神話"還有很多，毫無疑問會對孩子們形成自己的經驗造成影響。還有傳聞，如果留給他們自己處理的話，他們同樣會建立一些看似非科學的概念。比如，如果要使物體移動就必須借助外力，但要使物體停止就不需要外力。這些概念很容易通過實驗來驗證，科學教育就是要讓孩子們想去做這些實驗。這樣一來，他們不僅有機會去糾正自己的錯誤概念，而且通過實驗驗證，他們還學會去懷疑所謂的"真理".最終孩子們會發現所有的概念都是假設的，而且從來無法證明是正確的，但是只要他們經過經驗和實驗證明，就是有用的。

    在孩子所受教育中，科學教育要早，這有雙重重要性。一方面孩子們開始認識到有用的概念必須是經過證明的，另一方面，他們形成和接受那些與經過證明的科學概念有直接沖突的日常經驗的可能會降低。經調查發現，孩子們掌握那些非科學概念的時間越久，改變這些概念就越困難。許多孩子在開始接受中學科學時，不僅缺乏他們必須的科學概念，而且還接受了另一種錯誤的概念，這會成為他們學習科學的障礙。

    第二點是在最初開始學習科學時，要用科學的方法學習，學習的初級階段可形成孩子對這門學科的態度。有證據顯示，對科學的態度的形成似乎比其他學科要早，孩子在11到12歲就會對是否喜歡一門學科形成明確的態度。孩子帶到中學科學中的非科學概念與他們應持有的科學概念之間會產生沖突，鑒于這一點，許多孩子的思維都被混淆了，覺得科學深奧難懂，這毫不奇怪。這樣的反應無疑會影響他們以后在科學學習中的表現。雖然這個課程是關于中學科學教育的，但很明顯，要避免這些危機在初等教育與中等教育過渡期間出現，初等教育能做的很多。