The diploma work describes activities that enable children in the kindergarten to learn about the universe. The theoretical part presents the contents and methods of work, which I used when planning the activities according to the child's level of thinking. If the teacher knows the topic they are discussing in the kindergarten, and is familiar with the child’s developmental stage, they can choose appropriate working methods for helping children to understand new concepts and processes happening in space.
The empirical part presents the results of a research about a child's understanding of the universe. The research was carried out before the planned activities took place. I was interested in their ideas about the Sun, the Moon, and the planets.
I planned activities in this field that were based on the children's prior knowledge. In doing so, I took into account a child's mental development, and used the methods that would presumably help me the most with teaching the children as many new things about the universe as possible. These activities are presented in the central part.
In the last section, I present the results of a research about a child's knowledge of the solar system and the universe. The results showed that the children had been given the correct perceptions about the bodies in our solar system. They also knew about certain processes that are happening in it, but they will require more knowledge and thinking skills for actually understanding the processes in space.
|
