Microorganisms play a big role on planet Earth and are often associated only with harmful effects, whereas in reality their good effects prevail. Children most commonly encounter them with illness. Their interpretations for such of an abstract concept are severely limited, they usually define them as harmful bacteria. With our research, we intend to prove that preschool children are capable of understanding the importance of microorganisms, should they be presented in an appropriate manner. We decided to approach this topic by practical learning, which is not used often enough among kindergarten teachers.
Empirical part was executed in groups of children aged 5 to 6 years. Total of 18 children first drew a sketch of microorganisms, followed by a discussion. This way we determined their foreknowledge and got familiar with their individual perceptions of microorganisms. The main part was composed of practical exercise, where children observed microorganisms through microscopes and magnifying glasses. They each made a sketch and were asked about their observations, where we focused on their understanding. We set up a petri dish with moistened bread, on which mold began to grow. Children were observing the growing mold daily, at the end we examined the outcomes under the stereomicroscope. They were asked to make a sketch of mold that had accumulated on the culture, which was visible to the naked eye and under stereomicroscope. In the final interview one week later, they were again asked to explain this topic and to make another sketch. This way, we could determine the progress that was made and their perceptions about the scale of microorganisms.
With this research, we were able to prove that children as young as preschool can understand the importance of microorganisms, if they are presented in an appropriate manner. That mostly includes practical work such as in this instance working with stereomicroscopes and magnifying glasses. Their perceptions were found to be most notable on individual sketches they made.
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