ABSTRACT
This study examined whether children 4- and 5-years-old (N = 156) can revise a physical science misconception from different types of picture books. A realistic fiction book and informational book with identical images matched in word count and reading difficulty level were compared to a control book about plants. In the pretest and posttest, children were asked to make predictions about pairs of objects that either had the same or different weight. The pretest scores showed that many children began with the misconception that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects. Posttest scores revealed that children revised this misconception after reading the realistic fiction and informational picture books but not after reading the control book. These findings provide evidence that children as young as age 4 can acquire physical science knowledge from picture books and that both realistic fiction and informational books can be used effectively to expose children to science concepts.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the children and parents in the Greater Toronto Area who participated in this research and the Ontario Science Centre for allowing us to conduct part of this study at their location. We thank Shelley He for her lovely picture book illustrations. We also thank Angela Nyhout, Ruth Lee and Begüm Özdemir for helpful feedback on an earlier version of this article.
Supplemental data
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