ED452997 PS029508
Title: A Trip to the Zoo: Children's Words and Photographs.
Author(s): DeMarie, Darlene
Pages: 27
Publication Date: 2001
Notes: In: Early Childhood Research & Practice: An Internet Journal on the Development, Care, and Education of Young Children, 2001; see PS 029 507. Portions of the results of this study were presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children and the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Early Childhood Association of Florida. Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: Journal articles (080); Speeches/meeting papers (150)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Florida
Journal Announcement: RIEOCT2001
Field trips are a regular part of many programs for young children. Field trips can serve a variety of purposes, such as exposing children to new things or helping children to see familiar things in new ways. The purpose of this study was to learn the meaning children gave to a field trip. Cameras were made available to each of the children in a group of 3- to 12 year-olds (n=21) from a campus child care center. It was suggested to them that they take pictures during the field trip to show other children, who were unable to go on the trip, what the zoo was like. Trips to the zoo were not a regular part of the center's program. The results revealed that over 80% of 6- to 12-year-olds' photographs contained animals. Older children noticed and learned new features of familiar animals and about new, unfamiliar animals. Only the 10- to 12-year-olds indicated that they understood abstract concepts such as the need to preserve animals. On the other hand, with one exception, only 56% of the preschool children's photographs contained animals, and the students photographed only familiar animals, including chipmunks. They photographed action (e.g., swimming, petting). Young children also photographed the clouds, ground, and other items not uniquely associated with the zoo. The results were interpreted in light of Farrar and Goodman's Schema-Conformation Deployment Model. Preschool children seem to need more than one exposure to unfamiliar phenomena to notice and to remember them. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/HTH)
Descriptors: *Age Differences; Cognitive Development; Curriculum Enrichment; Elementary Education; *Field Trips; *Learning Readiness; Photographs; Preschool Education; Schemata (Cognition); Zoos
