Experimental Study on Children's Spatial Cognition in Environment

Abstract

Recently, Science Education is becoming to focus Out-door Activities for increasing the children's direct experiences in environment. However, the instructional planing of Out-door Learning, particularly on spatial cognitions, has not enough developed. So, in order to clarify the process of children's spatial cognition in environment, the auther tried 2 experimental field studies in valley (Akigawa-Valley, near ltsukaichi, Tokyo) and the top of mountain (Marudake, Hakone Mountains). In these studies, he let children (5th and 6th grade pupils) draw cognitive maps of the above environment and discussed on grasping spatial patterns. From the analysis of children's maps, he could have the following findings. 1) After walking arround the valley, children could draw maps in which almost all environmetal elements were viewed from overhead, but when looking down the valley from high place, their maps were almost perspective. 2) The children who took overhead view could represent the rate of distance correctly. 3) In the mapping from the top of mountain, most of children drew maps in which almost all elements were viewed downward-obliquely. The place where the children were located was drawn at the center of maps and surrounding land-marks were generally represented in asteroidal figure. 4) The children who were instructed by their teacher so that communicate to their families how surroundings were viewed had much more comments than another children who were instructed simply to "draw the map", and the former children had more correct dispositions of land-marks than the latter children.