Abstract
What counts as science? As evidenced by the focus of this entire volume, this is a complex and controversial question and the answer necessarily depends on the contexts and the stakeholders involved (Stevens, 2000). Other chapters in this volume take the valuable step of examining in some depth how various stakeholders seem to count certain talk and action as science (see chapter by Stevens). Our goal in this chapter is somewhat distinct from the other chapters in this section, because our starting place is different. We ask how children first encounter and begin to think about science without even knowing about science as a domain (see also National Research Council [NRC], 2007, 2009). And we ask how, while engaging in a variety of everyday activities, parents may contribute to children’s early thinking about science, sometimes without even meaning to do so (see also Ash, 2003; Crowley & Galco, 2001; Ellenbogen, 2002).
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (ESI-0119787), as well as research grants from NSF (ESI-0229872), NICHHO (26228), NIH (T32HD046423) and an AERA-IES Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to L. Triona. We are grateful to children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose and Seymoul Marine Discovery Center for their Collaboration.
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Callanan, M., Luce, M., Triona, L., Rigney, J., Siegel, D., Jipson, J. (2013). What Counts as Science in Everyday and Family Interactions?. In: Bevan, B., Bell, P., Stevens, R., Razfar, A. (eds) LOST Opportunities. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4304-5_3
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