Abstract

In this study, we investigated science-related activities in everyday life perceived by elementary school students, and their preference and participation in the activities. We also analyzed the differences by student's gender and interest in science. We developed a questionnaire of what activities elementary school students participated in daily experiences and how they perceived the connections of the activities with science. The questionnaire that was asked to rate the degrees of science-relatedness, preference, and participation of 35 activities was administered to fifth graders. The analysis of the results revealed that they perceived various everyday activities in their home and community as well as school were related to science. They generally preferred and participated in the activities. Boys perceived some activities, such as building things with magnets, Legos, or other toy and tools, more closely related to science, and the degrees of their preference and participation in these activities were higher than those of girls. It was also found that the students who were more interested in science not only perceived more activities related to science but also preferred and participated in the activities more. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

• science-related activity;
• preference;
• participation;
• interest;
• elementary school student