Development of Food Competence in Early Childhood Education

Education Sciences

José Antonio Miguélez Rosique¹  Marina Martínez-Carmona²  Luisa López-Banet²  Gabriel Enrique Ayuso Fernández² 

[1] CEIP—Public School Santa María de Gracia, 30009 Murcia, Spain;Department of Science Education, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain;

关键词: early childhood science education;    scientific competence;    teaching interventions and activities teacher training;    inquiry;    scientific practice;    health;   

DOI  :  10.3390/educsci12020064

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The increase in childhood obesity requires the incorporation of nutritional competence into school programs through appropriate activities, starting in the early years. In addition, it is important to promote scientific and cognitive skills during childhood education. The main objective of this study was the implementation of an instructional sequence focused on the learning of skills such as observation, measurement, or interpretation of data related to plants, their germination, and their growth, as well as its relation with the development of food competence. To do so, a set of differentiated activities, organized into several stages, was designed, starting from simple and concrete situations and progressively increasing in complexity and abstraction. The aims were to express ideas about known fruits, vegetables, and legumes in order to expand them by learning new information through student-centered activities, in which children were able to practice and talk about science. The activities were carried out in a class of 24 students aged 4–5 years and data were compared with a control group. The results revealed that the children were motivated in all the activities, which provided an excellent opportunity to initially develop an interest in science and to start to develop food competence in the early years.

【 授权许可】

Unknown