Science illustrations in multi-media context: "Ants in the pants", an example from pre-school. Posterpresentation vid OMEPS världskongress, Göteborg, 9-10 augusti 2010

When using different kinds of illustrations in educational settings; such as pictures or models; transparency is often taken for granted and assumed to be unproblematic. However, different ways of making meaning from visual information are related to culture and context. This poster presentation reports on a pilot study within a Swedish Research Council Project called Illustrations making meaning? Young pupils encountering explanatory pictures and models in science and mathematics education in primary school and pre-school. The aim of the project is to investigate young pupils' encounters with explanatory pictures and models in science and mathematics in primary school and pre-school. Electronic multi-media programs are a common feature in pre-schools nowadays. The aim of the present study is to give an example of how children may meet science in the kinds of software used at pre-school. An inventory that was carried out at ten pre-school departments shows that a program called Ants in the pants is frequently used. The scientific content is described as "you will learn about such as animals, bugs, birds, fungus and trees". An analysis of the software is made with a particular focus on the scinetific illustrations.