Fostering early understanding of vaporization in 5-6-year-olds via engineering design

The current paper presents the results of a qualitative study focusing on children’s mental representations of the vaporization (boiling and evaporation) of water. The study involved 19 preschool children (mean age: 5.05 years), and the research design included pre- and post-tests to record children’s mental representations, along with a structured teaching process that followed the four stages of the Engineering Design Process. The research data showed that most children of this age were able to adequately approach vaporization, meaning that the initial mental representations of the children could be transformed into representations compatible with school scientific knowledge. Finally, the results of the study lead to the conclusion that children of this age are capable of constructing a precursor model for steam, boiling, and evaporation, that is, vaporization.