Children's Media and Science

Science is so ubiquitous in children's media that a survey of parents by the non-profit organisation Education Development Center found that while almost all of the participants' children had engaged recently with science media, most did not actively seek it out. Children's media about scientific topics often has an explicitly pedagogical bent, as education is a priority for parents.

In science media for very young children, it is common for there to be a focus on one general area of science, with episodic focus on more specific aspects. For example, the Disney cartoon series *Stanley* (2001-2004) explored zoology through a child protagonist who visits and learns about a different species of animal in every story.

Some educational strategies common to children's science media are as follows:

 Anthropomorphism
 Direction to make predictions
 Repetition

More rarely, some children's media will engage with science in the abstract. Andrea Beaty and David Roberts' 2016 picture book *Ada Twist, Scientist* follows a young girl whose abundant curiosity and willingness to learn cause 'chaos' in the lives of those around her, but are also ultimately 'the traits of a great scientist'. *Twist* is unusual amongst children's science media because it is not meant to educate the reader on a specific scientific subject; rather, it promotes a philosophy towards science that embraces the 'messy' and the importance of asking questions.

Some media exists with the express intention of getting children interested in science. Often, it is targeted specifically at girls, in an attempt to rectify the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. For example, the science-themed fashion doll line Project MC² justifies its existence by its 'important mission to help advance girls in the areas of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math)', and has products instructing girls on how to make their own make-up with household ingredients. (Whether this particular project achieves its stated goal is beyond the scope of the Octoweenie Science wiki.)

Children's science media necessarily takes a somewhat inclusionary stance, since its target audience would not generally be considered 'elite' or 'expert' by any margin, and it encourages their participation. However, it can still be exclusionary in other ways, on bases other than age.

### References

1. ↑ N/A, 'Ready To Learn ResearchMarch 2018What Parents Talk About When They Talk About Learning', *Education Development Centre*. March 2018. <https://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/uploads/EDC\_SRI\_What\_Parents\_Talk\_About.pdf> [accessed 6 Dec 2020], p.37.
2. ↑ Ibid, p.40.
3. ↑ Deborah L. Linebarger and Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, 'Structure and Strategies in Children’s Educational Television: The Roles of Program Type and Learning Strategies in Children’s Learning', *Child Development,* 81.5 (2010), pp. 1582-1597 <https://www.jstor.org/stable/40800693?seq=1>
4. ↑ James Alex Bonus and Marie-Louise Mares, ‘When the Sun Sings Science, Are Children Left in the Dark? Representations of Science in Children’s Television and Their Effects on Children’s Learning’, *Human Communication Research,* 44 (2018), pp. 449-472 <https://academic.oup.com/hcr/article/44/4/449/5055861>
5. ↑ Andrea Beaty, *Ada Twist, Scientist* (New York: Abrams, 2016)
6. ↑ N/A, 'Project Mc2', *MGEA*. N/A <https://projectmc2.mgae.com/#/parents> [accessed 6 Dec 2020]