Bodil Sundberg

Örebro University | oru · Department of Natural Sciences

This study aims to contribute knowledge about obstacles and opportunities for pedagogical continuity in science across early childhood education. We use activity theory to analyse individual interviews and group meetings with teachers from preschool (age 1–5), preschool class (age 6) and grade 1–3 (age 7–9) in three Swedish school units. The teache...

This classroom-based study aims to contribute knowledge about children’s opportunities to make use of drawing to make meaning in science. Employing a social semiotic approach to drawing, we examine what ways of representing science content that are (1) made available by the teacher and (2) adopted in children’s drawings. We analysed observation dat...

Researchers have provided many arguments for why drawing may contribute to science learning. However, little is known about how teachers in early childhood education (ECE) make use of drawing for science learning purposes. This article examines how teachers’ views and framing of drawing activities influence the science learning opportunities afford...

In this article, we exemplify and discuss how preschool science education may contribute to Education for Sustainability (EfS). We draw on data from science activities in fourteen Swedish preschools, in which we have previously identified examples of ‘multidimensional science teaching’, hence, teaching that intertwines children’s science learning w...

This article discusses how preschool teachers, who include a scientific content in their practice, describe their practice and their view of science in preschool. The study is based on 20 interviews in 9 Swedish preschools. The theoretical and analytical framework combine "communities of practice"(Lave & Wenger) and "positioning theory" (Harré & La...

In this study, Activity Theory (AT) is used to analyse general patterns for how cultural and historical factors interact with the shaping of science activities in preschools. Data was produced from field notes, video observations, video stimulated recall group discussions and individual interviews with preschool teachers at fourteen preschool units...

How can preschool teachers form science teaching in a landscape of increasing focus on academically-oriented learning outcomes, without losing the unique character of preschool pedagogies? Seeking to contribute to the discussion of what preschool science can be, we have analysed data from activities in fourteen Swedish preschools (for children aged...

This article discusses how preschool teachers, who include a scientific content in their practice, describe their practice and their view of science in preschool. The study is based on 20 interviews in 9 Swedish preschools. The theoretical and analytical framework combine "communities of practice"(Lave & Wenger) and "positioning theory" (Harré & La...

This Swedish quantitative study aims to fill a research gap concerning how preschool teachers understand and work with education for sustainable development. Empirical data were collected in a questionnaire distributed to 187 Swedish preschools. The questionnaires consisted of 13 multiple choice questions and five open ended questions exploring how...

The aim of this study is to explore how cultural factors interact with preschool teachers’ shaping of activities with science content, and also how Activity Theory (AT) as a theoretical framework can be useful for examining interrelations within preschool systems. Qualitative data was collected from three preschools in the form of guided group disc...

In this chapter we elaborate on how science encounters can be used within education for sustainability (EfS) in preschool practice as a means of empowering children to engage with sustainability. We acknowledge recent research arguing for a rethink of what science teaching in preschool can be. Such rethinking involves a shift from viewing science i...

The aim of this exploratory, longitudinal study was to describe an overall picture of how perceptions of the teacher role and attitudes toward science and science teaching develop and interact during preschool teacher education, and how this in turn influences behavior when students are engaged in teaching science. Sixty-five students enrolled in a...

This paper reports on a project aimed at identifying and exploring the development and implementation processes of teaching practices with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in two Swedish K-6 schools. The purpose of the project was to generate results and insights of value when preparing student teachers for professional use of IWBs and to give school...

Mycobiont biomass dominates in most lichen thalli, and it is generally believed that the fungus acts as a major sink for carbon assimilated by the photobiont, and even nitrogen in cyanobacterial lichens (Rai 1988, Fahselt 1994). However, fungal metabolism within lichens has been poorly studied, and so far there are no studies where fungal respirati...

The fixation of CO2 in photobiont photosynthesis provides the basis for lichen survival and development, producing the carbohydrates needed for metabolism, structural components, osmotic regulation, cryo- and drought protection. The release of CO2 in lichen respiration is subsequently related to the energy requirements of cell maintenance, nutrient...

ABSTRACT Relationships between growth, nitrogen and concentration of unique biont components were investigated for the tripartite lichens Nephroma arcticum (L.) Torss. and Peltigera aphthosa (L.) Willd. Nitrogen availability was manipulated during 4 summer months by removing cephalodia and their associated N2 fixation activity, or by weekly irrigat...

ABSTRACT Relations between irradiance (I) and lichen growth were investigated for five macro-lichens growing at two sites in Sweden. The lichens represented different mycobiont–photobiont associations, two morphologies (foliose, fruticose) and two life forms (epiphytic, terricolous). The lichens were transplanted at two geographically distant sites...

1. Respiration in eight lichen species was related to thallus hydration status, external temperature and to total nitrogen, chitin and ergosterol concentrations. Chitin is a nitrogenous and major compound of the fungal cell wall, and ergosterol is a sterol of the plasma membrane in fungi and sometimes in algae.2. Hydration of previously dry thalli...

Modulated chlorophylla fluorescence is useful for eco-physiological studies of lichens as it is sensitive, non-invasive and specific to the photobiont. We assessed the validity of using fluorescence yield to predict CO2 gain in cyano-lichens, by simultaneous measurements of CO2 gas exchange and chlorophylla fluorescence in five species withNostoc-p...

 Photosynthetic and respiratory CO2 gas exchange was measured under controlled climate conditions in the laboratory in two epiphytic lichens, Lobaria pulmonaria and Platismatia glauca, with the aim of modelling their net productivity using field microclimate data. For both, the thallus water content (WC) and the light intensity had the greatest imp...

 We tested the hypothesis that changed microclimate at induced forest edges causes reduced growth of epiphytic lichens. Two foliose, green algal lichens were transplanted to the lower canopy of a mature Picea abies forest at six distances (2, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 m) from a clearcut. The biomass growth in Platismatia glauca (6.2% in 16 months)...