– Science interest was more prevalent among boys.
– Early science interests were strong predictors of later opportunities to engage in informal science learning, whereas the opposite pattern (early opportunities predicting later science interests) was not found.
– Young girls’ expressed science interests led parents to subsequently increase opportunities for science learning during the following year. Although boys followed this pattern early in the study, over time boys received similar levels of science opportunities regardless of their interest.
– Results showed no direct effect of early opportunities for science learning provided in the home on children’s subsequent expression of science-related interests for either gender, at least between the ages of 4 and 7 years.
– Earlier interests in science are the best predictors of later interests in science, and early informal science-learning opportunities predict later opportunities to engage in science related activities for both boys and girls.
– There was a similar stability from year to year in the frequency of science-related opportunities provided by the parents. This suggests that the middle-class families in their study established routines very early on in children’s lives and were apt to continue those same routines for a significant period of time.
– Their data finds that many children were already interested in science-related domains at age 4.
– .Parents reported that boys’ interests related to science declined significantly between the preschool years and early elementary school years, whereas girls’ interests were reported to remain relatively low and stable.
– Parents respond sensitively to children’s science interests by intentionally creating contexts for exploration and learning of science concepts during the preschool and middle childhood years.