Young children—how they experience the world, interact with each other, pose questions, and construct knowledge—form the basis for this insightful examination of early childhood science education.

Eleanor Duckworth talks about children “having wonderful ideas,” and how constructivist education creates the context in which children can act on them. In the third edition, the authors have emphasized that children have wonderful ideas together, through collaboration. This emphasis on social constructivism incorporates the ideas of Vygotsky and others who clarify the social and cultural context in which theory-building occurs.