The Development of Science Explanations in Children and Adolescents: A Structural Approach

Two scientists-in-the-making were overheard heatedly discussing the nature of atoms while being driven to the science museum. The 9-year-old agonized over how he could walk through atoms without seeing or feeling them. His 6-year-old brother countered that atoms were only “in things that you can see” such as tables and chairs, and that they were really just “little pieces of sand glued together.”