幼児の植物概念と目的論的思考 : 食用植物の栽培を通して

　In order to acquire the scientific biological concepts of living things for preschoolers, the importance of the folk biology has been stressed by many developmental psychologists. And these folk biological concepts of living things are thought to be formed through everyday life, especially direct acquaintances with domestic animals and domesticated plants.
　We investigated the effects of raising edible plants (common bean : Phaseolus vulgaris ) for kindergarten children on the teleological concepts of edible plants. Five-year old children were interviewed before, during and after raising kidney beans in kindergarten. Though only a few, it is worthy of notice that some children acquired a selective teleological thinking for plants distinguishing from animals and artificial things.