Article 2 of 4: Do Plants Need the Moon? The Art of Taking Children's Theories Seriously
- liliannk
- Jun 8
- 12 min read
Children as Co-Researchers
A Four-Part Series That Will Transform How You Listen to Children
By Lili-Ann Kriegler and Bronwyn Cron - Project Sustainability Collective Co-researchers with children, educators, communities and organisations
Series Introduction: Seeds of Wonder, Forests of Understanding
To provide context for this article, a group of four-year-old children at Presbyterian Ladies College had been immersed in investigating plants and seeds for weeks. Under the careful guidance of educators Eva and Jasmine, they had germinated various seeds, documented growth and failure, held a requiem for a watermelon seed that didn't germinate, and moved some of their experiments outdoors to compare with indoor controls. The depth of their engagement was evident not only in their scientific observations and artistic documentation but also in how this learning had transformed their relationship with their environment.
The most striking example came from a group of boys who typically used the outdoor garden for physical play. When they discovered what they called a 'sick tree,' they didn't just observe—they acted. They communicated their concerns to educators, requested water, built protective barriers of tanbark, collected smooth stones from the architect-designed water feature, and created a hand-drawn 'no touching' sign. These children had become environmental stewards, demonstrating that when we listen carefully to children's thinking, they reveal themselves as capable agents of change.
When we, as facilitators and co-researchers, joined a conversation between these children and their educators, we witnessed something remarkable. In forty minutes of sustained dialogue, four-year-old children revealed sophisticated understanding of plant ecosystems, demonstrated metacognitive awareness of their learning, and posed questions that opened doorways to profound investigations about interconnectedness, time, care, and wonder.
This wasn't coincidental. It emerged from intentional sustainability education that recognises five domains—environmental, social, economic, cultural, and leadership & governance—woven through authentic, place-based learning experiences.
These children weren't being indoctrinated with predetermined messages about environmental care. Instead, they were being partnered in discoveries that honoured their existing knowledge while expanding their capacity to think systemically about the world they inhabit.
The conversation that unfolded challenged many assumptions about early childhood education, including those regarding attention spans, the value of group meetings, the depth of children's thinking, and the role of educators as facilitators versus knowledge-holders. Most importantly, it demonstrated that when we approach children's ideas with genuine curiosity rather than dismissive charm, we discover that they are profound thinkers already engaged in making sense of complex systems.
This series of four articles explores what we learned about critical reflection when listening to children, offering insights for early childhood educators committed to sustainability education that is both rigorous and joyful, both planned and responsive, and that honours children's agency while recognising educators' professional expertise.
Article 2 of 4: Do Plants Need the Moon?
The Art of Taking Children's Theories Seriously
'Plants need soil, water, sun... and the moon.'
In most early childhood settings, this contribution from a four-year-old would be met with gentle correction or charming dismissal. 'That's an interesting idea, but plants need...' the adult might respond, redirecting towards more 'accurate' scientific knowledge. Yet this response, however well-intentioned, represents a profound missed opportunity—not just for the child who offered the theory, but for the entire learning community.
What if, instead of seeing this as a misconception to correct, we recognised it as an invitation to investigate one of the most fascinating interconnected systems on our planet? What if this child's intuitive sense of celestial connection opened doorways to understanding tidal ecosystems, lunar cycles, and the intricate relationships between Earth's systems that sustain all life?
The Impulse to Correct: Understanding Our Response
When children offer theories that don't align with conventional scientific knowledge, educators face a genuine dilemma. We want to support accurate learning while also honouring children's thinking. The temptation to provide immediate correction comes from caring intentions—we don't want children to develop 'wrong' ideas that might interfere with later learning.
Yet this response often stems from viewing knowledge as a collection of discrete facts rather than understanding learning as an ongoing process of theory-building, testing, and refinement. When we rush to correct, we may inadvertently communicate that children's thinking isn't valuable unless it immediately aligns with adult knowledge.
More problematically, we may miss the profound insights embedded within seemingly 'incorrect' theories. The child who suggested plants need the moon wasn't making a random statement—she was demonstrating sophisticated pattern recognition and systems thinking that deserves serious consideration.
Pattern Recognition and Systems Thinking
Consider what this child had already heard in the conversation: plants need soil, water, and sun. She immediately followed with 'the moon.' Rather than random addition, this suggests several sophisticated thinking processes:
Celestial Pattern Recognition: She recognised that both the sun and the moon are celestial bodies, applying categorical thinking to group related phenomena.
Day/Night Awareness: She understood that just as sun and day are connected, moon and night form another system that might influence plant life.
Systems Thinking: She intuited that if one celestial body affects plants, perhaps others do too, demonstrating understanding that plants exist within larger environmental systems.
Temporal Understanding: She may have grasped that plants experience different conditions over time, not just in single moments of growth.
These thinking processes are precisely what we aim to nurture in sustainability education: the ability to recognise patterns, understand interconnections, and think systematically about complex relationships.
The Moon's Actual Influence: Validating Intuitive Wisdom
Remarkably, current research suggests this child's intuition may be more scientifically accurate than initial dismissal would imply. The moon's influence on Earth's systems is profound and far-reaching:
Tidal Systems: The moon controls ocean tides, which create unique ecosystems in coastal areas, estuaries, and wetlands where countless plant species have evolved specific adaptations to tidal rhythms.
Coastal Plant Adaptations: Salt marsh grasses, mangroves, and coastal succulents have evolved growth patterns synchronised with tidal cycles, meaning lunar phases directly influence their life processes.
Circadian Rhythms: Some plants exhibit growth patterns that correlate with lunar cycles, although research in this area is still in its early stages of development.
Ecosystem Interconnections: The moon's tidal influence affects nutrient cycling in coastal ecosystems, influencing plant growth through complex pathways that involve saltwater intrusion, sediment deposition, and altered nutrient availability.
While most terrestrial plants aren't directly affected by lunar phases, the child's theory opens investigations into some of the most important ecosystems for global sustainability: coastal wetlands, estuaries, and tidal zones that serve as crucial buffers against climate change impacts.
Place-Based Connections: Making Learning Relevant
The power of the child's moon theory lies not in whether it's universally applicable, but in how it opens place-based investigations relevant to children's lived experiences. For children in coastal Australia, this theory invites authentic exploration of local ecosystems they may have encountered:
Beach Experiences: Children who have visited beaches may have noticed seaweed that requires wave movement to stay healthy, or observed how different plants grow at varying distances from the water.
Tidal Pool Investigations: Rock pools reveal marine plants, such as algae, that are entirely dependent on tidal rhythms for survival.
Wetland Explorations: Local wetlands and estuaries provide opportunities to observe how plants respond to changing water levels influenced by tidal cycles.
Family Knowledge: Parents and grandparents may have traditional knowledge about planting by moon phases or observations about coastal plant behaviour that connect to the child's theory.
Rather than dismissing the moon theory as irrelevant, place-based learning approaches would ask: 'Where in our local environment might this theory apply? What could we investigate together to understand these connections?'
Educator Learning: The Professional Imperative
Taking children's theories seriously requires educators to become learners themselves. When the child suggested plants need the moon, the most honest and educationally powerful response might have been: 'That's a fascinating theory! I don't know much about how the moon might affect plants. How could we investigate this together?'
This response:
Honours the child's thinking without false praise or dismissal
Models intellectual honesty about the limits of adult knowledge
Invites collaborative investigation rather than adult-directed correction
Demonstrates that learning is ongoing for educators as well as children
Opens a genuine inquiry that could lead to surprising discoveries
For educators to respond this way authentically, they must commit to expanding their knowledge base.
This might involve:
Research and Reading: Investigating topics that emerge from children's theories, building background knowledge that can inform further questions and investigations.
Professional Learning: Seeking resources, courses, or collaborations that deepen understanding of systems thinking, sustainability concepts, and place-based learning approaches.
Expert Connections: Building relationships with local scientists, environmental educators, indigenous knowledge holders, and community members who can contribute diverse perspectives to investigations.
Reflective Practice: Regularly examining assumptions about children's thinking and remaining open to being surprised by the sophistication of their insights.
Co-Research: Investigating Together
The goal isn't for educators to become experts who then teach children 'correct' information. Instead, it's to develop capacity for authentic co-research where educators and children investigate questions together, bringing different strengths to collaborative inquiry.
For the moon theory, this might involve:
Observational Studies: Keeping lunar calendars and observing local plants over time to notice any patterns or changes.
Expert Consultations: Inviting marine biologists, indigenous elders, or local environmental scientists to share knowledge about lunar influences on local ecosystems.
Literature Exploration: Finding children's books, documentaries, or online resources about tidal ecosystems and lunar cycles.
Field Investigations: Visiting tidal areas, wetlands, or coastal environments to observe firsthand how moon-influenced tides affect plant communities.
Documentation and Reflection: Recording observations, theories, and new questions that emerge from investigations.
Multiple Ways of Knowing: Honouring Diverse Knowledge Systems
Taking children's theories seriously also means remaining open to knowledge systems beyond Western scientific approaches.
The child's moon theory might connect to:
Indigenous Knowledge: Many Aboriginal Australian cultures have a sophisticated understanding of lunar cycles and their influence on plant and animal behaviour, passed down through millennia of careful observation.
Agricultural Traditions: Biodynamic farming and traditional gardening practices often incorporate lunar planting calendars based on generations of observation.
Family Wisdom: Grandparents or community members may possess traditional knowledge about timing plant activities according to the phases of the moon.
Cultural Practices: Different cultures may have stories, songs, or traditions that connect celestial bodies to plant life in ways that expand children's understanding.
Rather than dismissing these knowledge systems as 'unscientific,' sustainability education benefits from honouring multiple ways of knowing and investigating how different approaches to understanding contribute to our collective knowledge.
Developmental Appropriateness: Age-Appropriate Depth
Taking children's theories seriously doesn't mean overwhelming them with complex scientific information beyond their developmental capacity. Instead, it means offering investigations tailored to their interests and abilities, while remaining open to exploring surprising depth when children demonstrate readiness.
For four-year-olds investigating the moon theory, appropriate explorations might include:
Sensory Observations: Feeling the pull of water at the beach, watching waves come in and out, noticing how wet sand feels different from dry sand.
Pattern Documentation: Drawing pictures of the moon at different times, noticing how it looks different throughout the month.
Story Connections: Exploring cultural stories about moon and plant relationships, using narrative to make complex concepts accessible.
Simple Experiments: Observing what happens to water in containers when moved back and forth (mimicking tidal action) or watching how plants respond to being watered versus not watered.
Community Connections: Interviewing family members about moon-related knowledge or traditions they may have.
The key is to elaborate children's learning in depth and complexity while providing rich opportunities for investigation and discovery.
Building Conceptual Understanding: From Specific to General
The moon theory, whether ultimately 'correct' or not, serves as a gateway to fundamental concepts essential for sustainability thinking:
Interconnectedness: Understanding that all living things exist within complex systems where seemingly distant factors can have local effects.
Cycles and Patterns: Recognising that natural systems operate in rhythms and cycles that influence life processes.
Environmental Influence: Grasping that organisms are shaped by their environmental conditions and must adapt to changing circumstances.
Systems Thinking: Developing the capacity to see relationships between different components of complex systems.
Scientific Inquiry: Learning that questions lead to investigations, which lead to new understanding and often new questions.
These conceptual foundations transfer across all areas of learning and provide the cognitive scaffolding for increasingly sophisticated understanding as children mature.
Questions That Lead to Wonder
Rather than providing immediate answers, taking children's theories seriously means asking questions that deepen investigation:
'That's interesting! What makes you think plants might need the moon?'
'How could we find out more about this?'
'Where have you seen the moon when you're outside with plants?'
'What other things in nature might be connected to the moon?'
'How could we test this theory?'
'Who might know more about this whom we might ask?'
These questions communicate respect for children's thinking while extending their investigations in productive directions.
The Ripple Effects of Taking Children Seriously
When educators consistently respond to children's theories with genuine curiosity rather than gentle correction, several important things happen:
Children Learn to Value Their Thinking: They develop confidence in their ability to generate worthwhile ideas and pose meaningful questions.
Intellectual Risk-Taking Increases: Children become willing to share theories that might be 'wrong' because they trust that their thinking will be respected.
Scientific Mindset Develops: Children learn that science is about asking questions and investigating, not just knowing 'right' answers.
Community Inquiry Emerges: The whole learning community becomes engaged in collaborative investigation rather than individual knowledge acquisition.
Educators Model Lifelong Learning: Children see adults as learners, too, demonstrating that learning is a lifelong process.
Sustainability Implications: Thinking in Systems
The moon theory perfectly illustrates the kind of systems thinking essential for addressing sustainability challenges. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality are all complex, interconnected challenges that require a capacity to:
See relationships between seemingly separate phenomena
Understand that local actions can have distant effects
Recognise that all systems exist within larger systems
Appreciate the wisdom embedded in different knowledge traditions
Collaborate in investigating complex questions
Children who learn to think this way in early childhood are developing the cognitive foundations for tackling the complex challenges they'll inherit as adults.
The Courage to Not Know
Taking children's theories seriously requires professional courage: the courage to say 'I don't know' when we don't, the courage to investigate alongside children rather than always being the expert, and the courage to remain open to being surprised by the sophistication of children's thinking.
The child who suggested plants need the moon offered her learning community a gift: an invitation to explore one of the most fascinating aspects of our planet's interconnected systems. Whether her theory proves 'correct' in conventional terms matters less than how it opens doorways to understanding relationships, patterns, and connections that sustain all life on Earth.
In our complex, interconnected world, we need citizens who can think critically, recognise systems, ask insightful questions, and remain open to learning from diverse sources. These capacities develop when children experience their thinking being taken seriously by adults who are themselves committed to ongoing learning and discovery.
The next time a child offers a theory that seems scientifically improbable, we might pause and ask: What gift of insight might be embedded within this idea? What investigation might it open? What deeper understanding might emerge if we take this seriously?
In doing so, we honour not just the individual child's thinking, but the collective human capacity for wonder, inquiry, and discovery that our world desperately needs.
#ChildrensTheories #SustainabilityEducation #SystemsThinking #EnvironmentalEducation #InquiryBasedLearning #ScienceInEarlyYears #NaturePedagogy #AuthenticLearning
Series Significance: The Future of Listening
These four articles explore what becomes possible when early childhood educators commit to critical reflection in listening to children. Through the lens of sustainability education with its five interconnected domains, we've examined how authentic listening can transform learning communities, deepen understanding, and nurture the capacities our world desperately needs.
The children at Presbyterian Ladies College demonstrated that when we listen carefully, we discover sophisticated thinkers already engaged in making sense of complex systems. Their theories about the influence of the moon on plants, their metacognitive awareness of learning processes, their collaborative knowledge-building, and their confident assertion that expert help should be sought when needed—all reveal capacities that emerge when children experience genuine respect for their own thinking.
This work challenges us to move beyond surface-level responsiveness towards the deeper professional artistry of creating learning environments where children's voices are not just heard but genuinely valued as contributions to collective understanding. It calls us to develop our capacities as listeners, learners, and learning designers committed to honouring both children's agency and our professional responsibility for creating rich educational experiences.
In our interconnected world facing complex sustainability challenges, we need citizens who can think in systems, collaborate across differences, and remain open to learning throughout their lives. These capacities begin to develop in early childhood, in conversations where children's ideas matter, where their questions lead to investigation, and where their thinking is extended through thoughtful planning and authentic partnerships.
The future of our world may well depend on our capacity to listen—really listen—to the wisdom children offer when we create conditions that allow them to share their thoughts and ideas.
This series represents our contribution to that essential work: learning to hear the profound within the everyday, the conceptual within the specific, and the hopeful within the complex challenges we face together.
The authors thank the children, educators, and community at Presbyterian Ladies College for their partnership in this ongoing investigation into sustainability and the power of authentic listening in early childhood education.
#ProjectBasedLearning #ChildCentredLearning #PedagogicalDocumentation #PlayBasedLearning #ReggioEmiliaApproach #5DFramework #LearningEnvironments #ResponsiveCurriculum #EarlyChildhoodEducation #SustainabilityEducation #AuthenticListening #ChildAsResearcher #CriticalReflection #EYLF #NQS #ProfessionalPractice
If you'd like to purchase our books:
Stem Detectives – Bronwyn Cron and Niki Buchan
The Power of Play – Lili-Ann Kriegler
Professional Bios
Lili-Ann Kriegler (B.A. Hons, H. Dip. Ed, M.Ed.) is an award-winning author and education consultant with over 30 years' experience in educational leadership and cognitive development. As founder of Kriegler Education, she specialises in cognitive enhancement methodologies and Reggio Emilia-inspired project-based learning. Lili-Ann develops comprehensive learning frameworks and facilitates professional development for educators, with a focus on embedding sustainability through project-based action. Her most recent publication is 'The Power of Play: Mastering the 7 Dynamic Learning Zones'. Her work is driven by the belief that education is a transformative force for shaping a better future.
Bronwyn Cron has over 20 years of experience in developing science and sustainability education programs. She has worked with local and state governments, businesses, non-profits, community groups, schools, and early years services. Bronwyn is committed to providing engaging opportunities that support early childhood educators in building skills and confidence in implementing STEM and sustainability into their policies, programs, and practices. She is co-author of 'STEM Detectives' and specialises in creating learning experiences that transform isolated moments of play into cohesive sustainability investigations.
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