Associations between spatial skills and physics knowledge in primary school: Spatial skills are more important for conceptual scientific knowledge than for factual scientific knowledge

Previous research demonstrates an association between spatial ability and science achievement in primary-school-aged children. However, little is known about the mechanisms driving this relationship. We investigated the associations between children's spatial skills and components of physics learning (factual knowledge vs. conceptual knowledge [predictions and explanations]). Participants (N = 103; mean age = 9.6 years) completed a set of spatial tasks based on the "2 × 2" (intrinsic-extrinsic; static-dynamic) model of spatial cognition. They also participated in a whole-class science lesson about sound, followed by an assessment of science knowledge. After controlling for vocabulary and prior knowledge, spatial ability was not associated with factual knowledge scores. However, spatial skills were significantly associated with predictions and explanations; the association was stronger for explanations than for predictions and was driven by intrinsic-dynamic spatial skills. Findings demonstrate that spatial skills are more important for conceptual scientific knowledge than for factual scientific knowledge and further suggest that spatial intervention studies designed to enhance children's science learning should target intrinsic-dynamic spatial skills.