Previous research suggests that the use of metaphors in science education have both possibilities and challenges. In this study, we analyse the role of metaphors in meaning-making in the upper primary science classroom. We investigate the potential of metaphors about nutrient uptake occurring in classrooms in which an animation was used. To identify metaphors in the classroom interaction, we have applied an analysis according to systemic-functional grammar (SFG), rooted in social semiotic theory. The present study indicates that the use of metaphors can play an important role in scientific meaning-making, since, in that way, students and teachers can make meaning about scientific processes and functions before having access to the scientific terminology. However, if metaphors are to be functional tools for meaning-making in science education, the teacher has an important role to play in, among other things, explicitly connecting the metaphors and everyday language to scientific concepts. We argue that metaphors based on functional similarity have a high affordance for making meaning about complex processes, such as nutrient uptake.

先前的研究表明，在科学教育中使用隐喻既存在可能性，也存在挑战。在这项研究中，我们分析了隐喻在小学高年级科学课堂意义建构中的作用。我们研究了在使用动画的教室中发生的有关营养吸收的隐喻的潜力。为了识别课堂互动中的隐喻，我们根据植根于社会符号学理论的系统功能语法（SFG）进行了分析。本研究表明，隐喻的使用可以在科学意义的建构中发挥重要作用，因为通过这种方式，学生和教师可以在接触科学术语之前就对科学过程和功能产生意义。然而，如果隐喻要成为科学教育中意义建构的功能性工具，那么教师就可以发挥重要作用，其中包括将隐喻和日常语言与科学概念明确联系起来。我们认为，基于功能相似性的隐喻对于理解复杂过程（例如营养吸收）具有很高的意义。