In this paper, I describe the action research I conducted in my third-grade science classrooms over the course of two years. In order to gain an understanding of my third-grade students' ideas about animal adaptations and how the teaching of a unit on crayfish influenced these ideas, I used clinical interviews, observations, and written…

Reports on a study of the knowledge of and values toward the natural environment of 70 primary-level teachers; 33 school administrators; 65 parents, and 135 third graders in Russia. Finds little ecological education at home. Concludes that developing attitudes of respect and protection for the environment must be the responsibility of the school.…

This paper reports preliminary findings of a 3-year study examining the ability of qualitative and quantitative measures of the home environment variables (HEV's) to contribute to the prediction of third- through fifth-grade students' achievement and growth scores in reading and mathematics. Data were obtained for 198 parent/student pairs from…

This paper explores the importance of peer relations for the experiences and texts of children in a third-grade writing workshop. Peers, as an audience for children's writing, bring with them friendship, trust, and a "social energy" that empowers authors and their writing in the classroom. Simultaneously, peers also bring with them…

The relationship of perceived and actual sociometric status to outcome variables in academic, behavioral, psychological, and physical health adjustment domains among elementary school children was examined. Participants were 180 first, third, and fifth grade public school children, their parents, and teachers. Sociometric status was assessed with…

Examined classroom task environments and their relation to elementary students' task-related beliefs. Found two dimensions of teachers' practice associated with desirable patterns of student beliefs: (1) extent to which information is structured to make it predictable and comprehensible; and (2) frequency of opportunity for students to regulate…

Reports on a study of the relationship of sex differences to levels of theme realism, aggression, expressiveness, and artistic skills among 114 elementary students. Finds that boys' drawings were more unrealistic and aggressive than those of girls. (CFR)

Reports on a study of 22 pairs of third-grade students and 22 pairs of seventh-grade students who worked on a variety of computer-based tasks. Finds that older students were more likely to focus on internal pattern construction than remaining oriented toward external characteristics of the patterns. (CFR)