Experiment compares the effect of equilibration type training to the effects of S-R reinforcement type training in developing weight-conservation concepts in second and third grade pupils. S-R group performed significantly better than control group on initial posttest for conservation of weight. A measure for permanence of the conservation beliefs…

Nine sixth-grade students were asked to identify plants by their common names. In the event that students did not know the correct response, researchers observed a variety of avoidance strategies. The study demonstrated that students at the elementary level should be introduced to the concept of genus before more abstract levels of the botanical…

Findings from a quasi-experimental study of children's ideas about the solar system and how these ideas changed in response to a 10-week intervention period of formal astronomy teaching at a single primary school in England are presented in detail. Initial interviews with all of the 9- to 11-year-olds involved revealed a relatively poorly…

Addresses the current issue of confusion surrounding the widespread use of the term inquiry. Attempts a resolution of the confusion by presenting a model of the processes of scientific inquiry, and proposes that the model's applications can be fruitful for teaching by inquiry. (Editor/JR)

Teachers (N=146) using Science Curriculum Improvement Study were surveyed for their views on teaching disabled students in regular science programs. Results show that teachers feel positively about teaching disabled students (but also feel inadequate with this responsibility). Advantages and disadvantages of mainstreaming in elementary science are…

Discusses development and use of an aquatic studies conceptual scheme which has been used in the Project COAST (Coastal, Oceanic and Aquatic Studies) at the University of Delaware. Sample concepts and results from field testing of the curriculum are included. (DH)

Summarizes Piagetian developmental psychology, and describes a study in which trainee elementary school teachers administered Piagetian tasks to pupils. During this time the teachers were being instructed in the development of children's thought processes. Results support the continued use of the method. (AL)

Describes an experiment designed to compare different behaviors exhibited by second grade teachers and pupils using the Science - A Process Approach program to a comparison group of teachers and pupils. Includes and analysis of 12 teacher and 10 student behavioral factors. (PR)

Reviewed are the contributions of Gerald Spellman Craig to the field of elementary school science. Included are Craig's viewpoints on criteria to be used in selecting natural science objectives, examples of general and specific objectives that fit each of the criteria, and his ideas about content, its organization, and sequencing. (CS)

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effects of different teaching situations on the attitudes of sixth grade students toward science. Students working with materials in an inquiring way developed more positive attitudes than students who did not have that opportunity. (JR)

Visual devices were used, corresponding to Bruner's three types of information-processing models: enactive (action), iconic (imagery), and symbolic (language). Concluded that the type of visual device had no significant effect on the subjects' achievement on an electrostatics concepts test. (MLH)

Describes development of tests of student progress and instructional efficiency for 12 Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) units by the Fayette County (Kentucky) schools. Separate tests for each unit (grades one to six) were developed and a subset of items for each major part of a unit were identified. (JN)