Results confirm the hypothesis that identity and equivalence conservation require different mental processes. (Authors/MB)

The purpose of this study was to determine if an effective conservation training procedure would be one in which a child was confronted with opposing points of view. Subjects were 108 children with a mean age of 6.7 years. In two experiments, a group of three children (generally one nonconserver and two conservers) was required to respond with one…

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether the effect of observing a peer who was conserving could facilitate subsequent acquisition and transfer of conservation ability in a nonconserving child. Eighty-two nonconserving first grade children acquired the ability to give conservation judgments and reasons on six conservation…

Reported is a study of the development of conservation and measurement concepts, with reference to certain task factors which may affect performance. A group of 129 first and second graders were given a test of conservation and measurement consisting of five problem types crossed with three transformation types. The problems all involved moving…

A group of 47 kindergarten and first grade children from a school chiefly composed of Negro children from low-income families was involved in this study which followed a Solomon four group design. All children received a pretreatment of 17 lessons on matching relations and length relations. The pretest group was then given six tests on relations,…

Experimenter's sex appears to be an important factor in conservation assessment at the first-grade level. (RL)

Authors emphasize the importance of investigating the effects of task variables on multiple dependent measures at various age levels and points in time. (Authors/CB)

Twenty-four girls and 19 boys who failed quantity conservation tasks on a pretest were retested after having been exposed to a classroom demonstration on conservation. Results indicated that children who understood number conservation improved their quantity conservation performance more often than children who showed no understanding of number…

The study concerns the performances of first grade children in solving problems involving subtraction situations and the relationship of these performances to levels of conservation of numerousness and to I.Q. groups. The subjects were grouped into levels of conservation by a pretest administered prior to the main test of problem solving in…

Four experiments are described in which observational learning was found on multidimensional conservation tasks. (MB)

Results indicate that identity conservation generally does not precede equivalence conservation; instead the two conservations tend to co-occur. (Authors)

Describes a study, involving 120 first grade children, which supports the hypothesis that the rate of attainment of conservation skills is significantly enhanced by experiences made possible by the first grade program of SCIS. Describes the six conservation tasks used for pre-tests and post-tests: number, liquid amount, solid amount, length,…

An investigation was conducted with 200 first-grade students to determine whether language is a major factor in conservation of number experiments. It was concluded that language was not a major factor. (RP)

This activity explains fisheries resource management to seven-year olds. First-grade students learn concepts such as offspring viability, life expectancy, and distribution of species, which help to determine when, where, and how people fish and the importance of fishing responsibly. Lists materials, procedures, and extensions. (SJR)

This study investigated the relationships among mathematics achievement scores of first graders, the order of presentation of difficult topics, the use of readiness activities, and scores on a conservation test. The study was developed and conducted in four phases. Phase 1 included analysis of 70 randomly selected first-graders' work on the…