The study evaluates the effectiveness of a set of social studies activities in promoting cooperative interaction among junior high school students. A field experiment was designed to test three hypotheses: (1) groups which have previously worked together structure tasks more cooperatively than a newly formed group: (2) groups which have participated in curricular activities structure a given task more cooperatively than groups which have not participated; and (3) cohesiveness is greater among groups which have worked together on all curricular activities. Two experimental groups and one control group of randomly assigned 7th grade social studies students participated in five cooperative activities, involving puzzles, pantomime, and establishing game strategies. The first phase of the study took place in regular classrooms and was videotaped. During the evaluative phase of the project, one week after completion of the first phase activities, students discussed game rules, participated in a simulation, and rated group performance. Data were collected from the initial class activities and discussion, videotapes of group processes during the simulation, and a questionnaire filled out after the simulation activity ended. Findings indicated that children do organize a cooperative strategy for carrying out activity if they perceive that cooperation provides the greatest potential rewards. However, being trained together does not increase group cohesiveness. It was concluded that cooperation can be initiated by tasks that are intrinsically interesting. (Author/DB)