This paper crystallizes four perspectives on content construction and instructional approach of the “Nature of Science” in U.S. science classes through analyses of American middle school science textbooks.
(1) The content constitution of the “Nature of Science” in science textbooks is introduced as an independent unit.
(2) There are six contents of the “Nature of Science” in U.S. middle school science textbooks.
(3) The instructional approach of the “Nature of Science” in the U.S. science textbooks is to foster the students’ ability to distinguish among various science skills, after having understood each individual skill.
(4) Instructional materials to understand the “Distinction between Observation and Inference” are stories of real scientists’ activities and scenes from everyday life.