Abstract
Immediate experiences in science learning have two functions, that is, to discover problems and to integrate knowledge with skills. Therefore it is necessary that the latter function should be emphasized as much as the former to attain the object of science education that learners' creative abilities are to be developed. To know how the latter function had been utilized in science learning, I investigated the management of flower beds at elementary schools in Nagasaki City and the suburbs in 1980 and 1989. The result shows that the cultivation of plants began to decline and that flower beds were not utilized enough in science learning. I propose the following three programs for the improvement of this situation. (1) The units that aim at pupils' proficiency in making or growing should be newly included in elementary school science. (2) The units should be continued all through the school year and in cooperation with as many other subjects as possible. (3) It is necessary that the faculties of education should have the curriculum in which students are trained to get the ability to grow plants.
