Abstract
The purposes of this research are the following two points. Firstly, the animal concept of junior high school students before and after learning is made clear. Next, methods of fostering the students' scientific concept are developed. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. (1) Even after learning, criteria by which students judged animals were based on external form, using such criteria as "they have eyes" "they have hair" and "they have legs". Furthermore, there were many students who cited characteristics common to all living creatures. On the other hand, there were few students who made judgments based on hctcrotrophy. with criteria such as "it eats". From these results it can be seen that the animal concept cannot be fully learnt with the usual methods of instruction. The development of a new method of instruction is necessary. (2) The following was realized from class experiments. Even if students discuss together in small groups, their discussions may not be effective. Students do not change their own ideas as a result of group discussions. In order for many students to understand the animal concept it is necessary to collect information, which should form the basis of student discussions. According to the results of class experiments, it is most effective when the following four stages are incorporated into class instruction in order to form a scientific animal concept. Stage 1:The presentation of the problem. Stage 2:One's own thinking is made clear, for this purpose group discussions are held. Stage 3: Information is collected; for this purpose relevent literature is researched. Stage 4: Examination of one's thinking: for this purpose group discussions are held again.
