2011 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages 29-35
We investigated the change of students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation of those who took the lesson of primary science methodology at the Joetsu University for teacher. We scored and analyzed students' awareness by means of analyzing their awareness to the natural events and phenomena in this survey. We used seven perspectives of the Earth Systems Education for analyzing their awareness As a result, we obtained the following findings: (1) The score of students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation increased nearly twice from 3.1 to 6.0 statistically significantly. (2) As a result of analyzing students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation from seven various perspectives, the rate of students' awareness related to the earth systems (biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere) and that of their awareness to change of time in the natural events and phenomena account for 55% and 40% respectively before the observation, and 50% and 48% respectively after the continuous observation, and those account for 95% and 98% totally together before and after the continuous observation. (3) The response rate of scientific evidence-based awareness related to such climate and meteorology as the aerosphere in the earth system increased from 22% before their observation to 38% after it. Furthermore, that related to the change of time increased from 17% before their observation to 81% after it. The survey made clear that about 70 to 80% students perceived rightly the openness and closeness of dandelion for a few days and the time when the picture was taken. From the above-mentioned result, it was inferred that continuous observation made students acquire the right knowledge of cause and effect of the growth and change of dandelion through their real experience and 70 to 80% students were inspired to be aware of the change of the natural events and phenomena. On the other hand, 40% students could be aware of the natural events and phenomena related to climate and meteorological phenomena of the hydrosphere and aerosphere in the earth systems, and only about 10% could be aware of the ecology and morphology of the biosphere in the earth systems, no students could be aware of the soil of the geosphere in the earth systems, and only few students could be aware of those related to the other five viewpoints by observing continuously without special viewpoints.
