The meaning of the numbers affects difficulty in comparing the numbers. The effect is called the meaning effect. This paper demonstrates it in actual science education circumstances. The subjects (Ss) were divided into three groups. Ss in the first group read a writing which is related to evolution. Ss in the second group read the same writing, but each number was replaced with money. Ss in the third group read the same writing, but each number was expressed by Ma (million years). Then, all Ss were asked about the writing. There is no statistical difference among the three groups' percentage of the correctly recalled quantity information. But the meaning of the money makes the percentage of the correctly recalled orders rather high. It was demonstrated by the data that replacing the numbers with money is effective to understand the numbers in evolution.

We have been continuously conducting research on students' problem solving about magnetic force. It was found that four rules were used, wherein six answering patterns were constructed by the students within the framework of these rules. In this present research we attempted to form knowledge structure models by using LISP and made an analysis of the problem solving procedures in detail by using the models. Six models were formed on the basis of the six answering patterns. The models in which the problems were used as input presented output as answers corresponding to the six answering patterns. The following four matters were pointed out by the models. (1) Did the students strictly follow the procedures? (2) Did the students possess adequate knowledge about the idea of action and reaction? (3) Did the students make adjustment procedures due to their lack of knowledge about force? (4) How did they understand force? In order to clarify the four matters, 40 college students were requested to answer problems on magnetic force and then were later interviewed on how they were able to solve them. The results were as follows: Some procedures were excluded and transformed by some students on the basis of models. When the procedures were inappropriate, they were simply excluded instead of being adjusted. Many students did not have a clear understanding that magnetic force was the result of action and reaction but had an idea that the objects themselves had the force instead. Even when the students obtained the same results, they were observed to have used different problem solving procedures. As a result, using the models like those that had been presented in this research was found out to be a method useful in analyzing the students' problem solving procedures.

The author intended to examine the science curriculum named THINKING SCIENCE which has been developed by the CASE PROJECT in the Kings College of London University in 1989, and to introduce it to Japan with some problems around it. The main aims of the project were literally to Accelerate Cognitive through Science Education in lower and upper secondary school students in the U.K. For three years since the project was formed in 1984, its members had elaborated the curriculum both theoretically and practically to be used by any science teachers. Not only the philosophy based mainly on the Piagetian theory but also the contents and teaching methods of the activities seem to suggest many useful ideas for Japanese science teachers. The main characteristics of the curriculum are as follows: (1) Based on the Piagetian developmental theory, they created the working hypothesis that it was possible to accelerate students' cognitive levels if school education and teaching style-one of the developmental factors-were improved significantly. (2) The curriculum is designed as the intervention lessons which are taught one lesson activity per two weeks for two years (total 30 lessons) other than the normal school science curriculum. Each activity usually requires about 70 minutes.(3) The contents of each activity are drawn from the Piagetian formal thinking schemata studied by him and described in his book. They analyzed each schema in detail and reorganized them to be suitable for secondary school students as concrete science activities. (4) In each lesson the learning process is planned to include new ideas such as cognitive conflict, bridging, and metacognition that are essential to accelerate the thinking level. (5) The importance of the teaching method is emphasized in every lesson and especially it is stressed that class discussion plays a central role in the development of thinking. So that the teaching procedures of each activity are written carefully and in detail in the teacher's guide. (6) The teaching materials were developed through many school trials. In the processes of trials the effectiveness of the lessons was evaluated by measuring the cognitive levels of both experimental and control student groups using Piagetian Reasoning Task and considerations, and the overall results showed their effectiveness considerably as expected.

A comparative content analysis of USA "Physical Science" and FRG "Physik und Chemie" was made using the indices of lower secondary level textbooks. The overlapping indices of both textbooks are scattered in many pages. In this sense, the overlapping indices seem to be important. The physics and chemistry indices are almost the same ratio. So the contents of both textbooks are neither slanted to physics nor to chemistry. As for physics, the overlapping indices involve many on electromagnetics. It is thought that this is due to the fact that we enjoy the results of electronics in this modern society. As for chemistry, the common indices involve many on inorganic. This is thought to be from the fact that inorganic chemistry is more fundamental and easier than organic chemistry. Much overlapping would be expected as a result of the fact that the ratio of physics to.chemistry is almost the same in each country. Contrary to our expectation, the researchers were able to find out that there was no more than 30 percent overlapping. It is thought that this result was mainly caused by the following three points of view: i.e., (1) How much do you take applied science into consideration?, (2) To what degree do you cope with modern science? and (3) What kind of peculiar features do you take up?

Since the 1980's, the reform movement in science education called STS (Science/Technology/Society) movement, has been spreading all over-the world from Europe and the U.S.A. This movement is based on the idea that prudent decision-making for social problems is almost impossible as far as one doesn't have an adequate comprehension about the interactions between science, technology and society. This study examined the rationale for STS education in relation to its history and its philosophical background, and make the following clear: (1) STS education is based on the modern view of science which is now the major trend in the philosophy of science since Kuhn's "Paradigm theory." (2) The significance of science and technology in modern society, which is the key idea for developing STS education, can be displayed by the social model of science. (3) The curriculum of present science education, judged from its goals and contents, obviously neglects the complicated relation between science and society. And it cannot be denied that the curriculum depends on the traditional view of science.

Thirty-three pupils in the sixth grade were interviewed individually with the following two aspects for identifying the features of their concepts of force. And we got some findings as follows:(1) About pupils' concrete empirical props concerning force The authors investigated what situations they connected with the word force by questions when they heard the word force. About 67% of them were found to have a physical experience as concrete empirical props concerningforce. (2) About the connection of force with how things happen We investigated the connection of force with how things happened by asking them to manipulate toys, and identified alternative frameworks of their concepts of force. As the standard, we used 8 frameworks which Watts described and the other one that we called interacted force. Consequently we found that some of the pupils used the 'designated force' framework very obstinately in different states, and so on. Then, according to the history of science, we considered the development of pupils' concepts of force when they had explained about events after manipulating toys.

We studied to clarify how students in lower secondary school interpret the activities of the decomposer,and how they understand the keywords. We gave the problems to students to explainhow meat and fallen leaves decompose. We examined their answers through individual question andanswer processes.As a result, we got these results:(1) Each student has various interpretations about putrefaction.• When they give some living things as a cause of putrefaction, they sometimes give non-livingthings.• As a cause of results, sometimes they give air, water, dust, and meat itself.(2) There are several interpretations about the word decomposition.• Decomposition is often used in the meaning of separation. Results of decomposition areleaves themselves, components of leaves, nutrients of leaves, organic matter in leaves, moleculesof leaves, etc.(3) Students give different living things as a cause of putrefaction and decomposition.• They often give bacteria and fungi as a cause of putrefaction of meat, but not about fallenleaves.(4) Many students haven't yet the concept of cycle of matter.• Fertilizer doesn't always mean the matter that is utilized by plant through root.• The percentage of students who understand the function of fertilizer were 15%, 30%, and 40%as the grade goes up.So we proposed the desirable teaching method about the decomposer. One of them is to showthe concrete microscopic image of bacteria and the grown fungi on the fallen leaves to the students.The teacher should instruct the students to match their image and the meaning of decomposition inthe classroom.

A new method using the teflon plate was developed for collecting the air-borne radioactivity. The radioactivity collected by the method was used as a teaching material for training the decisionmaking in several classes of upper secondary schools. In these classes, radon-daughter nuclides suspended in air could be easily deposited on the surface of the teflon plate. The nuclides deposited were smeared on a strip of filter paper, and their radioactivities were measured with a GM counter. Further, the students learnt about the levels of environmental and medical radiation doses, and then they considered whether it was permissible or not to dispose the strip of filter paper smeared with radioactivity into the waste baskets in their classrooms. Although a part of the students took the danger of radioactivity too seriously, the majority understood the concept of permissible radiation doserate to the human body and concluded that the strip was not dangerous from radioactive hazard because of its very low activity and rapid natural decay. This simple experimentation was found to be very useful for helping the students to realize the natural occurrence of radioactivity.