The purpose of this study was to develop a lesson which connects the three representational modes of the geometric definition, the figure, and the equation of an ellipse through mathematical activities. In order to encourage learner autonomy, we implemented an experimental class based on the constructive approach with internal and external translations of the three representational modes, i.e. linguistic, illustrative, and symbolic representation. We used the graphing software GRAPES to support students' unskillful mathematical activities. The following results were obtained: (1) Although students felt that the experimental class was difficult, they tackled mathematical activities positively and enthusiastically throughout the learning process of the constructive approach. Approximately 70 percent of students were able to understand the equations of an ellipse. (2) As a result of internal and external translations of the three representational modes dependent on students' abilities, students were able to construct and acquire the connection between the geometric definition, the figure, and the equation of an ellipse with their teacher and other students. (3) We concluded that using the GRAPES method in this type of experimental class is a useful approach to confirm the figure and the graph of the equation of an ellipse visually and intuitively.

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This paper examines an important aspect of the history of the establishment of geophysics in japan during the early twentieth century, a field which later became a significant part of the country's geoscience education. The author focuses on the institutionalization of geophysics in Japanese universities, especially Kyoto Imperial University in the years 1909-1936, when the physicist and seismologist Toshi Shida (1876-1936) established its Geophysical Institute and its associated observatory stations. This enterprise, the first of its kind in Japan, was conducted by Shida in the following stages: 1. his appointment to the professorship in geophysics in the Institute of Physics in 1918; 2. the foundation in 1924 of the Institute of Geophysics, which included physical oceanography and meteorology in its remit; and 3. the establishment of the Aso Volcanological Observatory in Kyushu in 1928. As a background to these developments, the crucial roles of two other figures are examined: the Cambridge-trained mathematician Dairoku Kikuchi (1855-1917), who was president of the University, and the astrophysicist Shinzo Shinjo (1873-1938), a colleague of Shida who had studied at Gottingen University in 1905-1907. The limitations of the enterprise as well as the shaping of the research school are discussed.

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We investigated the educational efficacy of teaching description methods to students by assessing to what extent such instruction improved their ability to explain scientific phenomena. The description instruction used fixed sentence patterns. Two experiments were performed. In the first, the effectiveness of classes with and without description instruction was compared. In the second experiment, the effect of teaching description methods to the classes that had not received such tutoring in the first experiment was investigated. The result of the first experiment was that many more of the students in the classes that had received description instruction were able to scientifically describe phenomena. The second experiment showed that this difference in the ability to scientifically describe phenomena disappeared once description instruction was provided to the previously untutored class. The results indicate that providing description instruction is an effective way to improve the ability of students to describe phenomena scientifically.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the causal model of forming abilities of applying learning experiences to daily life in technology education. A total of 754 junior high school students (3rd grade) participated in the survey and the causal model was examined using covariance structure analysis. Results indicated that the abilities of applying learning experiences were formed by hierarchical causal relationships among "Learning experiences of problem solving" and "Perception of the value of learning". Specifically, "Perception of the value of learning" was affected by "Exploration process" and "Project management" initially. Subsequently, "Perception of the value of learning" and "Troubleshooting" influenced "Ability of technology utilization" through "Ability of technological judgment and assessment" in conjunction with "Design process". Finally, those abilities influenced "Technological mind". Based on the causal model, instructional strategies for developing practical skills for daily life through technology education were considered.

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This article presents a chemical experiment and learning activities for understanding the reactivity of metal ions using pigments. Reliable methods for identification of metal ions in pigment samples such as Pb^<2+>, Cu^<2+>, Cd^<2+>, Fe^<3+>, Zn^<2+>, and Cr^<3+> ions are described. These methods also improve the procedure for small-scale experiments to become available more easily in high school chemistry courses. On the basis of the above findings, we propose two types of learning activities. One is a hands-on activity through which high school students can realize the reactivity of metal ions when they are studying, or have just studied, inorganic chemistry. The other is an inquiry-based learning activity which enables students to draw a conclusion on "what metal ion is found in given pigment samples" by utilizing their previous knowledge. These activities not only promote students' conceptual understanding of inorganic chemistry, but also more sophisticated scientific thinking about design, practice, and verification of their experiments.

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The repulsive and attractive forces that act between two finite length permanent magnets were measured using various cylindrical magnets with different diameter to length ratios. Coulomb's law was applied to explain the measured magnetic force; the two types of magnetic forces were calculated. The difference between the measured and calculated values tends to decrease with increasing diameter to length ratio. Since the magnetic force between two magnets has components both parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, accurate magnetic force measurement between two magnetic poles is difficult. It was found that the difference between the measured and calculated values is larger in the repulsive force than that in the attractive one.

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