We developed teaching materials about the generation and chemical properties of three kinds of gas: oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ammonia. Using microscale experiments conducted by pairs in a junior high school class made it possible for students to improve and cultivate their scientific ability to think, judge, and explain through watching chemical changes and phenomena.
A questionnaire and written responses from students revealed the effectiveness of the present teaching materials. In a short, fifty-minute lesson time, students developed a profound understanding because the teaching materials are simple to handle, and also make student-centered experiments possible.

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To obtain pointers for teaching data interpretation in Japanese elementary school science (biology) classes, this study compared Japanese and American elementary science textbooks and analyzed how data interpretation and its preparation are dealt with in them. The following six differences were found: (1) relation between data organization (including data presentation) and data interpretation; (2) data interpretation procedure, that is, distinguishing independent variables and dependent ones, organizing the data, and finally interpreting the data; (3) data interpretation on the basis of tables; (4) data interpretation on the basis of tables and graphs; (5) posing of questions on key points for data interpretation; and (6) the presence or absence of information on data interpretation. The following three conclusions, which could provide pointers for teaching data interpretation in Japanese elementary school science (biology) classes, were drawn from these six differences: (1) a distinction should be made between independent variables and dependent ones, data organization, and data interpretation, in that order; (2) questions on key points for data interpretation should be posed; and (3) data interpretation should be posed after observation and experiment.

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Recently, a rapid-scan multichannel CCD optical spectrometer has enabled us to measure the thickness of a soap film. In this research, we carried out a synchronous measurement of interference spectra of the light reflected from and transmitted through the soap bubble produced along the optical path to the spectrometer. The observed spectra showed fringe patterns whose phase was different by π between reflected and transmitted spectra, which was caused by the difference between fixed-end and free-end reflections. The precise time-dependent changes in the thickness of the soap-bubble film were obtained by simulation analysis of the interference spectra observed. The results suggest a useful teaching material suitable for the diffraction and interference experiment of light in science education.

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The use of visual expression in education has expanded significantly since the emergence of printing and photography technologies towards the end of the 19th century. Education and research in the 21st century will not be limited to the now-traditional combination of text and figures. E-books can now incorporate a wide variety of visual content and supplementary web services for printed textbooks are becoming standard. Science education research in particular cannot ignore the increasing academic use of visual content.
This article provides a qualitative examination of the visual communication of science (focusing on educational material and research publications) in foreign institutions that have experimented with these new forms of education earlier than Japan. It shows that examples of visual communication can be grouped into organization-driven and researcher-driven types. The former brings the benefit of organization-wide visual unification, while the latter ensures that the researcher brings his/her professional expertise to the project. With increasing expectations for visual communication in education and research both in Japan and overseas, including the spread of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), there is a need of further consideration of institutional understanding of and support for visual communication in science.

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A series of classes on systematic water and environmental studies for upper-grade elementary school students were implemented on a trial basis. The effects of the classes were examined on the basis of students’ free descriptions of their understanding (e.g., “non-elaboration” and “elaboration, organization”) of the contents of the classes. The results were as follows: classes in which students found it easy to elaborate their knowledge were those on things living in lakes, such as fish and plankton (which interest students but are difficult to observe); also on aquatic food chains and water purification, topics that they had been previously taught. Classes in which students found it easy to apply their knowledge were those on the lives of living things (e.g., classes on nutrient salts and phytoplankton).

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