Children's science concepts are constituted by cognitive and emotive elements. Intellectual awareness also consists of the same elements. Therefore, this research project considered intellectual awareness as the foundation of science education in the lower grades of elementary school. The present study investigates what children become aware of through language and conversation. Although not often studied until now, scenes in which there are only children became the focus of our study. In order encourage the development of intellectual awareness, we investigated differences in the quantity of utterances, and these utterances were categorized into in five groups. A fundamental scientific utterance is a type of intellectual awareness concerned with a natural phenomenon, with both cognitive and emotive aspects. Moreover, this utterance group appears irrespective of the difference in the study activities scene. This suggests that an utterance near a teacher presumes a commitment to the study of everyone. A sympathy-utterance means understanding the others. Moreover, this type of utterance may be influenced by differences in the study scene. All five types of utterance may not appear independently in one scene of activity, but the five types constitute learning activity, influencing each other. It is sufficient for a certain type of utterance to weaken, and it will affect the relation among the children.

In elementary and lower secondary schools, one of the key topics is environmental education, and in particular the water quality of precipitation (rain and snow) and river water attracts the interest of students. In this study, our goal was to allow students to obtain correct knowledge about the environment in the area where they live and to provide them with the ability to observe it. At first, the present condition of precipitation and river water was outlined in order to choose analytical quantities for monitoring those environmental water samples, and later simplified methods were proposed so that students could perform the analysis in school. The places studied were: (1) nine areas facing the Sea of Japan and (2) two rivers (Ado and Yogo) located north of Lake Biwa. The long distance flow of acidic pollutant from continental China to areas (1) was observed in the winter season. Some of the acidic pollutants flowed even to inland areas (2), and the influence of acidified precipitation on river water was observed. However, the pH level of the river water did not decrease so much, due to the buffering effect of the bicarbonate ion in the river water. Thus, three check items, pH level, electric conductivity (EC), and alkalinity (bicarbonate ion), were chosen for monitoring analytical quantities. For the former two measurements, inexpensive commercial equipment was used. On the other hand, a simplified method of measuring alkalinity was proposed: using a plastic syringe in place of a buret, a much safer solution of hydrochloric acid rather than sulfuric acid, and a BCG indicator to check the final pH level. The proposed method gave sufficiently reliable values for real river water samples, so we think that our method can be used in experiments on environmental water samples by students of elementary and lower secondary schools.

We developed 3D CG software for the ideal voltage source-battery model in order to help fourth-grade elementary school students master the attenuation model when applied to a simple electrical circuit. We investigated how computer-aided presentation of the battery model integrated the concepts of electrical current and voltage in cooperative group learning classes. Analysis of group members' verbalizations after observing the 3D CG software revealed the following three educational effects. 1. The software played a role in bridging the gap between an element in the known area (anchor) and another in the unknown area (target). 2. The causal relations among phenomena in a simple electrical circuit were perceived as plausible, and this promoted qualitative understanding. 3. The software created opportunities for virtual reality work-study in which concrete situational electrical phenomena could be observed vividly from multiple viewpoints.

This research focused on the state of Thuringia, an area in the former East Germany, and it focused on changes in Elementary Science Education in the subject "Heimat- und Sachkunde" in an increasingly West Germanizing climate, by using the guidance manual of study instruction (1991), the provisional curriculum (1993), and the curriculum (1999). It would be hard to say that elementary science education in Thuringia has undergone dramatic changes, though there have been some changes. The following can be considered as reasons for this. First, even in the era of divided Germany, there were similarities in the elementary science education of East and West Germany. Second, questionnaires were issued to teachers, and the results were used to improve the classes. Moreover, the unification of Germany (1990) did not involve any severe criticism of science education in East Germany.

This study examines the cooperative teaching method in science classes in order to support individual learning. In this study, two teachers conducted science classes for second-year students in a lower secondary school: one teacher made up a curriculum plan and used it to teach the students, while the other teacher just joined the science classes in order to support individual learning. As a result, there was not so much conversation between the students and the assistant teacher, but there were many comments by the students on their discoveries. Moreover, the students began to eagerly study together through this method of approaching the science curriculum. Therefore, we think that using an assistant teacher to help the students learn is quite effective and that it will improve the teaching system.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the actual conditions of private conferences in science education in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The results are as follows: (1) There are eight private conferences in science education in Nara Prefecture. (2) The number of activities per year is about 10, and the number of participants is less than 60. (3) Kinds of school in the participants are two or three in most of private meetings. (4) The conferences are held on holidays, and the participants do not receive any compensation for their attendance. (5) The activities are wide-ranging, and they do not contain a demonstration class. (6) The participants discuss science topics actively, and they can get information about what they want to know. (7) The private conferences play an important role in enhancing science teachers' teaching skills.

Water analyses of rivers, lakes, and ponds near schools have often been used as school environmental learning activities, and turbidity is one of the essential items of analysis. Low levels of turbidity in sample waters, however, are difficult to measure without an expensive turbidity meter. We developed a hand-made turbidity meter by assembling inexpensive electronic parts and examined the performance of this device by practical analysis of seawater in an estuary. The results include the following: 1. This hand-made device could measure a slight change in the level of turbidity (0-2.5) of sample waters. 2. The salinity and pH value had risen from the ebbing and flowing water, while turbidity had fallen during this period. This result shows that the turbidity of water in this region derives from river water. 3. The turbidity measured by this device is shown to have a positive correlation with suspended solids in sample water. As a result, this device can be an effective tool for environmental learning in schools.