The purpose of this study was to investigate some problems of structured communication activities in secondary level science classes and to suggest ways of developing new communication activities. As a result of this study, the following five points became clear: (1)A group of three to five is often the most appropriate for small group communication. However, the number of verified cases was limited. (2)There are mixed findings about the performance of high achievers and of males in heterogeneous groups. (3)Ill-structured and authentic problems are generally the most appropriate for small group communication. The importance of this kind of problems has not been previously pointed out. (4)Presenting good communication models for students to follow is an effective way to facilitate student conversations. However, some researchers point out that it is important to customize the communication models. (5)It is difficult to clarify how communication activities might impact on the achievement of students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between students' metacognition and conceptual acquisition of the principles of the simple pendulum during observation and experimentation in the "workings of the simple pendulum" lesson in science class. An experimental lesson was conducted with a class of fifth-grade elementary school students. As a result, the following points became clear: 1 . As a result of the investigation regarding the characteristics of the simple pendulum, it was easier for students to acquire scientific concepts in observation and experimentation when they understood two of the three characteristics of the simple pendulum rather than when they only understood one. 2. The introspection reports of students generated by a stimulated-recall procedure were investigated. It was found that most of the students who had acquired concepts thought about these elements when the results of the experiment differed from their thoughts previous to the experiment. 3. The introspection reports of the students of the concept acquisition group and the non-concept acquisition group were compared and examined. As a result of the case study of the students who acquired concepts, it was found that metacognition occurred regarding the elements which the results of the experiment showed differed from their thoughts previous to the experiment, and that their thoughts previous to the experiment were accordingly modified.

In this study, we used the activity of self-made textbooks by the students in the lower secondary school second grade unit "How Electric Current Works," analyzed the activity of the students, and examined its effects. As a result, the following became clear: ・ Students can achieve correct results by doing the experiments by themselves. ・ Students can understand the basics of learned subjects like scientific terms by devising their own explanations. ・ Students can create developmental and supplemental learning by themselves.

This study presents a new method of meteorological observation using a simple barometer made by inserting a straw into the cap of a PET bottle. The change in air pressure can be read by the shift of the water level in the straw. When the atmospheric pressure decreases/increases, the water level in the straw ascends/ descends. The shift of the water level in the PET bottle is slight in comparison with that in the straw. First of all, we observed the air pressure on each floor of school buildings. The results showed that the pressure differed on each floor, that the level was in proportion to the number of the floor, and that the average of pressure difference between the 4th and 1st floors was over 1hPa. Thus the change of air pressure can be easily seen in climbing/descending the stairs. The shift in the water level was theoretically discussed under an air pressure increase of 1hPa and no change of temperature. The results showed that the shift became visibly larger because of the small diameter of a straw tube, the large volume of air in the PET bottle, and the low density of liquid. We also conducted the experiment by using an elevator. These results agreed with the theoretical results roughly. This method of meteorological observation with a simple PET bottle barometer has been planned for use in a lower secondary school. The result in the trial lesson showed that many students observed the shift of the water level, that many students felt this activity interesting and this teaching material useful, and that this activity encouraged students to study the weather.

In this research project, we devised a way of studying that allowed the students to externalize their thoughts based on prior knowledge and to compare them with the results of observation in order to deepen their understanding. The unit was on the structure of vascular bundles. The students were allowed to express their thoughts by drawing pictures before the observation. After that, they compared their pictures to the results. It turned out that this way of studying proved effective in learning about the function and form of vascular bundles.

Our research group has developed "clippicKids," an information-sharing system using camera-equipped mobile phones. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the system based on experimental results. The experiment involved second-grade students engaged in a learning activity called "Great Discovery Project." This project required students to keep photo diaries for one year using a camera-equipped mobile phone and clippicKids. From among the pictures taken for the project by the students, our research group selected photos of nature and examined them from three perspectives: (1) what kind of nature the students took pictures of, (2) what they discovered in nature while taking photos, and (3) how they evaluated this learning activity with technological support. We found that the students took many pictures of plants growing in the wild as well of those being grown at school. We also found that they were able to describe details of natural objects and make adequate comparisons based on careful observations. Moreover, we found that they evaluated this learning activity positively. These results demonstrate that the clippicKids system using mobile phones can serve as an effective tool for nature observation.

For upper secondary school students to enhance their own awareness of purpose and to conduct observations and experiments with a prospect of success, it is essential that they go through the stage of hypothesis setting, the starting point for scientific research. However, few specific instruction methods for this starting point have been developed. To develop a teaching method for developing hypothesis setting ability, we considered it important to demonstrate the structure of factors affecting this ability. To this end, we studied the "capability of extracting from natural things and phenomena two variables regarding questions that students have found," and we statistically determined the causal relationship between the awareness of independent variables and four possibly relevant factors: the relation of students with living things, their relation with third parties, their interest in/concern with living things, and their familiarity with books. As a consequence, we found that the students' experience of relating to living things cannot be fully implemented for the awareness of independent variables unless they relate to third parties, take interest in living things, and become familiar with books. It became evident that the students' experience of relating to living things constitutes the basis for hypothesis setting as an approach to scientific research in the field of biology.

Students in the third grade of junior high school learn about the mechanism of the battery under a national curriculum. The battery is a device that generates current by a chemical change. Junior high school students make batteries and observe the generation of the chemical change and the current. However, they do not learn the reason why the current is generated by the chemical change. In a word, they merely relate one phenomenon to another. Later, they learned that the current is a flow of free electrons, and they inquired about the generation of the current by the chemical change. As a result, they understood why a current is generated by the chemical change from using free electrons. They were then able to expand their knowledge of the battery concept.

This research project verified the relation between mutual evaluation and visualization of experimental results by database on a map. We worked with the sixth grade elementary school unit "Working with the pendulum." We allowed free communication among the students in the investigation. As a result, the following three points were confirmed. ・ Students can evaluate the criteria in their study by entering the record of their experiments on a database map that reflects preconceptions. ・ Students can obtain correct knowledge by expressing error margin recognition to each other. ・ Students can study while making mutual evaluations, promoted by forming similar versions of the same idea.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of 3.4 lessons on the basic operation of a gas burner in the first grade of lower secondary school. We separately performed these lessons using "A gas burner model: making and using one" and "Circulatory-styled question-and-answer criticism learning" simultaneously, using "Circulatory-styled question-and-answer criticism learning," using "The gas burner model: making and using one," and not using either teaching method. These teaching methods were evaluated by analyzing the results of a performance test and a written examination administered immediately afterwards and then once again nearly 3.5 months after the lessons, provided that students operated the gas burner three times in lessons during nearly 1.5 months after the study project. In this case, the results were as follows: (1) Simultaneously using these teaching methods encourages students to acquire the operational skill of a gas burner. However, this is as effective as using each teaching method separately. (2) Students who simultaneously use these teaching methods read the operation manual while practicing the use of the gas burner model at home, and this encourages them to review the sense-making of words and sentences concerned with knowledge about the method of operating the gas burner. As a result, students who simultaneously use these teaching methods adjust the differences between correct operation and their memories of symbolic representation concerned with the method of operation more than those using each teaching method separately, and they hence acquire this knowledge more than those using each teaching method separately. Their memories of symbolic representation have linked linguistic representation and imaginable representation. The level of this knowledge is demonstrated by the fact that students can explain what they have learned in writing that is clearly understandable to other students.

The development of creativity is important in science education, and a deficiency of it is an urgent problem. As a means to solve this problem, we investigated the scientific process of inquiry. There have of course been various research studies on the process of inquiry, but here we tried to consider various methods of inference, in particular that of abduction based on the theory of Peirce. (Charles Sanders Peirce 1839-1914) Abduction differs from Induction and Deduction. Abduction is related to the adoption of the hypothesis and is the most important part of inquiry. In this study, we examined abduction, induction, and deduction. We demonstrate the concept of abduction clearly by examining these other methods of inference. Then we examine one case in which abduction was used in the scientific process of inquiry.

A teaching material was conducted to illustrate the enzymatic digestion of Lipids (triacylglycerol) by lipase and the detection of water soluble 2-monoacylglycerol or glycerol using sodium-copper ( II )-glycerol complex formation. The digestive agents that contains lipolysis enzyme were prepared. The substrate for digestion was the olive oil. The concentration of the digestive solution was 0.50% (W /V) (0.50 g/100 mL) Lipase AP6 solution that was prepared from "Biofermin, a digestive medicine tablet for a healthy stomach" . Biofermin is a Japanese commercial name known in the market. In a test tube, a 1.0 mL of olive oil and a 1.0 mL of Lipase AP6 solution were mixed together. The mixture was kept at 40°C for 24 hours. The process of digestion was confirmed by the appearance of the blue Sodium-Copper ( II )-Glycerol complex. However, an inactive digestive solution did not react and become blue in color. As a substitute for centrifugation, filtration with a qualitative filter paper or a disposable syringe filter unit can be used to remove the precipitation. Several digestive agents other than Biofermin were also applied having the same purpose.

The aim of this study was to investigate the teacher's awareness of the research program for students in science education and the rate of its implementation in schools by means of a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed to science teachers of 51 lower secondary schools in Kawasaki city, and 46 responded. The percentage of the students' research program implemented for all grades is 87%, indicating active participation. The teachers felt that the research program for students can help them think scientifically and deeply, and to develop the ability to anticipate results, thus proving its effectiveness.

It was made clear by Hiromi Tawara that there were many illustrated florae by Michio Murakoshi in addition to those by Tomitaro Makino. Tawara pointed out that "An Illustrated Flora of Nippon" by Makino was actually nothing more than a revised edition of "An Illustrated Flora" by Murakoshi. The author of the present study compared these two books, and found that about half of the illustrations in the former were the same as those in the latter. Makino should therefore not be regarded as the author of "An Illustrated Flora of Nippon." Some of the illustrations that Makino added to "The Illustrated Flora of Nippon" were reused in "Makino's Illustrated Flora of Nippon." Murakoshi edited illustrated florae at least three times. His contribution to science education in the Taisho and early Showa periods should now be properly evaluated in light of the importance of natural science since the Meiji period.

Chemical quantitative analysis is becoming more and more important in science and environmental education. Because of this, many simple analytical devices have been invented by teachers limited by school budgetary constraints. We also developed a handmade fluorometer which can measure the concentration of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and reported it in a previous paper. With this initial device, however, it was hard to measure the concentration of riboflavin present in foods. Therefore, we improved on it in the following ways. (1) With the use of an OP amplifier, the electric current of a solar battery can be measured instead of the voltage. (2) With the use of a BP filter which covers the detector (solar battery), the influence by coexistence can be eliminated. Consequently, the content of riboflavin in foods (skim milk, instant noodles, cornflakes, nutrient tonics) was able to be measured quite accurately (within 10% error) compared with the contents written on the packages. Riboflavin, one of the essential nutrients, is not only studied in science education but also in home economics and physical education. This device can therefore be used in a number of educational fields.

Sixth-grade students learn about nutrition transportation in plants and digestion in human beings in different units. This condition leads to a misconception among the students. This study developed a lesson plan based on the relationship between nutrition transportation in plants and digestion in human beings and also developed new teaching materials. A method of leaf-printing for starch detection with polyethylene mesh-sacks improved the clarity of the prints and simplified the method-procedure. This encouraged the understanding of starch-production in leaves and an eagerness to learn. In addition, the students observed the transportation of sugar in plant stems by using an improved method for sucrose detection. Another method was similarly developed for sugar detection in starch decomposition by saliva. These detection methods were used easily and safely by elementary school students. The students could understand the functions of nutrition transportation in plants and digestion in human beings after discussing the results of these experiments. They could recognize the common function of starch conversion in plants and human beings and thus develop a more versatile viewpoint of living organisms.

Lessons in astronomical observation have up to now been difficult to plan during the daytime, since the stars cannot actually be observed. Now, however, thanks to the creation of internet telescopes, live astronomical observations from observatories in other time zones can be made during the daytime in Japan when it is dark in these remote locations. Also, teleconferencing via the internet can now be used to hold distance learning classes with countries in other parts of the world. In this research project, we used an internet telescope and an internet teleconferencing system to conduct classes that focused on astronomy, while broadly incorporating current topics of international understanding, information, and the environment. The results show that it is possible to implement integrated studies classes in the upper grades of elementary school that teach astronomy using observatories located in other countries. We found these classes to be characterized by aspects of subjectivity through the remote operation of the telescope, immediacy through the real-time observation of celestial bodies, flexibility through freedom of how to handle the lesson, and simultaneity through the existence of a remote classroom. The use of an internet telescope in the lesson also allowed the students to interact with people from other countries, use English, think about what life is like in other countries and compare what they learned to their own environment.