In this study, based on the many ideas of E.L. Deci and R. deCharms, we clarified a problem and the prospects teachers should have made through science learning, by arranging factors of motivation to affect scientific conceptual change and interpreting those factors as motivational factors in the science classes. We submitted below a policy of three strategies. (1) The condition to bring up "autonomy (:students realize they can experiment/observe, rearrange and consider the results with a prospect of learning by themselves and push forward their own learning by themselves)" is a necessity for the "rearranging of the unit structure" and" extraction and the presentation of the problem as an important pillar of the unit". (2) The condition to bring up "competence (:students realize they can put use the knowledge of what they learned, by explaining the mechanism to themselves or understand the teachers' explanation)" is a necessity for "a demand of the expression such as a thought with the consistency or the image" and" the consensus formation of a scientific concept". (3) The condition to bring up "relatedness (:students realize they can relate their own thoughts to another person and develop their own thoughts by listening to the thoughts of others and ask questions or doubts freely anytime)" is a necessity for "the evaluation of the thoughts of others by learning oneself" and" the interchange of the thought in the group".

The purpose of this study is to investigate the secondary school students' ability to grasp and apply the concept of electric current conservation in a series circuit with two resistors. In order to achieve this purpose, the two surveys indicated below were conducted. The 1st survey was conducted to find out whether students understand the concept of electric current conservation in a series circuit with two resistors. This was done by asking them to calculate the amount of current. The 2nd survey was conducted to test whether the students can calculate the calories of heat generated and to test whether they can apply the concept when the order of the resistors were switched. The result of these surveys showed that the students were unable to apply the concept into the problem with heat generation when the order of the resistors was switched while they were able to answer correctly the question to calculate the amount of current when the order of the resistors was not switched.

Our method of guidance for the understanding of the evaporation of water was applied to first grade students in a public junior high school. The method included a one-hour class learning in advance the principles of water evaporation followed by a two successive class hour program consisting of an experiment in which students measured the temperatures of water contained in an unglazed teacup and a glass beaker. This was followed by a discussion of the results of the experiment. Divided into to two groups, one set of the students in the control group were taught with the two successive class hour program, while the other group in the experimental group were taught with our method. We examined the effectiveness of our method of guidance by looking at the students' interests and understanding before and after the study program through questionnaires and with a worksheet for the two groups of students. The results indicated that students in the experimental group could explain the evaporation of water by use of illustrations and/or short sentences more correctly, and furthermore, they took a growing interest in the evaporation process and had a good understanding of evaporation, when compared with those of the control group. It is thus suggested that our method with a one-hour class learning in advance of the principles of the evaporation phenomenon followed by a two successive class hour program improves the effectiveness of the teaching process.

The effect of cigarette extract on plants was examined in this research, with a special focus on its effect upon plant growth. Broccoli under four different conditions were prepared for this study; broccoli seeds, newly-germinated broccoli, broccoli sprout of 1cm height and the broccoli of the control group, which wasn' t given exposure to the cigarette extract. This study indicated that the group of broccoli that were exposed from the earliest stage of its growth was most affected by the cigarette extract and showed the least growth. This result might be helpful in educating small children on the harm of habitual smoking.

The aim of this research is to consider the better cooperation between scientists and schools by devising, in collaboration with scientists, experimental lessons in the life environmental studies. The thus developed experimental lessons were presented as "Wild plant investigation." In the class that executed the experimental lesson, one activity was "Finding seasonal things" in life environmental study for second-grade elementary school children. The lesson was characterized in that scientists participated not only in lesson planning and the face-to-face teaching, but also in selecting learning materials and creating a learning environment on the Web, featuring an "interactive virtual botanical garden." Thus the scientists designed a lesson that blended face-to-face and online learning. The interactive virtual botanical garden, an online illustrated guide to Japanese flora, makes use of an information-sharing system called "clippicKids," which was developed by the project group comprising of the author and other members. The virtual botanical garden is characterized by its capability to provide an interactive environment by linking mobile phones and the Web. The information sharing system has enabled learners to add plant image and text data via mobile phone to the illustrated guide to the Japanese flora, which was compiled on the Web by plant ecologists beforehand. Our lesson assessment results indicated the effectiveness of the above-mentioned experimental lesson. Based on assessments of the experimental lesson using the information-sharing system, we examined the extent to which schoolchildren understood the plants they studied, and what they thought of the lesson activities. We also studied the effectiveness of scientists' participation in daily class lessons, on the basis of interviews with scientists who conducted outreach activities and teachers who gave the lesson.

The Test of New York State Assessment Program started in 2002. In particular, the Science Tests that are carried out for fourth and eighth grades, consists of two required components: Written and Performance. In this paper, the purpose of the test, the state of implementation, and the effectiveness are researched. The methods of the research were through interviews and documentary surveys. As a result, (1) The purpose of the new science test is to evaluate students as well as the school science programs. The multiple-choice portion of the test was used to determine which students needed academic intervention service in science. The performance portion of the test was used to evaluate the school science programs. (2) The case study was done in Buffalo, since it is the biggest District in New York State. Although teachers marked the Written Test in each school, the scoring teams marked the Performance Test to maintain the credibility of the scores. The Board of Education (Buffalo Public Schools) developed the materials for laboratory experiment, and Professional Development Programs for teachers. (3) The effectiveness is that teachers had to change the teaching styles from lecture types to Inquiry methods including experiment and observation. In conclusion, we can see the students extended their academic achievement.

The understanding of the power the coil received from the magnetic field was examined. The study added the law of the left hand of Fleming to a priori study and inductive study examined the influence that caused it for understanding. Whether the content of the study was understood was investigated immediately after and three months after the study was done. As a result, differences were not in a priori study and inductive study. However, the junior high school student who had studied the law was unable to explain the reason why power works in the coil by the investigation after three months.

Many of previous studies focused on the "current learning results" of science teachers. However, almost no studies have been made focusing on the theme "future learning potential." Currently, curriculum reforms are under way across the entire field of science education around the world. So, this theme would become even more important in future research on science teacher education. In this study, as the first step toward this theme, we conducted survey to clarify Japanese elementary teachers' ability to learn how to teach science from instructional materials. Results are follows: (1) Prior to taking science education programs, it is possible for preservice teachers to learn the basic structure of Japan's elementary science lessons, under which teachers are required to convert what they want to teach into what their students want to learn, while enabling students to experience the process of scientific inquiry. (2) However, preservice teachers cannot learn internationally appreciated teaching methods that both studentand science-oriented approach are well blended. (3) Also, pre-service teachers can learn teaching techniques and teaching materials for elementary science lessons from the instructional materials. (4) However, they tend to have difficulties in learning ''unit-specific" teaching techniques and teaching materials. Finally, we discussed requirements of science teacher education program.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the particle model facilitates students' learning of the topic of dissolution in elementary school science lessons. A total of 133 students were divided into three groups that were referred to as the PMC, PMP and NSC groups. The PMC group consisted of 25 students who were taught using the particle model consistently, the PMP group consisted of 46 students who were taught using the particle model part of the time,and the NSC group consisted of 62 students in a normal science class. Students studied the topic of dissolution for one month, and their understanding was evaluated by using a pre-test and apost-test. As a result of this research, the following two points became clear: 1. Students in the PMC and PMP groups were able to explain the text-level questions more effectively than students in the NSC group. 2. Students in the PMC group were able to explain the advanced-level questions more effectively than students in the other two groups.

The demand for citizens who are able to live and work effectively within an increasingly knowledge-based environment is putting pressure on formal education to equip students with the necessary 21st century skills. In particular, the acquisition of knowledge on its own is no longer seen to be sufficient. It is equally, if not more important, to help students unpack their learning and make the learning and thinking processes visible. This forms the basic motivation for the development and introduction of the new science curriculum for primary and lower secondary education in Singapore. This paper examines the rationale for the science curricula, particularly in relation to how science learning is seen to be supporting the overall development of the nation. The focus on an inquiry approach to the learning of science will be elaborated, which represents an attempt to evolve a system that has been traditionally strong in the acquisition of content knowledge into one which equip students with the process skills to independently learn on a life-long basis. The paper will also look at the necessary support structure that can bring this about, including the professional development of teachers.