In this study, we examined the effectiveness of a guidance method for altering naive conceptions about "motion implies a force" (MIF) in upper secondary school level Physics I in Japan. It is assumed that it is difficult to teach students the scientific concepts of force in not only lower secondary school but also upper secondary school due to their deeply ingrained naive conceptions about MIF. This study thus attempted to determine the effectiveness of inducing conceptual change through lectures designed to reform their understanding of force based on the assumptions of the equation of motion "ma^^→=F^^→," and through the use of metacognitive support as a teaching strategy. Metacognitive support was provided in the following three stages: Strategy 1: Identification of the naive conception Strategy 2: Identification of the acquisition process of the naive conception Strategy 3: Connection and collation of the naive conception and the scientific concept This guidance method was implemented in a research class. As a result, the students' levels of understanding rose greatly, and a delayed test after one month also showed little decrease in their levels of understanding. Thus, the results suggest that the guidance method of this study was effective in this research class in overcoming naive conceptions about MIF.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the students understanding of scientific concept from the view point of the cultural development by Vygotsky, L. S. (1928/1994) and microgenetic approach by Siegler, R.S. (1991) at the background of the socio-cultural perspectives. On the basis of this study, we delineate the properties of learning science. To achieve this purpose, we investigated on "resistance" concept in eighth-grade student science instruction. We obtained the following results through protocol and questionnaire. (1) Process of teacher's science instruction does not correspond to students' understanding of scientific concept, belatedly being formulated. (2) Students' understanding of scientific concept is developmental discontinuity from the view point of the cultural development. Students' learning strategy choices on problems solving are adaptative development.

We investigated the change of students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation of those who took the lesson of primary science methodology at the Joetsu University for teacher. We scored and analyzed students' awareness by means of analyzing their awareness to the natural events and phenomena in this survey. We used seven perspectives of the Earth Systems Education for analyzing their awareness As a result, we obtained the following findings: (1) The score of students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation increased nearly twice from 3.1 to 6.0 statistically significantly. (2) As a result of analyzing students' awareness to the natural events and phenomena before and after the continuous observation from seven various perspectives, the rate of students' awareness related to the earth systems (biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere) and that of their awareness to change of time in the natural events and phenomena account for 55% and 40% respectively before the observation, and 50% and 48% respectively after the continuous observation, and those account for 95% and 98% totally together before and after the continuous observation. (3) The response rate of scientific evidence-based awareness related to such climate and meteorology as the aerosphere in the earth system increased from 22% before their observation to 38% after it. Furthermore, that related to the change of time increased from 17% before their observation to 81% after it. The survey made clear that about 70 to 80% students perceived rightly the openness and closeness of dandelion for a few days and the time when the picture was taken. From the above-mentioned result, it was inferred that continuous observation made students acquire the right knowledge of cause and effect of the growth and change of dandelion through their real experience and 70 to 80% students were inspired to be aware of the change of the natural events and phenomena. On the other hand, 40% students could be aware of the natural events and phenomena related to climate and meteorological phenomena of the hydrosphere and aerosphere in the earth systems, and only about 10% could be aware of the ecology and morphology of the biosphere in the earth systems, no students could be aware of the soil of the geosphere in the earth systems, and only few students could be aware of those related to the other five viewpoints by observing continuously without special viewpoints.

A study was carried out in a public lower secondary school third grade class, in which two one-hour science classes were used to encourage students to think about the direction that science and technology should take in the future. Before the study, approximately 90% of students thought that technological change was necessary to enrich human life. As a result of having studied about the progress of technology and the associated environmental problems, in particular, the efficiency and the problems associated with various forms of energy generation for the first one hour, the number of students who thought scientific technological change was necessary for life in the future decreased to less than half. However in the second hour, the students conducted experiments using a device that converted vibrations into electricity, a method that had not been used for large scale energy generation. They also studied the economics of such generation through an example and test calculations as it would be used in society. Almost all students came to the conclusion that progress in science and technology has an important role in finding solutions to problems facing society such as "the drying up of energy resources" and "environmental damage." Based upon the foregoing, it was suggested that this form of learning was effective in deepening the students' understanding of the effects of the direction that science and technology take.

The purposes of this research are to exhibit understandings on the origin of sands by elementary school, lower secondary school, and university students, and to discuss problems on the lesson of rock weathering. The fifth-grade students of elementary school have a variety of ideas on the origin of sands. After the lesson of stream water, many students explain the origin of sands by two models: erosion model (29.9%) or collision model (25.6%), rather than weathering model (0%). The percentage of the students who prefer the erosion model increases to 52.5% after the lesson of rock weathering and erosion in lower secondary school. The percentage of the students who prefer the weathering model is only 8.8%. The results exhibit that the erosion model and the collision model are acquired by the lesson of stream water in elementary school and that the erosion model is strengthened by the lesson of erosion in lower secondary school. Introduction of a lesson of soil may help secondary school students understand the sand-grain formation by rock weathering.

Up to now the astronomical observation during school hours was quite difficult. Thanks to development of the constellation camera i-CAN, etc. we can observe astronomical phenomena in real time on the screen of personal computer. In this study, we utilized the constellation camera to support semi-concrete viewpoint movement. As a result, it became clear that there was an effect which improved children's recognition of the movement of the stars.

We investigated a meteorological class of the second grade science of the junior high school. The research activity where students spoke about their thoughts freely, and asked for other students freely was practiced in the class. We investigated conversations to talk about among students in the research activity. We analyzed what kind of conversation the students who understood the contents of the class enough had. The following points were noted: ・About the problem of the class, utterance to fall under the item of most points of view of the evaluation standard increased with progress in time. ・The understanding of the students was promoted by frequent appearance of utterance to talk about during the conversation while changing experience. ・The understanding of the students was promoted by more frequent appearance of conversation to talk about as time passed while changing experience about the problem of the class each other.

This research verified the effect of the class that specified the time of the teacher assessment and the standard in the experiment science of the elementary school. In this research, it refrained teaching to examine the effect of feedback of the evaluation. Instead of teaching, "mutual learning'" that centers on the evaluation was taken. We analyzed the test result and the conversation record in a self-evaluation, mutual evaluation, and the teacher evaluation scenes. As a result, the following three points were confirmed: ・The learner evaluates each other by verbal information and non-verval information. ・The learner can advance study by evaluating it each other. ・The learner understands firmly by the address feedback on the evaluation.

In order to prevent "sciencephobia", or the fear of science among children, it is necessary to have children intentionally experience the pleasure of the natural sciences and the enjoyment of discovery, and receptivity to life from a stage of the infancy through observation and experiment with immediate natural phenomena. This article investigated (1) the actual situation of the consciousness about the natural phenomenon and learning guidance of the teachers and the childcare people, (2) the actual situation of the childcare about the natural experience in the kindergarten and the nursery school of Tokyo and Kanagawa. And I clarified four problems relating to these points. Finally, I proposed the direction of the problem improvement for the promotion of the outdoor natural experience learning in the preschool education.

The author had supported science experiment class and a science teacher in an elementary school as a science educational assistant from Apr. 2009 to Feb. 2010. This paper shows the example of practicing the support, and concludes as follows: (1) The science educational assistant should understand both the textbook and the guidance book well; (2) It is effective for the assistant to communicate with the teacher at lunchtime; (3) The assistant should take an appropriate action immediately in the event of an emergency; (4) The assistant should understand the heavy responsibility of the science teacher; (5) The majority of the assistants has the concern and zeal in engaging in the educational job; (6) The school principal should give appropriate advice to the teacher and the assistant who doesn't have communications well; (7) The school principal should make a budget and the guideline for the assistant.

The target of this study was all of the required observations and experiments (student experiments) in lower secondary school science textbooks of "A" company. A cluster analysis was performed to typify the process skills included in these observations and experiments. As a result, the following were demonstrated: (1) The observations and experiments carried in lower secondary school science textbooks of "A" company lack process skills needed for recognizing time and space, examining numerical values and understanding figures and tables. (2) In observations and experiments in lower secondary school science textbooks of "A" company, exploration problems are basic, and there is insufficient content to be dealt with through exploration by taking advantage of process skills. (3) Observations and experiments carried in lower secondary school science textbooks of "A" company were typified into the following five groups depending on the types of process skills that tend to be used: Cluster 1: Group of observations/experiments in which rules and regulations are found from changes in simple phenomena having a cause-and-effect relationship. Cluster 3: Group of observations/experiments regarding phenomena involving a plurality of variables. Learned knowledge is taken advantage of while controlling the plurality of variables, and hypotheses are verified. Cluster 4: Group of observations/experiments in which changes having phenomena with a cause-and-effect relationship are operatively defined and inductively generalized. Cluster 5: Group of observations/experiments in which changes in phenomena and structures are observed and described. Cluster 2: Group of observations/experiments in which hypotheses are verified on the basis of quantitative data, and changes in simple phenomena having a cause-and-effect relationship are inductively generalized.

What is important in current research on science education is the construction of self-regulated learning. In this study, using the view from Nelson, T.O.s' metacognition model and self-regulated learning models of information processing advocated by Winne, P.H., we analyzed the self-regulated learning process in science classes. Then we built didactics based on cooperative learning to promote self-regulated learning. In addition, we discussed the relation between the self-regulated learning process and the representational functions. In conclusion, the self-regulated learning process involves definition of task, setting goals and planning, and enacting tactics that students instigate, modify, and sustain. Also metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control that form the hub of self-regulated learning have been adapted. Self-regulated learning was promoted by coregulatory dialog, and it extended and deepened students' scientific concepts.

The purpose of this research is to clarify the cognition of the students in upper secondary school through the questionnaire, concerning school biotope, which has not been surveyed enough yet. On a nine item questionnaire, which was implemented for 306 students, about 90% of the first-year students did not recognize the word "biotope." As for the questions on whether biotope was important for the region and the environment after an explanation of biotope was provided, the percentage of the affirmative answers among the students increased, which can suggest that they understand the importance of biotope. On the other hand, as for the question on whether the students wanted to learn about biotope, more negative answers were given among them. Although the number of biotopes in elementary schools is increasing, they still hardly have any biotopes in upper secondary schools. Therefore, it is recommended that the installation of biotope should be more promoted, and that biotope should be activated as a means of environmental education and ESD in the class of 'Ecology and Environment' (Basic Biology) and 'biodiversity and Ecosystem' (Biology).

In recent years, practical use of museums in school science is set to one of the works for elementary school teachers. That is, they are required to have competence in effective use of museums for science lessons. However, the concrete contents about the teachers' competence have not been discussed by the practical examples. In this research, a case of a teacher's original science lesson program is observed to investigate teacher's competence in the practical use of a botanical garden as one of the museums. Authors explored the candidate teacher's competence and its contents based on the case. A framework of PPK (Personal Pedagogical Knowledge) is adopted as the method of this research. Then correspondence between the candidate teacher's intentions and ideas and the six elements of the teachers' competence outlined by the Central Council for Education in Japan is examined. As a result, distinctive real contents in each of the six elements for teachers' competence are found by the practical use of the botanical garden.