Designed primarily for practicing teachers and for use in pre- and in-service courses in science education, this book focuses on how 10- to 15-year-old children learn science. Findings are analyzed and suggestions are offered for improving the teaching/learning process. Issues are discussed and organized into five major sections. These include: (1) problems (examining children's views of the world and how their ideas influence learning in science); (2) specific solutions (focusing on language problems and children's construction of knowledge and also analyzing activity based lessons); (3) wider considerations (reviewing assumptions about teaching and learning and the various roles of the science teacher); (4) towards a teaching model (analyzing various science teaching models and providing a case study of one model); and (5) implications for curriculum and teacher education (outlining research implications and offering suggestions for implementation). Appendices contain forms and information including determining what children think, constructing a survey of alternative views, checklists for the science teacher, surveys and interview schedules, and some samples. (ML)