The Minnesota Student Survey, including questions on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus transmission and sexual activity, was completed by approximately 88,000 6th-, 9th-, and 12th-graders during the 1988-89 school year. Sexual activity questions were not asked of sixth graders. Over 90% of high school students knew about sharing needles and sexual intercourse as means of AIDS transmission. Among sixth graders, 87% knew about needle sharing and 79% knew about sexual intercourse as means of transmission. While students were knowledgeable about ways that the AIDS virus could not be transmitted, some still held erroneous beliefs that AIDS could be transmitted through blood tests, vaccinations or insulin injections, mosquito bites, and kissing. Although few students believed the AIDS virus could be transmitted through casual contact, only a minority said they would sit next to a student with AIDS in the school lunchroom. Most students reported obtaining information about AIDS from television or radio, school, newspapers, books, or magazines. Two out of five sexually active high school seniors said they never or rarely used a condom. One-half of the students reported not changing behaviors because of AIDS, primarily because they believed they were not at risk; 13% reported not changing their behavior even though they knew their behavior put them at risk. Twenty-five percent of 9th graders and 10% of 12th graders reported deciding to postpone sexual activity due to the risk of AIDS. (NB)