The Learning in Science Project established that children from a young age construct out of their everyday experiences views which they use to establish their world and that these views are remarkably resistant to replacement by scientifically more useful views. Although science lessons tend to be based upon activities which are designed by teachers and textbook writers to establish specific scientific viewpoints, experience with these activities does not have the intended influence for many children. Their views, if changed at all, are not changed in the expected way; children remain unaware or unimpressed by the scientific viewpoint. As an alternative to simply accepting these statements as uncovered by the Learning in Science Project, a 30-minute activity on the behavior of particles is provided to help teachers gain first-hand insights into the issues. In addition, a six-item instrument (with answer sheet) and teacher notes are provided to evaluate students' responses to the six questions. Also provided are extracts/examples from 16 lessons analyzed in depth to exemplify aspects of science lessons which have been identified as problems associated with children's classroom experiences and which point to reasons why children do not significantly alter their perceptions about how and why things behave as they do. (JN)