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Methods of physics education research were applied to find what kinds of changes in 4th, 6th, and 8th grade student understanding of motion can occur and at what age. Such findings are necessary for the physics community to effectively discharge its role in advising and assisting pre-college physics education. Prior to and after instruction the students were asked to carefully describe several demonstrated accelerated motions. Most pre-instruction descriptions were of the direction of motion only. After instruction, many more of the students gave descriptions of the motion as continuously changing. Student responses to the diagnostic and to the activity materials revealed the presence of a third "snapshot" view of motion not discussed in the literature. The 4th and 6th grade students gave similar pre-instructional descriptions of the motion, but the 4th grade students did not exhibit the same degree of change in descriptions after instruction. Our findings suggest that students as early as 6th grade can develop changes in ideas about motion needed to construct Newtonian-like ideas about force. Students' conceptions about, motion change little under traditional physics instruction from these grade levels through college level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the response of the author to the comments of Cronin, Charron, and Espinet to his article "Science Education in Elementary School: Some Observations." He cites that the article was intended to evoke thought and action to strengthen the enterprise of educating elementary school children in science, it was not intended to denigrate other aspects of science education. He also mentions that one of the basic point he was trying to make was to understand the intermediate understanding that should be brought to the students in any given instance of elementary science education instruction.