The purposes of this study are ; 1 ) to investigate how third graders in elememary scho 〔 〕ls in Japall recQgnize the phenomenon of " parallel shadQws of objccts blocking direct rays of thc sul1 " ; and 2 }to identify the essential knowledge and thought needed for the stLLdents to recognize the phenomenon in school science learning based on the findings of an investigation of their recognitions . The findings of this study were as follows :1} less than 10% of the elementary school third −

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... s had a scientifically correct understanding of the phenonlenoll ;2) there were more 30 kinds of scientifically wrong answers among the third graders ; and 3}njne items were identified as knowledge and thought required f6r recognizing the phenomenon , Key words :shaClows , direct rays of the sun , elementary school science , science recognition