The articles collected together in this reader examine how we have reached our present consensus and what theories we now use to explain how children learn science. The central sections of the text examine how all this can be translated into effective and stimulating teaching, how that effectiveness can be most accurately and fairly assessed and how the impact of gender, ethnicity and other factors on children's performance can be addressed. The articles in the final section of the book are a reminder that the debate is not yet finished and raise challenging questions about what science education is and what it is for.