Masako Tanemura

The opportunities of physics experiments for students have been decreasing even though science teachers realize that the physics experiments play an important role in science education. It may be one of the causes for the decline in scholastic ability. However, looking back on the history of science education in Japan, far more physics experiments had been conducted from Meiji period to early in Showa period. It can be expected that conducting the physics experiments in line with the science history may bring us positive educational effects. Therefore, the physics experiments, which had been carried out in senior high schools at that time, and the essential physics experiments in the history are presented in this paper. Students usually show a great interest in the series of experiments. It can lead students to understand the physical phenomena easily, know the scientists′ view points and find how useful and practical science is for our everyday life.