ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of how our current understanding of the way young people acquire domain-specific knowledge in the sciences can inform the planning and sequencing of science curricula. By taking this focus, it is not intended to convey the view that the development of scientific concepts is the only, or even necessarily a primary, goal of science education. It is our view that, where conceptual understanding is seen as an appropriate goal of the curriculum, instructional courses may benefit from planning which draws on knowledge of the way in which understanding of science concepts evolves.
