Materials and resources available in English
If you have conducted a class, we appreciate it if you submit a class report (class book title, target age group, country/region, student impressions, number of students on each 5-point scale*, and impressions as a conductor).
Your reports are valuable and are needed to improve the HEC-Classbook. For any inquiries, please email contact2ashec@kasetsu.org.
*See the HEC Management Guide below for more information.
HEC Classbooks
| Introducing Dynamics by Blow-Dart Experiment |
| Original Story by Kiyonobu Itakura. |
This plan was a part of an unfinished HEC Classbook Introduction to Mechanics, which was being prepared based on the idea of the original author, Kiyonobu Itakura. ASHEC members have implemented the part as a small lesson plan for about 20 years in various school types and community science classes in Japan. It has become a popular introductory science lesson for beginners to enjoy thinking about the forces and time that move things.
- Teachers Guide
This guidebook includes tips on conducting each experiment and information for preparing classes. We hope teachers conducting Hypothesis–Experiment Class for the first time can enjoy the classes with their students.
These open-access contents—the Lesson Plan and the Teacher's Guide—are also available on the page introducing HEC materials on the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) educational resources website. Additionally, that page features an animated version of the HEC Classbook and a video (in English, with commentary on teaching methodology) documenting a class taught by a JICA volunteer at a secondary school in Kenya.
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| If You Could See an Atom |
| Written by Kiyonobu Itakura. Originally published in Japanese in 1976. English edition Ver. 3.0 in 2025. |
This HEC Classbook is based on the picture book “If You Could See an Atom” 1971.
It is one of the most popular HEC Classbooks across all age groups.
Everything consists of atoms. To get the reality of this worldview is a starting point of science education. This HEC Classbook cultivates the imagination of students through exposure to molecular models. You may be surprised that this plan is used throughout many grades, from primary school to university. And most students in most classes welcome it. It is not just for students learning atoms for the first time. College students and adults who disliked chemistry at school are reunited with atoms and molecules and made up with this HEC Classbook.
- The app for PC(Win/ Mac) ‘If You Could See an Atom’ is available. You can request an ID for free via the link. A license key is required after installation.
The iOS app is paid for, but is in the App Store under the same name.
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| When You Find Free Electron |
| Written by Kiyonobu Itakura. Originally published in Japanese in 1989. Translated into English in 2025. |
This HEC Classbook is designed to teach not merely that all metals contain an abundance of free electrons and conduct electricity but also why they conduct heat and can be freely deformed. It aims to broaden students' perspectives beyond simply "this conducts electricity, this doesn't," as has been the case in a conventional teaching.
That said, the Classbook isn't that difficult. Its content is perfectly understandable by any student in upper elementary school or above. Naturally, this includes middle and high school students — even university students who have not yet mastered the concept of free electrons. This Classbook has been used and welcomed in classes for all levels, from middle school to college students.
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| Hypothesis–Experiment Class 'Kasetsu' |
| For those who wish to learn more about HEC (Hypothesis–Experiment Class): This is the book that contains Dr. Itakura's original thesis proposing the Hypothesis–Experiment Class, with several Lesson Plans (HEC Classbook, Jugyosho) included as an appendix.
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| HEC Management Guide |
| The leaflet (PDF) that specifically summarizes the methods for conducting a class using the Hypothesis–Experiment Classbook.
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| Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Molecular Models |
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In both Japan and in the West, “reading, writing, and arithmetic” was long considered to be the most basic educational content necessary for the common person. The author Dr. Itakura argued that “molecular models” should be added to this list and showed the path to a bright future of education.
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