A two-year study on the effects of adopting the 1970 revision of the New York State Regents Earth Science Syllabus on teachers' teaching strategies and educational opinions and students' abilities and performance was reported. A total of about 30 teachers and their classrooms were used. One group used the old syllabus in the first year and the new syllabus in the second year. The other two groups used the new syllabus in both years. Instruments employed included: a classroom activity checklist, classroom tapes, a process of science test, a teacher opinion scale, an earth science test, and the Regents Earth Science Examination. Results obtained indicated differences between teaching strategies, but not opinions, for teachers who changed to the new curriculum. Teachers participating in the development of the new curriculum held new opinions. No advantage to students' learning under either curriculum was observed concerning the ability to use the processes of science. Student achievement was specific to the material used in the classroom. (CC)