Investigated were teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil relationships in the context of elementary science activities, of which the characteristic feature was the predominance of small group work by pupils without continuous teacher direction. Two pairs of pupils from each of ten classes were recorded for a single class session using two independently operated portable videotape recorders while they participated in science activities. Transcripts of the tapes were coded using a classroom analysis scheme designed to reflect the process nature of the activities, to emphasize the notion of teacher control, to code physical actions, and to permit identification of individual pupils as both senders and receivers of communication. Among the results of the analysis of the tapes were that: (1) teacher and pupils initiated approximately equal numbers of interventions; (2) long interventions, regardless of initiation, almost invariably ended with the teacher giving directions on procedures; and (3) the proportion of teacher talk was almost universally greater than for the two pupils combined. (MH)