The quality of Year 8 science teaching in Australia is strongly endorsed by the findings of this study by Jan Lokan, Hilary Hollingsworth and Mark Hackling. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study 1999 Video Study (TIMSS) investigated and described Year 8 Science teaching in Australia, Japan, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, all of which achieved relatively highly in the TIMSS 1995 and 1999 written assessments, and the United States, which achieved at average level only. In Australia the study involved 87 Australian teachers and around 2000 students from a national random sample of schools representing all regions and school sectors. Lessons were videotaped between June 1999 and May 2000 to identify common features as well as distinctive characteristics across the countries involved.