A social studies unit on television and advertising was written in association with three Year 6 teachers and was then taught to a class in a Melbourne primary school in collaboration with their teacher. After the unit had concluded, data were gathered from eight selected children in the class through paired interviews and through a cloze procedure and a post cloze discussion. The data were analysed, categorised and organised under aspects concerned with content and aspects concerned with process. Major findings included the fact that the children possessed, in varying degrees, a sound grasp of the understandings around which the unit was planned. There were marked idiosyncrasies in the children's responses to the content of the unit and in the ways they expressed their understanding. The children made clear distinctions between the teaching approach used in this unit and those used in previous social studies units. The children were able to differentiate between the various resources made available to them as sources of information for their inquiry and assess their effectiveness.