The school-age child develops the ability to recognize that if a block of clay is in a round ball and then is flattened, the shape changes but not the amount of clay. what understanding has this child developed?

The children have developed the understanding of conservation.

Explanation:

The conservation ability is the capacity of recognizing that a determined object can change its shape but this not means a change in its mass or weight. In this case, the school-age child recognizes that the same block of clay can have different shapes but this doesn't mean a change in its weight or mass.  

another answer from our community: let us first explain the meaning of "eternal truth" which is tomean, continuing forever or indefinitely. this being the case itcannot be changed, for truth is truth no matter what changes aremade to the structure of its explanation. however, as for religeons changin… (more)