What was going on when I was born?

It was time for learning in Ursula Davis's full-day kindergarten class at Public School 87 on the Upper West Side. In one corner, Jennifer, Amy, Kimberly and Kendra were working with illustrated letter cards. In another corner, Kandia was making a ''one way'' sign for the farm he built of wooden blocks. Next to him, two children listened to a recorded story. It was time for learning, too, in Jane Blumberg's kindergarten class at P.S. 305 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Nineteen children sat at their desks, hands clasped in front of them, eyes forward, waiting for instructions. ''Open your books to page 85,'' said Mrs. Blumberg. ''Now, on the first blue line, everybody write a small 'v.' Do not erase!''

RESEARCHERS studying the dynamics of South America's tropical forest have produced scientific evidence showing with precision for the first time that a forest can return as much as 75 percent of the moisture it receives to the atmosphere. The finding indicates that the forest plays a much more important role in weather generation than had been previously believed. The pioneering study, conducted in the world's largest forest in the Amazon River Basin, is also the first to show that the amount of water a forest gathers can be returned to the air in large enough amounts to form new rain clouds. Naturalists had long thought there was some relationship between forests and rainfall, but evidence for such a connection had largely been circumstantial or anecdotal. The new research also indicated that land covered by trees collected and returned to the air at least 10 times as much moisture as bare, deforested land, and twice as much as land where grasses or plants other than trees predominated.

The nation's economic prospects continued to brighten in June, with industrial companies reporting a step-up in orders and employment, the National Association of Purchasing Management said yesterday in its monthly survey. In addition, the association found that the level of production continued to climb, while deliveries from vendors slowed for the fifth consecutive month, a positive sign because slow devliveries tend to mean that suppliers have backlogs of orders. Prices also edged up for the third month, another sign of recovery, although the increases were selective, the association said. In one negative note, the group said that spending for capital equipment remained ''very sluggish.''

In a review Saturday of a festival program, two musicians in the Stan Getz Quartet were misidentified. The bassist was George Mraz and the percussionist was Adam Nussbaum.

International Yuri V. Andropov canceled a meeting planned in Moscow with Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany. Prime Minister Nikolai A. Tikhonov, who took the Soviet leader's place, warned that if the Atlantic alliance proceeded with deployment of new American missiles in Europe, the Warsaw Pact countries would respond ''without delay.'' (Page A1, Col. 6.) Total debts of $700 billion have been amassed by developing nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia and a number of Eastern European countries. A large part of these loans cannot be paid on time. At stake, should a significant amount of these debts be repudiated, would be the solvency of some of the world's largest multinational banks. (A1:4-5.)

In a review last Tuesday of a Kool Jazz Festival program, the bassist with the Miles Davis group was incor- rectly identified. He was Darrel Jones.

Three months after it became law, the Federal $4.6 billion emergency job program has produced few of the new jobs it was designed to create. Most of the money is tied up in red tape and debate over how it should be spent. The law was enacted April 1 after being rushed through Congress as a response to the country's unemployment problem, and supporters estimated that it would eventually lead to the creation of 400,000 new jobs. A second measure aimed indirectly at reducing unemployment, the 5-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax increase, also went into effect April 1, and officials say its success is difficult to measure.

Scaffolding will soon rise around the Statue of Liberty in preparation for a two-year, $30 million restoration of the decaying monument. Erection of the scaffolding, which eventually will cover most of the 97-year-old statue and secure it during the extensive repairs, is to begin in September. Although final plans for the project have not yet been released, the National Park Service, which manages the site, says the upper half of the statue's badly corroded torch must be removed and repaired. The service says it has not decided whether the upraised right arm must come down as well.

In a recent interview, Anthony J. Alvarado, the Chancellor of the New York City school system, discussed issues raised in the current debate over the quality of American education. What follows are excerpts from that interview with Joyce Purnick. Q. Why do you think we're seeing all this sudden interest in education? A. I think because, as a whole, standards in education over the last decade - probably more than that - have deteriorated. I think, secondly, there has been a rising tide of mediocrity in society generally, which is evidenced by its inability to compete internationally, in business, in a whole variety of areas. And because there's always a strong relationship between education and national performance, when national performance does not measure up to par, it is very often focused on education. Q. Do you think, in fact, that one of the main reasons this country is not measuring up is because education is mediocre? A. Yes. But it is a complex situation. Education doesn't measure up because the society isn't measuring up. The society influences education; education influences the society. It is not a clear causeand-effect relationship.

green sea, French and Egyptian divers are exploring what they are convinced is the wreck of l'Orient, the flagship of the ill-fated fleet that convoyed Napoleon Bonaparte and his army to Egypt. Physical proof of the ship's identity still eludes the French-Egyptian survey team that only a week ago pinpointed the location of the fleet, sunk in 1798 by the British in the Battle of the Nile, a crucial sea fight that secured British influence in Egypt. But Jacques Dumas, 57, leader of the expedition, said that given the size of the ship's anchor and cannons, the ship can only be the Orient or le Guerrier, the Warrior, the second largest ship in Napoleon's fleet. The discovery of the exact site of the fleet would be a triumph for marine archeology in several respects. Mr. Dumas and other team members said they hoped the sunken ships would yield new information and fresh insights into how the famous naval battle was fought.

Over the last two years, a dark shadow has fallen over the onceglamorous world of international finance. Developing nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia plus a number of Eastern European countries have amassed total debts of about $700 billion. A large portion of these loans cannot be paid on time. At stake, should a significant amount of these debts be repudiated, would be the solvency of some of the world's largest multinational banks in the United States and elsewhere. If losses from international lending were to trigger widespread bank failures, recovery from the longest postwar recession would be in jeopardy all over the world, as would the system of international finance that serves to channel savings from the mature industrial economies to those that are just beginning to emerge.

Their is little elegance about the mortgage department of the Green Point Savings Bank in Flushing, Queens. It has the tone of an emergency room in a city hospital. The walls are dirty, manual typewriters are still used and there is a constant buzz of activity. But Green Point is not a bank where people come to see fine art or handsomely appointed furnishings. They come to get mortgages. And because of Green Point's unorthodox methods, just about anyone who can manage a 25 percent downpayment can get a mortgage approved within days.