July 5, 1983

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.)