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biological facts he expects his pupils to have mastered by the 
end of the year. You will find that every up-to-date course in 
general science includes practically all of this material linked up 
vitally with their general knowledge, so that it is better under- 
stood than if studied from the biological viewpoint alone. 
Does the introduction of the broader course in the first year 
mean the cutting out of biology, with the exception of such as is 
included in this first year course? Emphatically it does not. Hav- 
ing had general science the first year, pupils will have a basis for 
a sane election of the mere specialized phases of science. Pupils 
will take biology because they want it. Teachers who have been 
teaching biology to all comers cannot realize the joy of working 
with such classes. 
In the Stuyvesant High School every boy who can possibly get 
biology on his program is taking it. Five years ago there was no 
biology in the school; now approximately two hundred seniors 
are carrying on the work, although with all the required shop 
work there is probably no school in the city where there is less 
freedom of election. Fear that biology will drop out, if made 
elective in the upper years, is an admission of doubt as to its 
lue. 
Will there be an opportunity for pupils to elect it? There is a 
tendency to make the specific subjects above the first year elective 
to a very great extent. I advocate that two sciences (laboratory ) 
be required as a minimum after the required introductory science. 
Of course this will not prevent a pupil from taking more. All 
the advanced science courses will receive added life from the 
introductory year of general science. 
The science curriculum of the entire twelve grades must be 
overhauled. If properly organized, the Nature Study carried on 
in the grades will contribute directly to the science work of the 
high school. This will be especially true of the work in biology. 
The first year of high school or the last year of junior high school 
is a transition period from Nature Study point of view to the 
more strictly science courses of the upper years of the high school. 
Altogether, with the rejuvenation of the Nature Study of the 
grades, the biology content of the introductory or general science 
courses of the first year of the high school, and the real biology 
