115 
students and combat the growing perils of Bolshevism in our 
midst ?”—for these I am informed are the reasons for intro- 
ducing this subject. Turning to the civics syllabus itself, I hum- 
bly ask 1f 14-year-old students are likely to be carried away with 
enthusiasm in discussing such topics as the following: tax budget, 
sources of revenue, assessment, apportionment of funds, control 
of city finances, city ordinances, origination of bills in the state 
legislature, and a good many other topics of like nature that I 
might quote. I am reliably informed that this subject is being 
admirably taught in a few of the schools by well trained and 
enthusiastic teachers, but I cannot help wondering if they are 
sticking close to their syllabus. 
In the desire to learn, if possible, what kind of science material 
would be likely to “function” best in the first year of the high 
school, the teachers in the biology classes in the Morris High 
School made an investigation in their own classes. Students were 
asked to put down on paper a list of the topics they would like to 
study in a course in elementary science. One of the teachers, 
for example, introduced the subject as follows: 
“We are thinking of changing our course in Biology in such a 
way as to make it more beneficial to you. Heretofore, the first 
year science dealt with living things only, now, we intend to 
broaden out, if necessary, and include any topic that will help you 
to adapt yourself to your environment. To help us formulate the 
new course we have come to you for advice. What topics do you 
think ought to be included? Why? Keep in mind that the topics 
you suggest need not necessarily be topics that are biological; 
for example, they may be stars, the weather, automobiles, and the 
like.” 
Anther teacher went so far as to copy on the board a list of 
topics from the table of contents of one of the best books on gen- 
eral science. Over one thousand topics were written and were 
tabulated in four groups, with the following results : 
ENGtROMOMMGALMETOPIGS: \yi- csc esse tues (124) 13 per cent. 
Rhy sicalmtopiGsermscrtran crs: css st ess cues. (251) 26 per cent. 
ShemicalBta pics eres cic se5 eae a ek ( 88) 6 per cent. 
Biolopicaletopicsmtrr css a.00 See eres ae (559) 55 per cent. 
If these answers mean anything they would seem to imply that 
