418 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



excursion may take the place of a laboratory exercise. 



Obviously, it will be impossible to bring a great many 

 industrial processes before the pupils except by means 

 of moving pictures. Miller 2 says, "The film has far- 

 reaching potential usefulness in the study of chemical 

 processes and manufacturing." Plant processes can be 

 thrown on the screen anywhere. The class discussions 

 of the pictures should bring out the important points. 

 To quote Miller again regarding the use of films, "The 

 point to be safeguarded is to see to it that it is used as 

 a means in clarifying or economizing the pupils' pro- 

 ductive thinking. If the pupil is transformed from the 

 spectator to the participant the evils of the film disap- 

 pear." 



Collections of chemicals and specimens are very help- 

 ful for illustrating the applications of chemistry to in- 

 dustry. A pupil's interest in the process involved in 

 the manufacture of common glass, for example, is in- 

 tensified considerably when he sees specimens of the raw 

 materials, the mixture and the finished articles. Smith 3 

 says, in regard to connecting things that are natively in- 

 teresting with other things which are not so, "It is one 

 of the best means of lending interest to facts that might 

 otherwise seem dry." Charts such as the Coal Tar 

 Products Tree can be used to good advantage. Speci- 

 mens and charts may often be obtained from the manu- 

 facturer for the asking. 



Aside from the reference works of a more or less tech- 

 nical nature, books like those of Slossons 4 and Duncan 5 

 can be put to good use. They present the romantic as- 

 pects of chemistry and are highly interesting to the aver- 

 age student. If the principles taught in chemistry seem 

 dry, why not develop the pupil's interest by placing 

 books of this type in his hands? In a great many cases 

 the generalizations underlying the descriptive matter in 

 books of this type can be brought home more easily and 

 made to seem less dry to the student. In a number of 

 instances I have used to advantage advertising literature 



2 Directing Study, p. 53. 



3 Smith & Hall, p. 141. 



4 Slosson's "Creative Chemistry." 



8 Duncan's .'Chemistry of Commerce" and "Some Chemical Problems 

 of Today." 



