EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 19 



the world about him. If the "six and six" plan of division of 

 the high school and the grammar school comes into vogue, 

 this elementary course may go into the eighth year instead of 

 the ninth. This course will not be closely correlated with agri- 

 culture and domestic science. The other course in chemistry 

 or physics will be the formal course of the third or fourth 

 high school year. This need not be a more difficult course 

 than the present one, but it should be far richer. It should give 

 not only the logical and quantitative concepts of the master 

 minds of chemical and physical science, but should be correlated 

 with the real agricultural and domestic science of the upper 

 years of the course. 



It is a curious fact that the order of the science studies of 

 high schools has changed little, fundamentally, for a genera- 

 tion, and this in spite of the fact that the period named has wit- 

 nessed the introduction of the laboratory method into second- 

 ary instruction. Thus, thirty years ago the science course in 

 the Chicago high schools was, I believe, about as follows : 



First Year — Physical Geography and Physiology, one-half 

 year each. 



Second Year — Zoology and Botany, one-half year each. 

 Third Year — Chemistry, one year; Physics, one year. 

 Fourth Year — Geology and Astronomy, one-half year each. 



At the present time the standard course in the same schools 

 is essentially the same, the only prominent change being in 

 the omission of geology and astronomy from the fourth year, 

 and the putting of physics into their place. There is certainly 

 one thing to be said in favor of this older course, even though 

 it offered no laboratory work : Every one going through the 

 high school took the five years of science work, whereas to- 

 day far too many avoid the greater part of the course alto- 

 gether. 



One question more will be suggested in this report : What 

 kind of a teacher is needed for the elementary physical science 

 of the early years of the high school and for the course cor- 

 related with agriculture and domestic science in the later 

 years? For, be it known, you can correlate the pure and the 

 applied sciences far more easily than you can "correlate" 

 the teacher. The principal of one of the largest high schools 

 of the State told me not long ago that he had given up hope of 

 getting from his chemistry teachers a proper chemistry course 

 for the domestic science girls of the school. The teachers were 

 well prepared for their work, but they simply could not adapt 



