64 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
No one can today safely predict to what extent this act by 
the federal government will have upon the public high schools 
of Illinois and of the nation. Nothing is more certain, how- 
ever, than the fact that when the federal government holds out 
a substantial bonus to the high school which will conform to 
the curriculum prescribed many high schools will conform and 
the act will be a large factor in the reshaping of high-school 
curricula in the immediate future. 
To appreciate the possible effect of the Smith-Hughes Act 
upon science in the high school we need to recall some of its 
provisions. In order to receive federal aid, as I understand the 
law, every student in the class must devote one-half of his 
time to strictly vocational studies, the announced purpose of 
which is strictly the mastery of some industrial trade, or of 
agriculture, or of home economics; one-fourth of his time may 
be devoted to closely allied subjects, such as “applied mathe- 
matics” or “‘applied science”; the remaining one-fourth of the 
pupil’s time may be devoted to what are commonly called cul- 
ture studies. Detailed statements regarding the conditions 
under which federal aid may be secured are given in the Educa- 
tional Press Bulletin, No. 124, issued by the State Department 
of Public Instruction for February and several bulletins issued 
by the Federal Government. 
My only purpose in referring thus briefly to the provisions of 
the Smith-Hughes Act is to point out the fact that in order to 
enjoy federal aid the curriculum of the high school, or at least 
the portion of it which will receive federal aid must be intensely 
practical. For instance, there is no place provided for cultural 
science; the science taught must be applied science and have a 
direct bearing upon vocation chosen. Listen to some of the 
terms used to describe the character of the science which may’ 
be taught: “Prerequisite science”, “agronomy”, “soil physics”, 
“soil fertility”, “animal husbandry”, “horticulture”, “general 
science”, “applied science”, “household physics”, “household 
chemistry’, “science essential to competency in the trade or 
industry which the pupil is preparing to enter’. To be sure, 
the teachers of these courses are required to have training in 
“related science work such as botany, zoology, chemistry, 
physics, geology, and mathematics” or as stated in another 
