VI PREFACE 



elementary nature may center is large and should be more 

 freely used by science teachers in secondary schools. 

 These life experiences, supplemented by the experimental 

 knowledge gained under direction in school, makes possible 

 a fuller understanding of the teachings of books and a 

 ready acquisition and grouping of a wide range of facts. 



The emphasis placed in these lessons upon the interests 

 of the individual, in both their personal and their com- 

 munity aspects, is expression of a conviction on the part 

 of the author that topics of social science should not only 

 be included in a general science course but should be 

 treated in much the same way as are topics from the 

 various fields of the natural sciences. Any unification of 

 life interests and life problems with the spirit and pro- 

 cedure in science studies not only enriches the science 

 teaching but reacts upon the daily living to make- it more 

 sane and more wisely ordered. 



School work that requires discrimination in the impor- 

 tance of the facts involved in the affairs of life, that notes 

 the bearing of these facts upon the well-being of the indi- 

 vidual, and that formulates a rational course of action, 

 not only develops a scientific attitude but it constitutes a 

 training of inestimable worth in the education of youth. 

 The varied interests of pupils are thus made centers about 

 which to group newly acquired knowledge. 



It is the author's belief that differentiation between the 

 various sciences may be disregarded during the first year 

 in high school. Emphasis is placed instead upon an inter- 

 pretation of related scientific phenomena regardless of the 

 fields into which any inquiry may lead. The relationship 

 and unity indispensable in science studies is secured 

 through a grouping of the interests and experiences of the 



