GENERAL PREFACE 



Never before in this country has there been so insistent a 

 demand for a more thorough and more comprehensive system 

 of instruction in practical science. Forced by recent events to 

 compare our education with that of other nations, we have 

 suddenly become aware of our negligence in this matter. Now 

 industrial and educational experts and commissions are united 

 in demanding a change. 



While on the whole there has been a steady increase in the 

 amount of time given to science work in the secondary and ele- 

 mentary schools, the attention paid to it, especially in the 

 elementary schools, has been somewhat spasmodic, and its 

 administration has been more or less chaotic. This is not due 

 to lack of interest on the part of school officials but to their 

 dissatisfaction with the methods of instruction emplo}'ed. 

 There is no doubt that superintendents would gladly introduce 

 more science if they felt sure that the educational results would 

 be commensurate with the time expended. This is indicated 

 by a recent survey of about one hundred and fifty cities in 

 seven states of the Central West. The survey shows that two- 

 thirds of them have nature-study in the elementary schools and 

 that all are requiring some science for graduation from the high 

 school. The average high school is offering three years of science. 

 Since 1900 there has been a greater increase in the percentage 

 of students enrolled in science in the" high schools than in an\- 

 other subject with the one exception of EngHsh. IVIoreover, 

 greater attention is now being paid to the training of teachers 

 in methods of presentation of science. 



The chief needs in science instruction toda>' are a niDre 

 efficient organization of the course of study with a \icw to its 

 socialization and practical appKcation, and a clear-cut realiza- 



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