SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS. Alvar 
V. SCIENCE COURSE FOR A PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL 
FOR GIRLS. 
By I. M. Drummonp, Headmistress, Camden School, formerly Science Mistress, 
North London Collegiate School; and R. Srern, Science Mistress, North 
London Collegiate School. 
(Average time given about three hours per week from twelve years of age.) 
I. Ages up to 11 or 12.—The power of clear, logical reasoning makes rapid 
strides about the age of twelve, and this, therefore, would seem the most 
suitable age at which to begin a definite course of experimental science. This 
by no means precludes the study of natural phenomena before this stage. 
Indeed, such study must begin as soon as a child wakens to interest in the 
world around her. Science for these younger children will take the form of 
observations on, and very simple experiments with, growing plants, caring 
for animals, and watching them; recording observations on sun, sky, and 
weather; investigating the structure of simple machines in daily use, and 
finding out how they work. The material should be as varied as possible, and 
should follow, as far as this can be done, the interest of the children at the 
moment, the continuity of work throughout a course of lessons being, as a 
rule, a minor consideration. 
II. Ages 12 and 13.—When regular work in the laboratory first begins at 
about the age of twelve the lessons must necessarily become more systematic. 
The main objects of the teacher at this stage will be :— 
(2) To encourage the natural inventiveness of the child and to help her to 
direct it towards definite ends. 
(6) To encourage her to give practical expression to her ideas by her own 
manipulative skill. 
(c) To help her to distinguish between observed facts and the inferences to 
be drawn from them, and to express herself accurately in written records. 
The problems must be closely connected with the everyday life of the child, 
and at first should be so simple that an experiment, complete in itself as far as 
it goes, can be carried out in a single lesson. The power to follow a line of 
argument, and to draw inferences by collating the results of several experi- 
ments, comes at a later stage. Easy problems relating to simple mechanical 
appliances, flotation, pressure of liquids and gases, effect of heat on sub- 
stances, its method of transmission and its measurement, all form excellent 
material. The method of attack and the actual choice of problems may vary 
widely. Some teachers may kegin with the investigation of an actual instru- 
ment; others prefer to begin with a discussion of the phenomenon of weight, 
leading the children to realise at the outset how little they know as to what 
weight really is, but that they have some knowledge to start with in their 
experience that one body is harder to lift than another, and that one presses 
more heavily on the hand than another. The idea of a downward force is thus 
obtained, and methods of measuring it may be discussed. The impossibility 
of making accurate comparisons by means of feeling the weights leads to the 
devising of a simple instrument. The pull on a bit of elastic may be measured, 
and a realisation of the imperfections of this instrument, owing to incomplete 
elasticity, will lead up to the spring balance. Other methods of comparing 
weights lead up to the see-saw, and so on to the structure of the kitchen scales 
and the laboratory balance. The value of a piece of fine and delicate machinery 
is thus appreciated and it is treated with respect. A comparison of the 
weights of different objects leads rapidly to the need for a standard or unt 
of weight. 
it eriments with the see-saw show the result of altering the position of the 
fulcrum, and this leads on to levers and experiments on mechanical advantage. 
Pulleys and inclined planes will now naturally be experimented with. Obser- 
vations will be made on the working of pickaxes, cranes, wheel and axle, and 
so forth. Models may be made by the children, and many problems may be 
answered by their own experiments, as, for example, if a loaded wheelbarrow 
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