SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 183 
_ Division 11I.—The work in the Upper Forms, where botany is the only 
science studied as a regular class subject. 
Division I. 
ens of girls, seven to eleven approximately. Average time per week, 
our. 
The work varies in different years: an account of what is done in a 
particular year is given below :— 
Land plants and animals in school gardens. Water plants and animals in 
school gardens. Trees in winter, spring, summer. Study of common weeds, 
with special reference to the reasons for their success in competition with other 
plants. Simple descriptions of flowers. Stages in life-histories of various 
plants grown by the girls in their own plots. Study of fruits in the lane and 
wood of botany gardens, and various methods of dispersal of seeds observed in 
the botany gardens and elsewhere. 
Division II. 
Science in the Middle School—a three years’ course. Age of girls eleven to 
fourteen approximately. 
A. Elementary physics and chemistry. B. Botany. Total amount of time 
given, two hours per week in each of the three Forms. (One and a-half hour a 
week has lately been given to elementary physics and chemistry,and no time 
allowed for homework; one hour a week, as in former years, being given to 
botany.) 
A. General Elementary Course in Physics and Chemistry. 
So far as possible all girls, working in pairs, carry out separate experiments 
along the lines indicated, enter during the lesson all measurements taken, make 
sketches of apparatus, and learn to express themselves accurately and concisely 
in written records. Some experiments are, of necessity, demonstrations. 
The course need not follow the prescribed lines, and is open to modification 
- by the girls themselves; the ground can generally be covered, though the 
details may vary. The spirit of experimental inquiry is always encouraged, 
and the girls are led to depend upon the results they themselves obtain. 
I, First Y3Ear. 
Elementary Physics and Mensuration. 
(The mensuration is partly taken in arithmetic lessons.) 
(a) Measurement of Length.—The measurement of the straight edges of a 
variety of objects in English and metric units. The measurement of the curved 
lines of a variety of objects. The discovery of the ratio 7. 
~ (6) Measurement of Area (English and metric units).—Areas of rectangles, 
triangles, parallelograms, and circles; first from drawings on squared paper. 
Simple examples of the division of irregular areas into known figures. The 
making of plans to scale (maps). Measurement of the surface area of some 
common solids. 
(c) Measurement of Volume. The units of volume (from actual models).— 
The volumes of rectangular blocks, prisms and cylinders. The volumes of 
irregular solids (floating and non-floating) by the method of displacement. _ 
(d) The unit of weight being given, the simple lever (see-saw) is examined 
and the Law of Moments arrived at. The application of this principle and the 
use and corstruction of the Beam Balance follows. The densities of some 
solids (the volumes have been previously measured) is found; also the densities 
of some common liquids. Archimedes’ Principle is then discovered, and some 
of its applications are discussed (the principle of ship-loading _and Plimsoll’s 
mark is introduced). The specific gravity of some solids and liquids is found 
by varying methods, and seen to be useful as a means of identification and of 
determining purity. ; ) 
(e) Atmospheric Pressure.—Simple experiments on the pressure of the air. 
Measurement of air pressure. Barometers. A barometer chart is kept and 
observations are made of wind and weather. 
