406 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



(i) The chemical and physical properties of air, water and some of the 

 commoner elements and their compounds, the elements of meteorology 

 and astronomy, based on simple observations, and the extraction of metals 

 from their ores. 



(ii) A carefully graduated course of instruction in elementary physics and 

 simple mechanics, abundantly illustrated by means of easy experiments 

 in light, heat, sound and the various methods for the production and 

 application of electricity. 



(iii) A broad outline of the fundamental principles of biology describing the 

 properties of living matter, including food, the processes of reproduction 

 and respiration, methods of assimilation in plants, the action of bacterial 

 organisms and the like. 



(iv) Instruction in elementary physiology and hygiene based on lessons in 

 Biology.' 



P. 223. ' As a general rule, however, in country schools the science syllabus 

 both for boys and girls might be largely based on biological interests, the study of 

 elementary physics and chemistry being subsidiary, but arranged so as to supply 

 the indispensable foundation for a course in elementary biology with special 

 reference to its bearing on horticulture and agriculture. We are disposed to think 

 that in many schools in rural areas a large part of the science course might, 

 with advantage, be planned on the general lines indicated in Sir Edward 

 Russell's " Lessons on Soil," with appropriate examples drawn largely from the 

 local environment. 



We suggest that science courses for girls in Modern Schools and Senior Classes 

 should in their later stages frequently have a biological trend, though occasion 

 should be taken to impart to the work much of the exactness and discipline 

 of the experimental sciences and to train the girls in habits of careful observa- 

 tion and clear thinking. The work should not be confined to Botany, as the 

 study of simple forms of animal life can under a wise and skilful teacher be 

 made an admirable means of widening and disciplining the pupil's sympathies, 

 and giving her broad hygienic ideals and a knowledge of nature which may 

 increase her happiness and her efficiency as a human being. The courses 

 in science for girls should be brought into connection with the instruction in 

 hygiene and in domestic subjects, more particularly housecraft. The teachers 

 of science and domestic subjects should keep closely in touch and collaborate 

 in drawing up their syllabuses in these subjects. 



We regard it as especially important that instruction in elementary physiology 

 and hygiene, developing out of the lessons in elementary biology, should be given 

 to all boys and girls in Modern Schools and Senior Classes. Such instruction 

 should be largely the practical outcome of a study of elementary biology, 

 treated not as a series of classifications but as the study of the development of 

 form and function in suitable types of plant and animal life, leading up to a 

 study of how the human body is built up and how it works. Such instruction 

 in biology and elementary physiology, if properly carried out, might well 

 provide the basis for a right attitude to many social problems.' 



' Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research for the year 1922-1923. Grants to Individuals.' H.M. Stationery Office, 

 London. 



P. 4. ' It is common knowledge that there is at present a considerable body 

 of chemists unemployed, and the number of students who have recently 

 graduated in chemistry is so large that many of them cannot hope to obtain 

 satisfactory scientific employment, including teaching employment, in the 

 near future. . . . On the other hand, there are openings for well-trained 

 biologists and physicists, and we should be glad to be able to recommend 

 allowances to more students to be trained in these subjects. The remedy for 

 this state of affairs must be sought at the undergraduate stage ; at the post- 

 graduate stage it is too late. We earnestly invite the attention of all who 

 are responsible for the direction of undergraduate studies to the enormous 

 importance of considering, in the interests of the nation as well as of the 

 students themselves, the prospects of employment which different branches 

 of scientific study offer.' 



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