ON SCIENCE IN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS. 501 



meetings are held at which boys read papers which usually embody their own 

 observations and are illustrated in their own ways. These meetings and 

 excursions take place out of school hours. 



V. Science Course for a Public Secondary School for Girls. 



By I. M. Drummond, Headmistress, formerly Science Mistress, North London 

 Collegiate School ; and R. Stern, Science Mistress, North London Collegiate 

 School. 



(Average time given about three hours per week from twelve years of age.) 



I. Agex 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 :- — 



(a) 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 begin 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 thui 

 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 scalea 

 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 unit 

 of wei£;ht. 



Experiments 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 natnrnlly 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 



