L.— EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE 219 



work of the Senior School. The tendency to specialise on natural history 

 topics to the exclusion of many phenomena more within the experience of 

 young people is to be regretted ; they love to see things happening, and 

 happening quickly. Little experiments on burning and breathing, how 

 water boils, where the sugar goes to in a cup of tea, and a dozen other 

 things about air and water, arouse enthusiasm and set them thinking hard. 

 Some simple equipment of apparatus is necessary for such lessons and for 

 plant experiments. 



Animal Studies. — Compilers of syllabuses write glibly — ' Animal 

 studies : birds, fishes, insects, etc' I do not think that animal studies 

 are to any great extent practicable under ordinary school conditions ; the 

 treatment is generally encyclopaedic, does not set children thinking, and 

 the facts are soon forgotten. 



Need for Explanatory Syllabuses. — Teachers in junior standards need 

 simple explanatory syllabuses of natural studies arranged seasonally and 

 in good sequence that will provide a volume of fundamental and applicable 

 knowledge. We need more constructive help from our biological 

 friends than we have yet received as to details of instruction and which 

 will recognise fully the conditions under which the average teacher 

 works. 



Teaching at this stage demands more inspiration than at later periods. 

 Sound knowledge is needed for a full appreciation of the wonder and 

 beauty of familiar things. The teacher must be able to think upon the 

 same plane as his pupils ; he must neither be above their heads nor treat 

 them as babies incapable of thought. 



Nowhere can one learn the possibilities of science teaching as under 

 the untrammelled conditions of these early years. Almost my whole 

 faith in the teaching of science has come from my experiences in elementary 

 schools rather than from contact with pupils of more advanced age. 



The outlook and work of university professors, inspectors and secondary 

 teachers, in their respective spheres, would greatly benefit if they were 

 compelled to spend a post-graduate period in elementary schools, for here 

 more than elsewhere can the art of teaching be learnt and practised. 



In considering the scope of science instruction beyond the primary 

 stage it will be convenient to divide the subsequent school life into 

 three two-year periods : 12 to 14 years, 14 to 16 years, and 16 to 18 

 years. 



Science the Same in all Schools. — There is no reason to suppose that 

 for pupils of the same age, whether in elementary, central or secondary 

 schools, there need be any marked difference in the subject-matter of 

 instruction or in the manner of teaching it. The size of classes and the 

 school equipment may modify the methods but not the purpose of 

 instruction. 



Period 12 to 14 Years. — In the first of these periods — 12 to 14 years — 

 our general science syllabus may be : ' Earth, air, fire, water, the sky, 

 the green plant, and ourselves.' Under these broad headings the more 

 fundamental ideas of physics, chemistry, geology, botany and hygiene 

 can be taught. The experienced teacher will delight in drafting his 

 own scheme of lessons on a syllabus of such universal scope, but the 



