674 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 800 



the cray-fish. After the material has been 

 brought to the laboratory it needs to be killed 

 and preserved by proper methods. All this 

 means more trouble than the ordinary high- 

 school teacher wants to or has time to take. 



It is true some specimens can be bought; 

 and matters are rapidly improving as more 

 collectors are selling zoological supplies; yet 

 not all the things needed are on the market. 

 Many of those who would teach zoology do not 

 know where to buy. The cost, which is con- 

 siderable, hinders some. Besides, teachers feel 

 that a good many local forms should be 

 studied, and this is true especially in the 

 high school. But where and how shall they 

 be secured? 



University a Distributing Center. — To 

 answer the last question and encourage zool- 

 ogy teaching over the state the department of 

 zoology in the University of Kansas has de- 

 cided to become a central supply station for 

 the secondary schools of the state. Many of 

 the standard type-forms have been purchased 

 in larger quantities than needed for the de- 

 partment's own use. A good deal of local 

 collecting has been done; besides, two expedi- 

 tions have been taken, one to the Gulf Coast in 

 1908, and one to Puget Sound in 1909. On both 

 of these trips, but especially the latter, large 

 quantities of material were secured for class use. 

 This has been carefully prepared and preserved 

 for dissection and demonstration. All these 

 collections put the department in shape to 

 supply all the necessary material to the second- 

 ary schools. A preliminary list of what can 

 be furnished has been sent to the schools. 

 Prices are very low, because of the excellent 

 collecting found on the coast of Puget Sound, 

 and because the plan of the department is not 

 to make money out of the venture, but to get 

 more zoology taught. So as not to discourage 

 small schools, small orders are sold at nearly 

 as low prices as larger ones. The result of 

 the whole plan is and will continue to be to 

 encourage and improve greatly the zoology 

 teaching in our preparatory schools. 



" Problem Solving." — The writer believes 

 that one important thing in teaching is to get 

 the student to " solving problems." Professor 

 Alexander Smith has recently emphasized this 



very much in the columns of this Journal.' 

 With this in view the writer has for five years 

 assigned to every member of the classes in the 

 second and third courses in zoology one major 

 problem to be worked out and reported on be- 

 fore the class. The question to be reported on 

 was always so chosen that it could not be 

 answered from any book, but required inde- 

 pendent dissection and observation. The sub- 

 ject was assigned early in the semester so that 

 the student had ample time to work it out in 

 addition to the daily work in the class room. 

 This has always given satisfactory results. 



During the last two years our department 

 has used in elementary zoology such a scheme 

 of " problem solving " that seems to me to be 

 worthy of a trial by other teachers. Our ele- 

 mentary classes are large, running from Y5 to 

 100 or more students. After the type form 

 for the phylum or class is done other species 

 of the group are classified by the student as 

 far as the order. For this purpose we have 

 regular sets of bottled and numbered speci- 

 mens which are given to a small section of the 

 class and these students classify them, giving 

 the reason for, or the characteristic used in, 

 every determination. Similar sets are being 

 prepared for the high schools, either to be sold 

 or loaned to them. 



After all the principal phyla have been 

 studied every student, as far as possible, is 

 given a different animal. He finds out what 

 the specimen is, dissects it, makes drawings of 

 it and in short finds out all he can about it, 

 and then reports his findings to the rest of the 

 class. As most of these specimens are but 

 briefiy if at all described in the usual texts 

 used, the problem is a real one to the student. 

 He is iirged and must of necessity get first- 

 hand knowledge by comparing his specimen 

 with the forms already studied. Only after he 

 has found all he can is he guided to additional 

 literature. By this plan the student solves a 

 real problem. He learns to notice in a new 

 way how the " types " are treated in the text- 

 books so as to get a plan for the arrangement 

 of his own material. This plan must be ap- 

 proved by one of the instructors before the re- 

 port can be given to the class. While one stu- 

 = Science, N. S., XXX., p. 459. 



