538 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 118 



science work in the State, contended that 

 poor work in science is better than none at 

 all. If we are ever to have good science 

 teaching we must first begin. 



There have been many sins committed 

 under the head of 'teaching observation.' 

 We are learning that one may be a verj^ 

 good observer in lines in which he is inter- 

 ested, but very unobservant in other lines. 

 We must not expect piore of the children 

 than of ourselves. Observation is only 

 good when you have some use for it, when 

 you are looking for something to relate to 

 something else. This is scientific observa- 

 tion. 



Dr. Frank Baker, of the University of 

 Georgetown and Superintendent of the 

 National Zoological Park in Washington, 

 remarked that the teaching of science in 

 the schools of Washington, D. C, begins 

 in the low grades, children being taught to 

 observe common objects of biological inter- 

 est, note their parts and describe them. 

 They are often taken out upon excursions 

 into the country to observe the geological 

 formations, the plants and the animals. 

 The Zoological Park, free to the public, is 

 much used for this purpose. He also re- 

 marked upon the ethical bearings of science 

 teaching. 



Dr. Herbert Williams, of the University 

 of Buffalo, was one of the few represent- 

 atives of the medical schools of the State 

 who were present. He thought that 

 teachers in medical schools might have at- 

 tended these meetings with much profit. 

 Too little thought is given to methods of 

 teaching, even in medical schools of the 

 highest standing. He was delighted with 

 the prominence given to laboratory work. 

 Medical schools are constantly giving more 

 time and increasing facilities to laboratory 

 woi'k. But, after all, this can include only 

 a part of the field to be covered. The pupil 

 can verify some of the facts given him to 

 study, but the major part must still be 



learned outright and taken for granted. 

 Yet laboratory work covering part of the 

 ground studied gives a more concrete idea 

 of the whole and makes the student feel 

 more certain of the realness of what he 

 learns second hand. 



He was astonished that no one else 

 seemed to have met with the difficulty that 

 he had felt most keenly. Though he had 

 the necessary laboratory equipment and an 

 earnest, intelligent class of students, he 

 found it very difficult to teach the large 

 numbers that came to him — twenty-five to 

 fifty at a time. Even with the help of two 

 or three assistants he found it impossible 

 to assure himself that every one of his 

 pupils saw things correctly with the micro- 

 scope and appreciated what he was looking 

 at. Suppose a class is studying the amoeba. 

 The practical difficulties of showing the 

 amoeba to each of fifty students are great. 

 If they are beginners you may use up an 

 afternoon in finding amcebas for each of 

 fifty students and in distinguishing them 

 from air bubbles, bits of dirt, and all the in- 

 numerable living things seen in stagnant 

 water, to say nothing of having your stu- 

 dents interpret the object correctly after 

 they have found it. 



More time is needed for science work, 

 and smaller classes, and he believed medi- 

 cal schools were trying to teach their stu- 

 dents too much, but at present the situation 

 must be met as practically as possible. The 

 conditions in the high schools must often be 

 very much the same in these respects as in 

 the medical colleges, and it is surprising 

 that high school teachers have not been 

 more impressed with these difficulties. 



Dr. Charles J. Walch, of Syracuse, spoke 

 of the successful work in nature study in 

 the Syracuse kindergartens, where the 

 children study in their own gardens the de- 

 velopment and growth of different plants. 

 He warmly endorsed Mrs. Gage's senti- 

 ments. 



