BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 

 Vol. 31. pp. 375-382 September 30, 1920 



THE TEACHING OF HISTOEICAL GEOLOGY ^ 



BY HERDMAN F. CLELAND 



(Bead before the Society December 31, 1919) 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Handicaps in the teaching of historical geology 375 



What should be emphasized in an elementary course in historical geology? 377 



What should not be emphasized? 378 



The answers of eight teachers to the question : How should the Paleozoic 



be presented to students in a first j'ear course? 378 



Suggested methods of teaching 379 



Classification of the periods 379 



Relative emphasis to be placed on the study of vertebrates and inver- 

 tebrates : 379 



Labratory and field-work 380 



Paleogeography 380 



Conclusions 381 



Handicaps in the Teaching of historical Geology 



The first instruction in paleontology which most students receive is in 

 elementary historical geology. The exception to this rule is afforded by 

 those alert young men who become interested in the fossils of their home 

 region and learn about them from State and government reports without 

 first having received preliminary instruction. Some of our most emi- 

 nent paleontologists had their interest aroused in this way and are true 

 products of their environment. J. M. Clarke, Charles Schuchert, Ed- 

 ward 0. Ulrich, and Charles D. Walcott are examples. Notwithstanding 

 these notable exceptions, most persons who obtain a preliminary knowl- 

 edge of paleontology acquire it in a first course in historical geology, and 

 it is on the teaching of this subject that I am to speak. 



There are few courses in the teaching of which the instructor is so 

 severely handicapped as in the one under discussion, and the most serious 

 obstacle lies in the lack on the part of the students of a preliminary 



1 Manuscript received by the Secretary of the Society .January Ty, 1020. 

 This paper Is one of a series conoposlng a symposium on the teaching of geology and 

 paleontology. 



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