A TEXT-BOOK FOR FIRST YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOLS ADA L. WECKEL, M.S. HEAD OF BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, OAK PARK AND RIVER AND JOSEPH L. THALMAN, A.M. FORMER HEAD OF BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST CHICAGO NEW YORK ROW, PETERSON AND COMPANY PREFACE The history of the many attempts to fit the different special sciences into the first year of the high school is too well known to require comment. As a result of these experiences, the conviction is becoming general that no one science is adequate for an introductory course. In the last few years the effort to present to the pupil subject matter of interest to him, adapted to his stage of mental development, and at the same time of educative value, has resulted in the development of many courses in general science. These courses vary somewhat in the organization of subject matter and in the method of presentation, but all of them are based upon the conviction that the first year of science should be fundamental to all the sciences. In presenting this course we feel that it meets these fundamental requirements, first, in providing a ground work in physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, physiology, and physical geography; and second, that it has stood the test of time. It has been carried through about fifteen years of experimentation in which frequent changes in material as well as eliminations and additions have been made, until it has now become fairly well established. The course has for its purpose not so much the development of the subject alone as the consideration of that most important factor in teaching, namely, the develop ment of the pupil. We hope that the scientific information will enable him to appreciate better the natural phenomena going on around him. The scientific training should enable him to observe more accurately, to interpret more sanely, to understand the vital importance of every day affairs, and, perhaps most important, to train him to apply acquired knowledge to useful ends and thus become a better citizen of his community. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Mr. J. C. Hanna, High School Supervisor for the State of Illinois, formerly principal of the Oak Park, Illinois, High School, for writing the Introduction and for his untiring inspiration and advice during the seven years in which we have been developing this course. It is due to Mr. Hanna's firm belief in the general science idea that this work has become a reality. We wish also to express our appreciation for the advice and criticisms given us by the teachers who have been associated with us in the teaching of this course, especially for the valuable suggestions and assistance in proof reading by Miss Rachel Ott and Miss Ruth Williston of the Oak Park High School, and by Mr. F. L. Orth, Head of the Science Department of the New Castle, Pa., High School. To all who have in any way contributed in the preparation of this work, we hereby make grateful acknowledgment. A. L. W. J. L. T. INTRODUCTION Many sincere and intelligent persons have criticized the public school as an institution that clings too closely to obsolete aims and outworn methods. Some text books, instead of ignoring this criticism or indignantly resenting it, have attempted to meet it and to correct such tendencies as are really faults. This publication by Mr. Thalman and Miss Weckel seems to the writer to be one of the most earnest and carefully prepared of the books made with that aim. This fact, as being distinctly related to the most far-reaching administrative problems, may justify the preparation of this introduction by one who is not a scientist. Among the faults that have been observed in highschool science teaching, two have seemed conspicuous and at the same time possible to remedy. The writer is therefore glad to commend what appears to him to be a thoroughgoing and workable plan for eliminating those faults. First, the material presented to beginners was too diffi cult for them and was not well adapted to their need and their stage of development. Second, the attention of the beginners was for a year confined to the narrow limits of one or another of the fields into which scientific phenomena are for many purposes very properly grouped. |