Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-03-10
Science for Children.


Science for Children. q
A writer in Nature offers some sugges- u
tons concerning scientific teaching for =
children. He says:
"The schoolmasters Of the present day e 9,
may be divided into two categories: those u
who teach, and those who hear lessons; !,
the latter class, unfortunately for the next u
generation, being by far the most numor- o
Ous The mischief done to the commuDi- u
ty generally by the shortcomings of inefss ~.
Gent teachers is too well known to ever .s
one who has pierced below the surface .
the great question of middle-class educ
ton. The difficulties however, that b
set science teacher in his endeavors aim
force scientific truths into the unwillir q in
and unprepared minds Of boys who ha,uess
been subject to the sway of these san md
lesson-hearers, can only be realized b4f
those who have gone through the task. -
~" The case of q senior science clas,rIs.
which has been under my charge for SOFIA
nonthe past, Will illustrate my meaniD
most fully. 1t consists of about doze e -
boys whose ages range between fourtee - ~
and seventeen years, and they receiIh.I,
twice q week an hours instruction t w:,,
chemistry and physics. The class ms : " - -
be divided into two distinct portions by ...-s
perfectly sharp line -Four of the boy 8A
have had the advantage of six or seve
years training under the Principal of tltural
school, who is not only ripe scholar, bs and
an efficient Teachers very rare colloc ne to
tien in these days. The rest have simp 0nhss
learned lessons all their lives. The foc.sss
boys who have been taught are as ments1 ~
ly distinct from the others as if they wei
different species of the sames genus. Tie.
first four are bright, attentive, wide AWAKE
+ 1vo nj thou - Is
actly what / neurological and clea
headed; they can fairly follow chain snpe
scientific reasoning, and reproduce nses
afterwards link by link; they hasgS.
Ja1s,n.;a,, oI.I o'ion az siae
being new to science, this power is nece.1.- =
sarily only just awakened they can COZ
meet and correlate facts and ideas, the
can enumerate series of phenomena nio,m
logical sequence; in word, althougn -. =
their industry and application are fs ansoa
from colossal, the task of teaching ther a.ss,'
the truths of natural science is compars. 4 ~
lively easy one. The other boys, as hav 30.
said before, almost form distinct menta 8 !
species. They cannot understand tn
possibility OF learning anything withou
the aid of q book, and the idea of findin.
out anything for themselves has never end the
tered their heads. Still they are far fronpect-
stupid boys, being all possessed of gootnttsd
average brains; yet their faculties havJotei
not merely been allowed to remain undese fo'
veloped, but they have been utterly en- vs sy
tangled, stunted, and stultified by wha
DR.. FARMLAND would call their previou!us
school, contamination These boys,
must be understood, are the sons of pa
rents belonging to the upper stratum
the middle class, and have mostly been tx.
schools conducted by university men with rita
honorable initials appended to thei,t M
in fact, who are scholarstsrss
but emphatically not teachers. TheiSstio,
great fault is total want Of ments n. t,
method, without which the greatest brai
is as naught. They are at home in Virg
scholars; they have been through e. ~
cid and can work moderately difficult a.nsek,
gebraic problems in certain mechanics,
fashion they are well acquainted wit
the leading facts of English history, an 1-0
know the exact position and population.
of Adrionople; but, as far as real mental T.
power goes, any poor boy, who has been y. ~
in national school for three years, would on
beat them hollow. "a
"These facts surely point out the abso- =,
lutte necessity Of beginning scientific train =; ~
necessity has not been sufficiently dwelt c G'
upon in the numherless essays, letters, "
lectures, and evidences on the subject of 1 n
scientific education with which we have Ut u!
been deluged during the past decade. oi
There seems to have been notion abroad :,
that scientific teaching should not be be- WI
gun before the age Of 10 or IA but why, al
would ask, should boys minds be allowed n ne
to remain fallow during all these years Ra
The minds of boys of and 8 should sure a ~
" be as carefully developed as those of IA VI
their seniors, and there is certainly no ~
means of pure mental culture 70 success - y
full as scientific teaching. A boy of this aCI
age should not be taught science 90 much 81 81
for the sake Of acquiring certain number IN IN
OF facts az of developing his powers of OBJ 70,
servation and reasoning. and giving q al al
proper tone to his mental faculties A %
boy of or Q takes morning canter of SCI
three or four miles ON his pony, not for !,
the purpose of getting over some 1000 y. ~.
yards Of ground, but to strengthen his 3.
ansoles AID improve lie carriage; his sci ~ ~
ence lesson should bean intellectual can -,
ter, taken with tine view to strengthening Gu
and improving his mental muscles and
carriage. VA
at MAJ be urged that chill lin
dren of eight or nie are too young for G
systematic sciencl teaching, but facts flu
prove the contrary An ordinarily intel inf
ligent boy or girl II this age ID perfectly ins
capable Of understanding the broad diff Ma
ferences between the animal, vegetable keI
and mineral kingdoms; that there are Ell
more gasses thar one in the world; that bel
some Of them are solorless, while others rib