The Penn's Grove record., 1882-06-03
How / Teach Elementary
Science.

Mundelia Code. It Is put on a
with geography and grammar, and q
syllabus is given in which mechanics
occupies a very prominent place.
This indicates the vslue set upon such
kind Of instruction by the department.
/ think I can trace the hardiwork Of
one Of the best known and most
highly esteemed of Fl. NJ. Inspectors
I am, as may be supposed, especially
grstified to find my favorite subject
thus treated. Ofthe direct encourage
ment given to the teachings Of nae
chanics by the London School Board,
/ can speak from pleasant personal
experience. 1t is no wonder 1t should
be thus highly esteemed. 1t is the
n subject above all others that lends
its aid, in the words of Gambetta, to
"that ogr which is the develop
ment Of that capital given by nature,
and which is called reason" / sup
pose all teachers have read Sir John
Lubbock's speech at York, as reported
in the Times. / felt a certain personal
interest in reading it. For o short
time since, one of Her Msjesty's In
spectors did me the honor 70 bring Sir
John and Lady Lubbock to Gloucester
Road to hear one Of my lessons on
elementary science. Well, l feel that
when I am engaged in this kind Of
teaching. / am, though in a humble
sphere, a fellow worker with those
men of mighty minds, who met to
listen to that remarkable address from
their president.
/ propose In this article to give an
outline of the first lesson, dealing with
matter in the three states: solids,
liquids and gases. The mechanical
properties peculiar to each state.
These are the words of a syllabus. IF
/ had the wording of this, / should
have said : matter its three states,
solid. liquid and gaseous the physi-
cal properties peculiar to each state"
In order that the teacher should know
what he is talking about, and clearly
conceive Of a plan for best presenting
the subject before juvenile minds, it is
necessary that he read Tyndall's
"Heat, a mode of notion" and espe-
cially Groves "Correla'ion of the
Physical Forces" besides the ordinary
text-ht oks of Natural Philosophy.
John Jones. come here; take this
block of chalk in your hands; tell nae
what you know about it from feeling
it. Ans. 1t is rough. Anything else?
Ans. 1t easily rubs off. Anything
else? 1t Is a square. is he quite
right, boys, in calling that a square?
Ans. No, sir it is a cube. Yes. Now,
shut your eyes and tell me the shape
of this (handing him the ball). Ans.
Round. Again, boys, is he right in
calling that 4" round ?" No, sir. Yes
sir. Some boy says yes. Why? Ans.
Be cause it is round, every way. 1t is,
but the cube is also square every way,
yet you said it was wrong to call it
square. What is the proper word for
this shape? Ans. A globe n sphere.
Just 80. Now, smith, yeu come here.
Put your finger In that basin of water
and tell me its shape? Ans. I can't
feel any shape. No, you can't. 1t has
no shape, and you cannot give it
shape of itself. See 1 place the chalk
on the table and it remains there and
keeps its shape. Now, / will pour
SON e water on the table. You see It
does not remain there it runs away.
What do you : ink is in that pipe?
Ans. Gas. l am going to turn it on,
but not light it. l want you two boys,
in opposite corners of the room to tell
me when you begin to smell ii. (After
a few seconds.) 1 can smell it, sir.
Yes, so can I here. a boy) 1 can
smell it. (Another boy) And so a
I. Yes, you can all smell it. Now, /
have turned it off. How much gas
came out, think you, while it was
turned on? Ans. This room full.
n deed? Do you know how many
cubic feet that would be? Ans. No,
sir. Well, then, this room is 20 feet
long, 20 feet broad, and 20 feet high
and 20 times 20 times 90 is what?
Ans. 5000. Yes; then how many
cubic feet of space is there in this
room? Ans. 5000. Now, do you
think that 5000 cubic feet of gas
passed out of that pipe during the
few seconds 1t was turned on? Aus.
No, sir. Yes, that is true. Now
boys, there was reslly only about one
cubic foot of gas passed out while /
turned it on. "a boy) Please, sir,
how could it fill this room, then?
All! that is just what / was about to
ask you. "a boy) 1t spread. Spread ?
What spread ? Ans. The gas. Do
you know of anything else that would
spread in this way? No answer?
WIN, suppose l bring q cubic foot of
water, say that pail full into the room,
would 1t spread all over it? Ans.
No, sir. How many cubic feet of
water must 1 bril- G into this room to
fill it? Ans. 5000. Aud If l wanted
to fill the room with chalk, how
much? Ans. 5000 cubic feet. Yes,
and yet 1t seems that one cubic foot OF
gas will I'LL it. A boy holding up his
hand. Well? Please, sir, | can make
a cubic foO' Of water fill this room.
You can? How? Aus. Make it hot
and turn it into steam. Yes, but then
it would be vapor, not water. IA boy)
/ read in one of our library books that
steam and water are just the same.
Yes; so they are in composition but
water In a state of steam is not called
water; you a turn the vspor into
water by condensing it. But you
have not answered nv question as To