Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-28

In considering the subject of science
teaching in the public schools let me in
the first place limit the subject to the
so-called natural sciences, such as phys
les, chemistry. mineralogy, geology, etc.
l make this limitation for two reasons:
first, because science in it's widest sense
signifies classified gnowledge, and may
therefore be applied to any branch of
knowledge in this day of methods. die
tionaries and encyclopedias of all kinds;
and second, because the group of the
natural sciences is in reality natural
one, in which the various branches are
closely knit together by many ties, in
which all the branches deal directly with
nature and natural phenomena, and in
which therefore the methods of study
might we'll have close similarity, and
any method well adapted for a single
branch would not found unsuited to the
others.
About the beginning of the century,
which is now drawing to it's close,
knowledge had finally advanced so far
that the medieval "trivium'' and qua
drivium" no longer embraced the sum of
wisdom; the natural sciences sprang into
existence and claimed recognition. Then
for the first time King Textbook found
his sway disputed, for the natural sci
ences brought with them the science of
laboratory, and the devOtee of science
pledged his allegiance to the laboratory,
and the experiments he performed there
in. He rebelled against King Textbook,
and set up a rival monarch, and COM
PEELED King Textbook to serve as his
Chief Adviser. But in the land Of the
"trivium'' and the older knowledge,
King Textbook continued to reign SUI
preme and his reign is still undisputed.
For the teaching Of the natural sciences
l wish to call your attention to the ma
ture method, which 1 believe to be as
important an adjunct to the laboratory
as the laboratory is to the textbook.
Let me illustrate what I mean by the
Nature method. Let me suppose that
we have class in physics, say in. the
High School at Bozeman. We shall take
them for walk through town and out
into the country. We come to little
hill and every one walks a little more
slowly. Now. why is that? Let the teach
er ask the pupils why it is that they can
walk over level ground more easily than
up hill. What is the physical law that
applies to the case? A little way off a
grove of trees is visible. Did you ever
try to count how many colors and shades
of color are afforded by the foliage of a
single grove. especially in the fall? What
is the cause of the differences of color?
Why does anybody possess color? If it
is due to that part of the light which is
reflected, what becomes of the other
part? How does it happen that ordinary
light which is colorless can be divided
into colors? The first time the class
meets a passing shower watch for the
rainbow, and point out natures spec
trum, and the shower will be forgotten
before you have told them half of the
wonders revealed by the spectroscope.
Now let us take class in chemistry
from the school right here in Butte. The
class is no sooner outside the school,
house door than the teacher calls atten-
ton to the fact that keep off the
grass signs are never seen in Butte.
Why not? Some answers: Sulphur kills
the grass" Well, where does the sui
phur come from? Let us go to one of the
smelters and find out. At the smelter
point out that huge kettle which
they call the blast furnace. and be
sure that the class understands that
air is driven through the molten con-
tents of the kettle. There is chemical
reaction on large scale going on in
that kettle. What are the chief pro-
ducts of the reaction? Copper and sui
phur dioxide. What are the properties Of
sulphur dioxide? How does it kill
the grass? If. you can find. sim
gle spear of grass within ten miles set the
pupils to watching It, and they will tell
you that as long as the weather is
dry and the ground not too dry, the
grass thrives. But If rainstorm comes
on some evening they will tell you next
day that the edges of the spear of grass
have lost their color; they have turned
ashy white. and are dead. What has
happened? Another chemical reaction
has occurred. and the sulphur dioxide
has been first Dissolved in the rain. and
then converted into sulphuric acid.
What is the connection between the
change from sulphurous to sulphuric
acid and the destruction Of plant life?
what are the properties Of sulphurous
acid? How can it be formed from
| sulphur dioxide? Such are the ques-
tions which this bit of observation sug-
gests at once.
the study of mineralogy. We shall then
instruct the pupils to pick up and ex-
anime every stone they can find. The
first one brought to the teacher is, per-
haps, pebble of uniform appearance
and color Now let the boys get out
their jackknives and the girls their pen
knives. and try to scratch the pebble.
If that is impossible. let some one ct
a large stone on which to break the
| pebble with the hammer which the
| teacher has brought. Once broken. ask
the pupils to look at the broken sur
faces. Are they smooth plane surfaces?
| If not, are they wholly irregular? Per-
| haps they are nearly smooth curved
| surfaces. generally concave, with re-
| markably sharp edges. In that case 1t