The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-16

is one in which a pupil may find real pleasure When the work was completed the attitude of the class toward this study had changed from feeling that It was a useless memorizlng of names and that map making was a device for filling up time and for giving work to students who were not inclined to use their bra ms to a realisation of the fact that geography Is one of the most vitally interesting eon.os oi the course.
 The exhibit was begun by Miss Gar dsner's asking the members of the junior class to gather products of different sec t-ons Uf the Lnlted States. in connection with their study of this country. The members of the class were divided into groups. each group being assigned given 1 section of the United States, with the in- 1 structions that they were to gather all
 material suggesting products ard indus
 tres of their Narious sections and all in-
 formation pertaining to them.
 1 Several pupils had friends or relatives | in distant states and to these people they
 wrote for material. In other instances
 they wrote to the normal schools of other
 states. explaining ther purpose in asking l for articles from those places.
 Those students who were assigned New 1 England obtained specimens of marble, 1 two grades of granite, several blocks oi i maple sugar, topacco and some sardines.
 A feature of their part of the exhibit |
 camp, showing the process of sugar mak- l ing.
 l From Chesapeake bay, the greatest
 oyster bed of the world the students re- l ceived a quantity of oyster shells. and
 they became interested in the oyster in- l dustry and learned more than they had i ever known of the extent and importance cf that work. Another exhibit from the middle Atlantic states was a sand table
 and card board representation of an oil l N eIl and a blast furnace of Pennsylvania. two of the principal industries of the sec ton. Baltimore state normal sent apples
 The group working on the southern states arranged a miniature cotton planta- l tion as being typical of the eastern divi- sion of the southern states. South Caro- lima having sent Sea Island cotton and farm seed. Near the plantation was ginnery where tiny wagon was being unloaded Close by was warehouse
 where tiny bales of cotton were stored On a sand table was a minute and ac- curate reproduction of Mobile harbor ! some of the students who were most
 familiar with that part of the state talk ing infinite pains to arrange this. Dauphln
 ls.xno, with it's tall lighthouse, and Fort :. Morgan and Fort Stevens guarding the entrance to the harbor were prominent
 figures The display from this section was naturally larger than any other and variety of products were shown, stu dents from adjoining states and from , every part of Alabama being able to add something. From Florida there were a
 branch of oranges, grape fruit sponges,
 corals and shells.
 For the western division of the south
 ern states. a sugar plantation was shown . and the entire process of making sugar 7 from cane was made clear through this representation Louisiana sent head or . sugar cane seed
 : From Hot Springs, Ark, diamond rock 7 was sent It proved to be curiosity and to call attention to the fact that even in ones own section there are many , things that are little known
 The group of students collecting ma . terial and information from the central states worked out a typical farm and l. harvesting scene. and learned more from ; their work with that than they had from II repeated recitations from textbooks. They u secured. also some rocks from Mammoth d cave, as one of the natural wonders oi . the world, and a canoe from Sault Ste Marie.
 = Irrigation was subject worked ur by the group assigned the Rocky Mountain states. They showed on a ', sand table the process of irrigation as T practiced near Denver. In contrast with II this modern phase of western life was d a real Indian suit It was lent fol the exhibit by citizen of Troy. Il Il was made of bison skin. and with Il l. was a culver for arrows and a cast ; for the Indian bow
 In studying Utah this group founo e that they had ample opportunity tc n bring out some points about which the
 class knew little. They found that the a people of Utah are very successful m | raising sugar beets and alfalfa on ir- n rigated land, and from that state they 7. were sent a sugar beet and some al falfa seed From Arizona an orange nd pafr n At this time it was of course easy tc
 turn attention to the Pacific expo ! sition towns. Golden Gate, the entrance :! to the San Francisco harbor, was s lshown on a sand table, and the fo- l. semitic valley and other well knowT u points in California were shown. e The detached possessions of the s United States proved to be interestins U subjects for study and representation e An Alaskan scene was shown in minia-
 ture a snow covered house standins IT among some scrubby trees, a reindeer
 nearby several men fishing, otner' 1t hunting gold and still others hauling
 logs to a sawmill. From the capital IS Juneau, were flower and piece O. l. gold.
 e Another group of students took th' IS Philippines, They showed an apacs Il farm scene, the abaca being the tre' l. from whose bark Manila hemp Il T. made The several steps in the prepa II ration of the bark and the making O g the hemp were illustrated by pictures s Little thought had been given to oh'
 | of the latest of our detached posses = sions, Porto Rico. until this exhlpl l. was held. Then those who were pre- e pairing this part of it gathered pot E Information and products from there IL They found that 1t is only one-louf IT teenth as large as Alabama ana ye
 contains one-half as many people, an 0 that the best road in the world crosse l- this island from San Juan on the nort ,, to Ponce on the south. The product 't they obtained from Porto Rico were . cocoanut, some sugar, coffee, clsars
 cocoa, and rice.
 Beside these products they secure
 by writing to the different sections 0
 the country, the several groups of stu
 dents of this junior class devoted
 great deal of time to study of tnel
 given sections and at the close Of tn
 campaign for geographical apprecis
 ton of the United States they reaii
 knew the conditions values. and indus
 tries of the different sections. The
 prepared booklets dealing with tncl
 sections, giving the important ract
 and something of the life in each. Al
 most every section was represented l
 some way on a sand table. Some wer
 shown in relief maps made with starcl
 wherein typographical conditions wer
 indicated. From every pavt Of th
 countrv were pictures, pOstals and rall