River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1920-12-02
From The New York Times

The moving picture has made its
way into the public school system;
not as sporadic and occasional lee
ture auxiliary, but as part of the
regular curriculum, and biology, ge-
ography and other subjects will be
taught through the use of the screen.
This step on the part Of the Board
of Education has aroused graet deal
of comment among educators gener-
ally" said T. K. Peters, motion pic
ture expert, in his office at 105 West
Forty-frst street to Times reporter
yesterday. ut is certainly revolution
airy. New York has stepped out of its
conservative shell in inaugurating
this new branch of teaching, which is
a startling departure from all cut
and-dried methods. New York is the
first city in the world to inaugurate
this method of visual instruction as
regular part Of the school curricu-
lum."
At Public School No. 60, which is at
Hester and Essex streets, 500 of the
lower east side youngsters were in
initiated into the mysteries of biology
the other day by means of films which
Mr.. Peters had prepared. The work
will begin with ten schools, and later
the list will be greatly extended. The
courses ere organized film courses,
not just picture here and there, but
regular classroom lessons, correlating
with the standard syllabus of the
Board of Education.
The material for the pictures used
in biology lessons is gathered from
far and near, as "near" as city mu-
seums and the aquarium and botanical
and geological gardens, as star" as
distant India. In one of the reels
shown last Wednesday to 800 children
in P. S. As, in the Bronx, all the
snakes were handled by east Indians,
professional snake charmers, and
| these particular parts of the reel were
taken in India. The fangs of the In
dian adder were displayed by the
| Hindu, who opened and held extended
the mouth of the snake, exposing the
fangs, like sharp hollow needles. Sci
entifically made working models of
the skeleton of the adder's head NOV.
ed on the screen to show the actual
method of ejecting poison from the
venom sacks, as pfacticed by the
snake. The children learned that
most snakes have teeth. A non-poi-
sonous adder and other snakes were
also shown.
Interests The Children
With the first appearance of
snake on the screen there was gen.
eral access of tension throughout the
audience. 1t was possible to perceive
this prejudice giving way step by
step to an intelligent interest in the
snake, his construction, his marvellous
system Of locomotion, his balancing
power and strength. A RATHER slid
along tight rope, obviously balanc-
ing himself, again, looped vertically
around more slender rope, the snake
raised himself into the air.
Under the general title of "The
Adoption of Animals to Environ
ment," the praying mantis were
shown among grasses, the insects
hardly distinguishable until they sat
up and folded their front legs in the
attitude which had gained them their
name. Scorpians, earwigs, and spi-
ders followed in succession on the
screen, the owl blinked rapidly to
show his third eyeiid and the children,
warned by the caption that Mr.. Owl
was so equipped, murmure d,
Where ?" where? ?" "Oh, see it,"
in small voices which indicated that
they were so interested that they were
hardly conscious that they had spok-
en-.
The screen showed the owl with ex-
tended wings and the caption slid into
the receptive small minds the fact of
the absolute silent flight of the OWLS
wings. The lightning-like dart of the
toad's tongue, on which it depends for
insects and worms, flashed on the |
screen. The caddis worm whipped out |
and nipped his prey and then appear
ed to dissolve into his protective back
ground.
In the vegetable kingdom. the sem
sitive plant, mimosa pudica, was
shown at rest, and again folding up
its leaves, like the leaves Of a fan,
upon being touched with the point Of |
a pencil. Roses opened from bud to
full poisoning flower.
These pictures of unfolding flowers
show in a very short space Of time
what may have required days actually
to occur, said Mr.. Peters, explaining