SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL. BY JOHN L. DAHL, High School, Highland Park, Mich. The science notebook in the high school is a perpetual problem to the teacher. The solution of the problem should not be neglected simply because the notebook may be considered a matter of little consequence. The science teacher must realize, and must make his pupils realize, that in high school science work there is a great opportunity for developing orderly and systematic habits. The notebook is an index of how well this process is carried out. Science deals with natural laws which are in themselves inevitable in an orderly arrangement of the universe. If the teacher is slipshod in his methods as to apparatus, punctuality, notebook work, etc., his attitude will be reflected in each pupil. How often one can trace the mispronunciation of a word throughout lifeand escape from this pronunciation with only the greatest difficulty to the careless teacher, who helps form our habits during the really important and impressionable years of our youth! The science notebook is a field in which one can emphasize orderliness at the very outset. The science teacher cannot, however, fill the role of the teacher of spelling, penmanship, and English, and that of a science teacher also, and do all the work well. If all these features are included, some phase or other of the work must be neglected. It were well, therefore, if the science departments in high schools generally, could cooperate with the English departments to have the literary elements of the science notebook looked over, and thus accomplish the twofold purpose of scientific accuracy and literary excellency. In initiating a science class into the use of notebooks it is well to remember that the pupils are quite ignorant, as a rule, of habits of orderliness, of ability to interpret, of literary perfection, and many other desirable qualities which we would like to develop in them. (This statement is equally true of adults.) The following suggestions may have some value in making the teacher's work easier, the pupil's work more definite, and general results more productive of just those qualities without which high school science in general and notebooks in particular become valueless. Laboratory manuals, as a rule, are very excellent in giving directions; but for the beginner they presuppose, too much, the initiative which he lacks, for a careful record of results. The looseleaf direction sheet is, in the writer's judgment, preferable to the manual for this reason; if the loose sheet is used, care should be taken that directions be very definite. Questions may advisedly be asked which are very carefully chosen, very definite in their thought, and frequently can be answered in monosyllables or in a very brief statement. Such definite questions would bring a well-defined thought to the mind of the pupil and a very definite answer, and would eliminate repetition of statement and obscurity of the written record when detached from the printed directions. In discussing a difficult scientific problem with definite questions and monosyllabic answers as a basis, the manifold burden of spelling, literary composition, penmanship, and scientific accuracy would not be imposed upon the youthful investigator, nor would failure to comply with all the niceties of English composition remain a constant source of annoyance to the teacher who is obliged to review the papers. To find words habitually misspelled through carelessness on the part of the pupil is certainly not conducive to good nature on the part of the examiner; nor does poor penmanship produce psychologically beneficial results on the one upon whom the onus of looking over papers is placed. We may expect to have, therefore, by adopting the methods suggested for recording laboratory work, a very excellent way of lightening the work of both teacher and pupil. With the use of printed directions, correctly spelled words are constantly brought to the attention of the pupil; and if he sees them spelled correctly in the discussions which he is reading, he is not confronted with the demoralizing effect of a poorly constructed statement or sentence and a wretchedly written laboratory notebook. For this reason it seems advisable to have loose-leaf sheets with directions upon them which also have spaces for answers-in order to avoid repetition. The teacher examining such laboratory sheets, passed in periodically, will have his eye focused on the particular part of the sheet for the particular answer which he wishes to get. This arrangement will, therefore, save him a large amount of time to get the very specific results desired. The work of the examiner will be reduced a great deal for each paper, and one hundred papers may be looked over in a very much shorter period of time than when results are written in one hundred different ways, on one hundred different parts of the sheet. Moreover, the pupil and the examiner will have the assurance that every answer has been carefully examined and that the results are therefore more scientifically reliable for future reference. It may safely be said that most teachers looking over laboratory notebooks cannot afford the time to read every single word written therein, and this neglect becomes a serious source of error, often vitiating laboratory notebooks as reliable reference books later on. In this connection we should not overlook the value of a definite place on the sheet for the pupil's name, the date, and such further data as the teacher desires for his own use and records. The printed laboratory sheet will, of course, establish a geographical location for all necessary data. Now, a word about sketches in the science notebook. This is an extremely important phase of notebook work. Sketches have little value if they do not serve to familiarize the pupil with the object that he is studying. He may have ever so clear an idea of the subject, but it will not be of a lasting character. A carefully constructed sketch will serve to perpetuate impressions, thus having psychological value. Sketches also, if accurate, will reveal to the youthful investigator many obscure or concealed details. Therefore sketches have scientific value. But to be of any value at all they must be mathematically accurate. The aim, therefore, should be to attain accuracy even at the expense of so-called artistic appearance. Exact proportions in biological material should be emphasized. This can be done with the help of the rule, the compass, and other instruments of measurement. Distinct outlines are, of course, a positive necessity. Material should be as nearly perfect as possible and should be held in such a position as will reveal most of the scientific facts desired. Great care should be taken with labeling. Often, more particularly in biological work, all necessary labels may be given on the laboratory sheet and the pupil asked in class room discussions to label his sketch, selecting from the list of labels given him, the proper ones, and indicating them on the sketch. This has the advantage of permitting the pupil to retain initiative, and giving him correctly spelled words to copy. He will be obliged to use his intelligence to select the right label and his powers of concentration to copy correctly. Also he will not fall into the error of omitting important parts; for, obviously, those parts must occur in a sketch before they can be labeled. Such sketches can then be taken up in class en masse by the teacher, and each pupil can correct his own sketch for accurate labels. This will save time for all. This procedure, besides being a time saver, is a further means of impressing the relation of parts and the names given them. Poor sketches, like misspelled words, ungrammatical statements, and illegible penmanship, are demoralizing and should not be permitted. Labels, for the sake of tidiness, may be put into a column and to the right of the sketch, being connected with their proper parts by dotted lines. Copied sketches should not be entirely discouraged. Frequently such sketches are far more definite than an original sketch may be, and will economically supplement the original sketch. Like the plan of a house or the map of a geographical region, the copied sketch, when used advisedly, will fill a very important place in emphasizing desired details. If anyone has the argument that this method of treating notebooks in high school science work is destructive of originality on the pupil's part, and is thus liable to the accusation of fostering a lack of initiative and hence efficiency on the part of the student, let him ask himself the questions implied by the discussion given thus far. Is efficiency promoted by devoting unlimited time and attention to the consideration of secondary details, by allowing the pupil to neglect definiteness, orderliness, literary accuracy, and neatness? Can the average teacher afford the time to look over with the greatest care every notebook handed in, and thus certify its validity for future reference? If so, is the teacher's time, devoted to mechanical detail at the expense of his own intellectual and pedagogical efficiency, well spent? In a matter as vital as the science notebook let us adopt methods which will get desired results in a manner most economic for all concerned. PUBLICATIONS OF THE FOREST SERVICE, CLASSIFIED FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. COMPILED BY FINDLEY BUrns, [Note: Publications to which a price is attached can be secured from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., to whom remittance should be made in cash or P. O. money order.] AGRICULTURE. Farmers' Bulletin. 134. Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. Price, 5 cents. 423. 622. Forest Service Bulletin. Price, 5 cents. Price, 5 cents. Price, 5 cents. 76. How to Grow and Plant Conifers in the Northeastern States. 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