TEACHING SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS


CHEMISTRY IS WELL ADVERTISED

 SECTION 6. THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY
 Chemistry is already well advertised to the students who en-
roll in the subject's classes. Its wonders have been emphasized-
indeed, glamorized-through the newspapers, magazines, and
even the "comics." The chemistry teacher's obligation is to
direct this preliminary interest into the channels of true science
and to sustain it through the school year.
 As is true with other sciences in the secondary school, the
main purpose of chemistry instruction is to present the simpler,
more fundamental principles in such a manner that the environ-
ment may be better understood, and an appreciation of chem-
istry's contribution to civilization developed. The laboratory
should give such insight into the value of direct evidence as to
impress the student with experiment as fundamental to the
scientific method. Applications of chemistry should be those
the student meets in person, rather than those of theoretical sig-
nificance only.
 College professors often contend that high school chemistry
does not give that advance information which would be helpful
to a student in college chemistry. Teachers of the subject should
not be troubled by this criticism. It is not founded on any clear