Folding Magnifiers ideal for tool box, bench or pocket
Highest qualify lenses, precision ground and polished, made b y Bausch & Lomb, world leader i n optical quality a n d value. Light weight, extremely durable 1, 2 a n d 3-lens magnifiers ranging in p o w e r from 3X to 2 0 X . Ask your indus t r i a l supplier. Write today for tellall handbook end casta· log, "INDUSTRIAL MAGNIFIERS, H O W T O CHOOSE A M D USE T H E M . " Bausch & Lomb Optical C o . , 51431 Bausch S t . , Rochester 2» Ne-w York.
BAUSCH & L O M B industrial
Magnifiers
is your plant
a neighborhood nuisance ζ Nationally, their pro ducts were famous — but at home the plant was a nuisance to the neighbors. Odors from phenol-formal dehyde resins used in mak ing plastics caused repeated complaints. A BarnebeyCheney system was designed to remove odors, and recover solvents at the same time. The plant is no longer a nuisance, and over 2,000 gal lons of valuable denatured alcohol a r e recovered daily for use again. Consult us about your odor prob lems. Write or wire.
ΒURNΕBEY-CHENEY CASSADY
AT E I G H T H
/ C O L U M B U S 19, O H I Ο
In Conodo: BARNEBEY-CHENEY LTD.,
2712
St. Johnt, Cu«t»«c
SECRETARY'S Science T e a c h i n g I
Last siimmer, 2 3 persons met in Cambridge, Mass., for a conference on nation-wide problems of science teach ing in t h e secondary schools. Mem bers of t h e conference included sci ence supervisors of states a n d large cities, professors responsible for train ing and aiding science teachers, and a representative of the U. S. Office of Education. For four weeks, these peo ple met daily to consider this subject and to draft statements thereon. T h e results have been summarized in a 48page booklet entitled "Critical Years Ahead in Science Teaching" which should b e required reading for every one at all interested in this broad problem. The first printing of 10,000 is nearly exhausted. However, a few copies remain and can b e obtained from Elbert C. Weaver, Phillips Acad emy, Andover, Mass. The report is a condensation so that it is almost impossible to boil it down still more. Yet, perhaps the selection of certain salient facts a n d their pres entation here will serve to whet t h e appetite of some w h o have not read this document b u t would find it of interest. From a 1952-53 total of 6,600,000 pupils, high school enrollments in grades 9 t o 12 will rise b y 1959-60 to 9,300,000, or a 4 0 % expansion. By 1965, high school enrollments will total between 11 and 12 million, al most double t h e current figures. The number of science teachers needed i n the secondary schools will rise from 67,000 in 1952-53 to 84,000 in 1959-60. By 1965, this number probably will reach 100,000. Science is increasingly offered in grades 7 and 8 a n d this may enlarge t h e require ments for science teachers beyond t h e foregoing. The number of college graduates d-opped 3 1 % between 1950 and 1953 but the percentage of college gradu ates qualified to teach in high schools has fallen since 1950 by 3 6 % , or more rapidly than the total number of grad uates. T h e percentage of college graduates qualified to teach science has decreased even more, 4 8 % since 1950. Already t h e annual need for new science teachers exceeds 7000 and will soon approach 10,000, while a t present a maximum of 5000 potential replace ments graduate from college. A study of certification requirements shows that those for professional study in education are much more uniform than for science subject matter. In t h e C H E M I C A L
OFFICE
latter, there is great diversity among states. As a result, many teachers ol science in high schools are inade quately prepared for it and some have no real background. I n one large state, a statistical study showed that out of 5334 science classes being taught, 597 were being conducted by 277 teachers with neither a major nor a minor in any science. Among the recommendations made by the conference is one which con cerns us. It is "liberal arts and teachers colleges concerned about the quality of instruction in secondary schools immediately begin, in coopera tion with professional scientific socie ties and associations, vigorous recruit ment campaigns for secondary school teacher candidates, especially in sci ence and in mathematics." Of course, that hardly can be successful unless we, as citizens of various communities, do something about the inadequate financial inducements for teachers. The following two paragraphs from the report are significant: "It is important that our scientists and industrialists as well as our edu cators, become actively sympathetic with t h e problems involved in encour aging and training competent young people for teaching science in the schools. For want of a few thousand competent n e w science teachers each year, science instruction m a y neces sarily b e radically reduced in the schools. Or the instruction offered may b e such a caricature of science that promising students turn elsewhere through boredom or even develop a repugnance toward science. "We need teachers w h o have an awareness of scientific problems, who grasp every opportunity t o encourage an inquisitive pupil toward further study and investigation, who know how to direct laboratory work and student projects, and who have a de sire to make science classes a stimu lating part of every high school cur riculum." The report concludes with the state ment "When we consider how inev itably science affects our national econ omy and national defense, medioc rity in science teaching is not only in supportable, but perilous." This is the reason that t h e ACS and other organ izations are taking an increased inter est in this matter but it requires a like interest on t h e part of individuals in their local communities.
A N D ENGINEERING
NEWS
