THE CHEMISTRY BDILETIN BOARD W p n E. DUNBAR AN^ ESTHER WALKBR, DAKOTA WBSLEYAN UNIVERSITY, MITC~LL,
SOUTH DAKOTA
The bulletin board may be made an invaluable piece of equipment in the teaching of chemistry if a little time and thought are devoted to its use. The material posted should be pertinent to the units being studied. Nothiig should be left up more than a week, and it would be well to leave up some thmgs of lesser significance only a day or so. This will aid in promoting a dynamic interest in the bulletiu board on the part of the pupils. The instructor should not alone attempt to keep the board supplied with interesting material. In fact, the students should be encouraged to furnish the most of it. If the students contribute freely to the board a lively interest on the part of the entire class is much more certain to result. The laboratory and class work can be more closely related by placing on the bulletin board material which correlates the two. This requires foresight and some planning, but if the pupils are aided in seeing the relation between the experiments and the class work the effort expended is very much worth while. Many times it is difficult to think of a variety of things to post, and variety is essential to keep the board interesting. It is the purpose of this study not only to give suggestions as to the types and sources of the bulletin board, but also to give a list of the possibilities and the sources of material which are essential in making the bulletin board attractive and useful. The Board Itself The bulletin board for the chemistry department should be of generous proportions in order to accommodate charts or posters. Two and onehalf by three feet may be satisfactory but a slightly larger size will be found to be more convenient. The board should be placed in a conspicuous place where the students will see it as they enter or leave the classroom or laboratory. Suitable bulletin boards may be secured from any good school supply company.'
* The following companies will he found to carry an unusually fine and complete assortment: Multiplex Display Fixture Co., 918 North Tenth Street, St. Louis, Mo. Art Metal Construction Co., Jamestown, N. Y. Kewaunee Manufacturing Co., 166 Lincoln St., Kewaunee, Wis. Remington-Rand Business Service, Inc., Remington-Rand Bldg., Buffalo, N. Y. E. H. Sheldon and Co., Muskegon, Mich. Weher Costello Co.. Chicago Heights, 111. 610
If a ready-made bulletin board is not available, a home-made one may be substituted very conveniently. Some member of the class who is adept in the use of tools can easily construct a board of the desired specifications. Or perhaps this piece of equipment can be made in the manual training department. A picture frame of plain design and suitable proportions may be used. A cork back is best but wallboard is also very good. Linoleum and soft wood afford other possibilities. Burlap may be used either alone or as a covering for some of the other materials. If used alone pins should be used in place of thumb tacks. Some textbooks (1) (pp. 147-55) offer other valuable suggestions and sources of bulletin boards. Material for the Chemistry Bulletin Board For student collection and preparation of material* for the chemistry bulletin board we offer the following suggestions: 1. Magazine articles of scientific interest. 2. Newspaper clippings of scientific interest. 3. Slogans concerning the subject matter being studied. 4. Placards of rhymes, quotations, or parodies pertaining to chemistry. 5 . Charts-valence, etc., planned and made by the students. 6. Posters. Stone (2) offers some good suggestions. 7. Exhibits. Although some are impracticable to use, others would provide interesting and usable material. 8. Jokes pertaining to the chemistry work, either original or applied. 9. Cartoons of scientific interest. 10. "What Is Wrong?" pictures. These may be used for contest material, and may be original or may be copied from the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION (3) and (4). The following items suggest some of the material which the teacher may contribute: 1. Clippings of a scientific nature. Poems from magazines which are unavailable to the students. Cart00hs of scientific import. Pictures of famous chemists.** 5. "What Is Wrong?" suggestions. See references (3) and (/). 6. Posters, charts, and exhibit suggestions. 7. Free material, exhibits, charts, etc. See reference ( 5 ) . S. Pictures from magazines and newspapers. 2. 3. 4.
* The Chemistry LeafEef and JOURNAL oa CHEMICAL EDUCATION contain a great variety of suitable material. ** For sources see Woodring, Oakes, and Brown (I) or write the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co.. Boston. Mass.
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
MARCH. 1932
Literature Cited and Selected Bibliography "Enriched Teaching of Science in the High ONCES,AND BROWN, (I) WOODRING, School," Bureau of Publications. Teachers' College. Columbia University, New York City, 1928. ( 2 ) SroNs. "Posters in High-School Chemistry," J. CHBM.EDUC..6, 153541 (Sept., 1929). AND LEWIS. "The Use of Drawings for Stimulating Interest in Labora(3) DIWOKY tory Technic." ibid., 6, 1523-4 (Sept., 1929). ( 4 ) ConnON, "A Contest for High-School and Freshmen Students," ihid., 6, 1785-6. 202&1, 22623 (1929); 7, 167-8, 436-7, 661-2, 8934, 1166 (1930). "Sources of Free Material for Science Instruction," Gen. Sci. Quart., ( 5 ) DUNBAR, 12, 5 5 1 4 (1928). National Research Council. Wash(,6,) "Laboratom Construction and Eauioment." .. ington, D. C., 1930. (7) , , H a m . "How to Teach Secondam Chemistry and Allied Sciences." Harr Warner . Publishing Co., San Francisco, 1929. (8) 1. CHEM.EDUC.. . . BEERY."The First-Year Chemistry Course." . . . 8.. 1781-816 (Sept., 1931). "The Bulletin Board as a Teaching (9) . . CAHOON. .Aid." . Sch. Sn'. & Math..~.28.867-73 (1928). (10) RAKESTEAW,"The Bulletin Board," J. C m . Enuc., 5, 1340 (Oct., 1928). (11) MONCRIEYP,"Your Ally-The Bulletin Board," Etude, 45, 498 (1927).
