Trends in high-school chemistry - Journal of Chemical Education (ACS

In this address (presented at the dedication of the Newcomb Cleveland Hall and the Chemistry Laboratory, Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachuss...
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TRENDS IN HIGH-SCHOOL CHEMISTRY' DOROTHY W. GIFFORD Lincoln School, Providence, Rhode Island

IN

DISCUSSING current trends in high-school chemistry it is well to take a backward look in order to see more clearly the general direction in which we seem t o be heading. I must admit that my backward glance has been rather nostalgic, for, somehow, the problems which I faced in the first of my teaching years appear relatively simple now. I remember that I used the current edition of Black and Conant (and a fine book i t was), and that I began with the first page on the first day of school and proceeded to march straight through to the last word on the last page. From the accompanying laboratory manual we did 35 or 40 experiments. I can remember getting a little nervous as the last week in May drew near and found alcohols and esters (or the extraction of lead or mercury from their ores) still undiscnssed, but ir newr (wmrrrd ro ~ n trhat ? it was p~~nsil~lt~ ro give n rrsorrtnblr courv if i~ lrfr