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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This bulletin was prepared in the 1941 Summer Workshop of the
University of Florida by a small group of teachers. All members of the
group worked on all aspects of the bulletin and much of the material in-
cluded is original material. Nothing'was included with which at least one
member of the group had not had extensive previous experience.
The State Department of Education takes this opportunity to acknow-
ledge the contributions of the following persons who contributed to the work:
"-Miss Mary L. Bostick, Caroline Brevard School, Tallahassee; Mrs. Annice Davis-
- Elkins, Tarpon Springs Elementary School; and Mr. F. Edgar Lane, Miami -
Edison Senior High School. Mrs. Bernice Ashburn Mims, of the General Exten-
sion Division, University of Florida, cooperated to the fullest in various
phases of the work and participated in the writing of the bulletin.
Mr. William L. Goette, Assistant Professor of Science Education,
University of Florida, and Dr. Charles F. Hoban, Jr., Director, Motion Pic-
ture Project, American Council on Education, Washington, D. C., acted as
consultants in the preparation of the tentative edition.
When funds become available the tentative copy may be revised
further and illustrations added.
W. T. EDWARDS, Acting Director
Division of Instruction
162741
CONTENTS
Page
Part I
Chapter One Overview 1
Scope of Bulletin 3
Role of Visual Education 5
Part II
Chapter Two The Teacher Surveys the Community 9
Types of Survey Activities 10
Survey of a Small Florida Community 12
Findings of the Survey 12
Problems Presented by the Survey 14
Implications for the Curriculum 16
Chapter Three The Pupils Take a trip 19
Kinds of Field Trips 19
Opportunities for Trips 20
Resources of Florida 21
The Land 21
The People 22
Their Livelihood 22
Economic Development 23
A Cross Section of Florida 24
Development of New Patterns 25
Some Field Trips for Florida Schools 26
A Snow Trip in Florida 29
A Visit to St. Augustine 30
A Community Project in School Beautification 31
Field Study of the Tung Oil Industry 34
A Visit to the Greek Colony at Tarpon Springs 38
Administrative Problems of the Field Trip 41
Teaching Technique 43
Part III
Chapter Four Motion Picturos in the School 45
Differences Between School and Theatrical Films 46
Uses and Values of Films in the Curriculum 47
A First Grade Unit on Pets 47
A Sixth Grade Safety Unit 50
A Unit on Juvenile Delinquency. .53
Some Principles of Film Use 55
Free Films and Auditorium Use 60
Selection and Evaluation 61
Motion Picture Appraisal 63
Sources of Films 64
Projection Equipment, Its Selection and Use 66
Selection of Projection Equipment 66
Operation of Projectors 67
Illumination and Projection 69
Chapter Five Still Pictures 73
Use of Pictures 75
Mounting and Filing Pictures 79
STypes of Equipment for Still Picture Projection 82
Chapter One
OVERVIEW
Teachers have no seven-league boots with which to step down from the
philosophy 6f the curriculum to its practical, everyday problems in the class-
room, but step down they must, for the curriculum exists not in bulletins but
in the experiences of children, guided and directed by the school. The teacher
must understand not only what abilities are to be developed in children and what
behavior changes are to be brought about, but also how these abilities are to be
developed and how these changes are to be brought about. She must be concerned
with materials and methods best adapted to providing the kinds of experiences
essential to the development of well-informed, thinking, adapting, and self-
controlled boys and girls, men and women. From the teacher's point of view
curriculum planning ultimately reduces itself to the wise selection and use of
materials and methods that provide a stimulating environment conducive to pupil
growth in carefully plotted stages and directions.
Hitherto, materials have been limited largely to adopted textbooks,
the blackboard, an odd map or globe, a workbook here and there, and writing
pad and pencil; and methods of teaching have frequently consisted in prescribing
a textbook assignment, providing choral drill in tool subjects, and holding
pupils rigorously accountable for the textbook assignment and the skills that
were to be acquired through drill.
Psychological study has thrown new light on the nature of child growth
and development, and on the kinds of experiences that impede or facilitate
this growth. New developments in curriculum thinking and planning, and new
concepts of educational objectives have wrought profound changes in concepts
of the role of education and its social function, and have thrust new and
heavy responsibilities on the school. It is no longer sufficient that schools
prepare a chosen few for college entrance; they must prepare the many for life
in a perplexed world and a democratic United States. A curriculum bound by the
textbook and limited largely to verbal experiences of one sort or another fails
to prepare pupils for the responsibilities, social and personal, that face them
on leaving school, or to nurture in them the intellectual curiosity and the
disciplined mental abilities that are required for successful adjustment in a
modern world of science, industry, urban living, and conflicting ideologies.
Other materials and procedures, more directly related to social dynamics and
active participation in learning and adjusting processes, must be introduced
if educational experiences are to have depth of moaning and breadth of signifi-
ccnce to life as it is and should be lived.
It is the function of this bulletin to examine some of those materials
and methods that fall under the general term of visual education and supply
experiences basic to the development of verbal abilities, higher mental processes,
attitudes and appreciations and social meanings stressed in newer curriculum devel-
opments. Consideration of those materials and methods apart from specific subjects
in the curriculum or specific application to scope and sequence is not meant to
separate visual education from the curriculum, to argue it as an appendage to the
textbook, or to advocate it vs the whole of all oduc9tion. A separate bulletin
on visual education has been prepared on the assumptions thot these materials
and methods are basic to the curriculum at all levels and that their use involves
-2-
peculiar problems related to the nature of the materials and their effective use
within any curriculum organization.
Much confusion hes resulted from the assumption that materials and
methods cannot or should not be considered apart from the specific situation
of their use. Even the chameleon that changes its color to match its environ-
ment remains a chameleon regardless of its color changes. Insistence that
materials and methods be considered only in relation to the situation of their
use may involve disastrous failure to discriminate the nature of materials,
the peculiar kinds of experiences they provide in the curriculum, the values of
these experiences in the educational process, the relation of these to other
experiences, and the importance of various kinds of experiences in the attain-
ment of complex and intangible objectives of education. Intelligent selection
of specific materials and methods in terms of any teaching situation involves
a prior understanding of the function of these materials and of their appro-
priateness to the specific situation.
Scope of Bulletin
In its entirety, visual education includes the use of community
resources, field trips, museum materials, still and motion pictures, and graphic
materials such as maps, globes, charts and graphs. Each of these involves a
progression from a study of a complete situation in its natural setting through
study of objects apart from their natural environment, pictorial representation
of situations, and line abstractions of quantitative or spatial relations.
Psychologically, each of these is farther removed from the total situation,
each involves finer selection of fewer elements within a situation, and each
involves progressive abstraction of the elements from the complex setting in
which they occur. While each may be basic to development of various under-
standings, not any one constitutes the sum and substance of materials that are
to be used in any unit, nor does their use provide the necessary experience
for the development of all the skills and abilities that are to be developed
in the curriculum. No child learns to road a book by looking at a motion
picture, nor does he comprehend the significance of the western movement in
American history by studying a map of Cumberland Gap. Neither does ho appreci-
ate the physical difficulties of transportation and their relation to economic
development of South America by disposing of the majestic and forbidding Andes
in the simple and unombollishod statement in his geography book that "Across
the Andes lies Peru." It takes more than one swallow to make a summer, and it
takes more than one kind of oxperionce to make a curriculum. Books, field
trips, motion pictures, still pictures, maps, discussion, creative activities--
all those belong in the curriculum, yet each performs a different psychological
function in convoying experiences and meanings.
It is not possible to examine in detail the entire range of visual
materials and procedures in this publication, nor to discuss various psycho-
logical aspects of their use. Time at the disposal of teachers who have
worked on the bulletin made it necessary to limit the typos of visual
materials considered, and to stress mainly the practical aspects of their
utilization. Only two major areas of visual education have been considered:
(1) the community survey and field trips, and (2) motion pictures and still
pictures. Throughout the treatment of those two areas, attempt is made to
discuss their values, to apply procedures to specific situations, to indicate
their relationship to curriculum areas, and to discuss sources and procedures.
Part Ono is devoted to the community survey and the field trip. The
community survey is considered in two relationships: (1) as a procedure
to be followed by the school faculty in determining the organization of the
community and its resources for the curriculum at various points and in
relation to various subjects, and (2) as a procedure to be adapted to
community study, either in whole or in part, as an area of the core cur-
riculum in the elcmontary and the high school. The field trip is discussed
as a procedure to be followed by pupils in study of the environment or
various problems in relation to their application either within the community
or within travelling distance of it.
Not every school in Florida can afford the equipment necessary for
slide and motion picture projection, but there exist within very community
and within easy transportation range of every school many situations that
can be visited and studied first hand by the school. The school journey or
field trip and the community survey arc within the gracp of every school
and provide the least expensive, nnd often the most effective procedures
in a visual education program, and make of the curriculum a living series of
meaningful experiences. Not the least important outcome of an organized
program involving field trips and community surveys is the rapport that is
established between the school and other agencies of the community, and
the closer relationship between various community agencies and the school
in the educational program of the school. The well planned utilization of
community resources an' study of community organization and problems by
the school can be one of its best public relations programs, resulting not
only in enriched and meaningful ox-oriencoe for the students but also in
increased popular support of the school program. On the other hand, much
tino can be wasted and much mi understanding of what the school is doing
can result from poor planning, failure to make the advance arrangements with
the places visited, neglect to take parents and community groups into the
program, and lack of integration of the trips and surveys with other phases
of the curriculum.
What is a community survey? Why should it be made? What procedures
should be followed? What problems does it load to? What kinds of trips can
be takcn by school groups? How should these trips be planned? What procedures
should be followed? How may trips be integrated into the curriculum? What
administrative problems must be overcome? These are the practical questions
that must be considered in developing effective use of the field trip and
the community survey in the curriculum.
In the field trip, some part of the environment is studied by the
school in relationship to some larger problem with which the group is presently
concerned. For example, a group may be studying problems related to public
health. In the course of this study the ouostion may arise as to the sanitary
measures taken in the preparation of foods. A well-timed visit to the nearby
bakery or the dairy will provide first hand experience in actual situations
where various steps are taken, various processes employed, and various
procedures are followed to ensure sanitation in food preparation, and
thus practically to guard one phase of public health. In this case, the
field trip is one of a series of experiences within a large unit of study.
It does not, in itself, constitute the unit nor is the place visited the
subject of major concern in the unit. Sanitary measures in one dairy or
in one bakery are not all of sanitation, nor is sanitation the only phase of
public health. The field trip provides one kind of experience in the unit;
many other kinds of experiences are also essential. Other trips may be taken,
reference books and bulletins may be consulted, discussions may be held,
experiments may be performed, interviews may be made, committee reports
prepared, and various plans and programs of student cooperation in public
health may be developed.
The community survey, on the other hand, is a broader and more inclusive
thing. The community itself, or various phases of it, becomes the subject of
study, and problems to be studied are the problems of the community. Hero in
the community is where the people live, whore their homes are, where they work,
whore they enjoy social life end recreation, whore they practice or ignore
religion, whore they govern themselves, whore they have courtship and marriage,
rear and educate their children, accumulate their wealth, transact their
business-hero in essence is where all paths of human activity and aspiration
converge and attain their unity in the individual. The community, the basic
unit of group living, becomes the subject of the curriculum.
In Part Two the motion and the still picture are considered. With
reference to both, attempt is made to indicate the sources of pictures, in
terms of both principle producers and rental agencies. Some teaching
procedures are indicated, types of equipment are discussed, and. problems of
ventilation and illumination are touched on briefly. In the use of motion
pictures, perhaps more than in the use of still pictures, the entertainment
attitude has been carried into the school from the theater, and opportunities
for getting the greatest educational values out of motion picture showing
in school are lost. Throughout the discussion of pictures emphasis is laid
on the desirability of considering films and other pictorial aids as
curriculum materials, to be studied by the pupils and integrated into the
curriculum with other materials and other experiences. Motion pictures
produced for classroom use are not necessarily entertaining, nor are those
produced for the theater necessarily educational. Conseouontly, a film
program chosen for its entertainment value may be educationally inconsequen-
tial, and a program chosen for its educational value may be poor entertain-
mont.
Many schools have acquired motion picture projection equipment at
considerable costs to find to their sorrow that no provision had boon made
for adoeuato darkening and ventilation of classrooms, adequate screens
for classroom use, or adequate funds for the purchase or rental of films that
contribute specifically to curriculum purposes and curriculum areas. In
order, therefore, to get educational return on the investment in the pro-
joctor, some provision is made for darkening windows in the auditorium,
sources of free films are canvassed with great diligence and labor, and
hour-long film programs are scheduled for the auditorium where all grades
can be assembled, and the "visual education" progr-m may be operated at lowest
per capit. cost. When cost of projector and of film rental are prorated,
per capital cost is reduced by such a film program, but when educational
value is prorated, the program may be an expensive one in time, interruption
of the normal flow of the curriculum, and cash outlay.
Role of Visual Education
In all its forms, visual education serves the purpose of providing
seosory experiences of one sort or another with the environment or some
reprosontation of it. Field trips in and outside the community, pictures,
still and motion--all these contribute to the enrichment of experience and
laty a basis for the development of intellectual abilities, attitudes, and
appreciations. Fundamentally non-verbal in character, visual education tran-
scends the limitations of reading disabilities and language handicaps, brings
the student into close touch with the living elements of the environment,
and enables the development of rich meanings that are symbolized in language.
It is well to remember that all higher mental processes involving abstraction-
concept building, derivation and application of principles, quantitative
-6-
thinking, etc.-are dopendent on a variety of experience with things and
people for meanings. The individual discovers a principle in its manifestation.
In other words, he abstracts a principle from the circumstance in which he
operates. The abstraction and the understanding of the principle, however,
require analytical study of the situation from which it is abstracted.
So important is this principle of learning and adjusting that it has
boon assumed as one of the basic needs of youth. Following the thought of
the report of the Committoe on Emotion and the Educative process of the
Amorican Council on Education,1 the committee preparing A Guide to a
Functional Program in the Secondary School discusses this principle as
"progressive symbolization."
"From his experiences, the youth generalizes. If among his experience
there has been too much of the generalized experience of adults in the form
of unrelated .gneralizations, precepts, warning, codes, ideals wThich the
youth is oxoocted to accept .without questioning or thinking, difficulty is
likely to follow. The youth is likely to grow into on unthinking, passive
individual. On the other hand, if left to generalize from merely his own
direct experiences, the youth is likely because of the limitations of his
direct experiences to crystallize his thinking too quickly and to form
immature concepts or judgments. He needs rich, direct, and vicarious experiences.
He needs such experiences at levels of increasing maturity. He nceds help in
organizing concepts he is forming. He needs guidance as he progresses toward
self direction."1
While this statement is written with reference to secondary school
youth, it is equally true for elementary school children. If anything, it
is even more true on the elementary level, for there the child learns not
only the basic skills of reading, writing, and quantitative thinking, but
also forms basic habits of critical thinking. The elementary school child
tends to view a situation in terms of its separate parts, and there is need
to stimulate growth in relating items of experience into meaningful relation-
ships. On the high school level, the youth tends to generalize too broadly
from a fow experiences, and there is need to stimulate growth in analytical
thinking, in examining assumptions, data, generalizations, and conclusions.
In other words, the elementary school child deals with things and noods to
grow in his understanding of relations of things, and the high school student
deals with broad and often unsupported generalizations, and there is need for
him to examine these generalizations and to test their validity against a
large number of experiences. Visual materials and procedures provide oppor-
tunity for both. They provide specific and realistic data from which relations
may and should be inferred and against which broad generalizations may be
tested. Thus visual education is intended to provide kinds of realistic
experience on the basis of which understandings may be built, attitudes
developed, and critical thinking may be applied. Because of their realistic
and comprehensible nature, visual materials stimulate interest, activity,
and expression.
IDaniel A. Prescott, Emotion and the Educative Process, American Council on
Education, Washington, D. 0., 1938.
2A Guide to a Functional Program in the Secondary School, Bulletin No. 10;
State Department of Education; Tallahassee, Florida; October, 1940; p. 74.
-7-
One of the trends in modern curriculum reorganization is the substitu-
tion of broad understandings in the place of specific information and skills
developed out of subjoct-mattor organization. Use of scope and sequenoo in
curriculum instruction in place of subjoot-mattor organization in terms of
reading, history, geography, arithmetic, and other subjects, involves
development of experience on a horizontal rather than a vertical basis. Under
the older curriculum organization it was assumed that if a child learned various
facts in history and geography, various skills in reading, and various operations
in arithmetic, he would be able to integrate those facts, understandings,
abilities, and skills and apply them to old and to now situations. Under the
newer form of curriculum organization it is assumed that if learning is organ-
isod in terms of broad understandings related to areas of living with which
the child is familiar he will develop understandings, abilities, and skills
out of a mooningful context and thus more readily apply them to other contexts.
Organization of a curriculum in terms of scope and scouonoo does not
relieve the teacher of the necessity of systematic concept building. To the
contrary, it increases the need of systematic and orderly concept building by
increasing the breadth and abstractness of concepts involved, and the inter-
relation of these concepts within any environmental situation which is studied,
or any problem being solved by the students.
Concept building is an involved process. If, for instance, pupils are
really to understand the effect of climate on living conditions, they must
thoroughly understand both climate and living conditions and their inter-
relations. Temperature and rainfall as elements of climate are comprehended
to the degree that they are extended in many variations and many conditions.
In other words, development of basic understanding of how climate offocts
living involves an enormous r..,-" of experience related to temperature and
rainfall in many different living conditions.
One smnll aspect of this understanding is involved in the discussion
of the st1dy of the tung oil industry in the chapter on field trips. The
"river of cold" that flows across the Alachua tung oil groves between Lake
City and the TEmpa Gulf jrinas /with it sudden drops in temperature against
which the tung trees may have built no resistance. As a result, sudden
drops in tomporaturo kill thousands of trees. On the other hand, the summer
sun of Florida hoats the soil to a temperature of 135 dogrees to a depth
of three inches, killing the bacteria vhich act upon the soil to release
food elements for tree nourishment. A cover crop between the rows of tung
trees is required to insulate the soil against the high temperature. Thus,
high and low temperature have their effect on the tung oil tree; the one kills
the trees and the other kills bacteria in the soil essential to the release of
plant food from the soil. Temperature and its variation affect the life of
the trees, and the life of the trees affect the yield of the tung nut from
which tung oil is extracted. These relationships become meaningful when
pupils drive by acre after acre of a tung tree grove, noticing hundreds of
leafless trees killed by the sudden frost of November 15, 1940 and observing the
cover crop of prolific crotalarias between the hundreds of rows of trees in the
grove. Effect of temperature on living conditions thus becomes more than an
empty phrase, but the understanding is limited to a few manifestations of
temperature on only a few kinds of living things. Neither do these insights
emerge by simply driving by the grovos and looking at the trees. Pupils may
-8-
see only' lafless trees among leafy trees and patches of green between rows
of trees. Observing thus provides for extension of experience, but its com-
prehension comes from explanation and inference. Visual education provides
opportunity for observation, but observation alone is insufficient to the
development of understandings. Interviewing, reading, discussion, and further
research are required to extract the meanings from what is observed. Thus
without definite purpose, careful preparation, systematic observation, and
resourceful follow-up, the field trip, as the motion picture or the film
strip, may have little educational significance, and the community may con-
clude that schools are wasting good time and money in taking children on pic-
nics or in running pictureo shows." Likewise, if certain concepts are to be
built up, definite provision must be made for the organization of experience
in terms of these concepts. It is entirely possible to make a field trip to
a tung oil grove without any consideration whatever of the effect of climate
on the tung oil tree. Pupils may observe such things as the sizo and shape
of the trees, their foliage, bark, methods of branching, etc. The effect of
climate cannot be inferred from any of these. It will not be learned
"incidentally" unless incidents are arranged whereby effect of climate is
involved. In other words, if effect of climate is to be understood, it must
be studied as such.
It is apparent that in providing "visual education," rich opportunity
is also provided for devolo-omont of observation for comparing and contrasting,
for drawing inferences, for gathering data, for testing out hypotheses, and
for reaching conclusions. Those are aspects of critical thinking. It is
also apparent that in providing these experiences, attitudes will be
developed toward. situations studied in field trips, in motion pictures, etc.,
and that those attitudes ." be based on critical examination of facts derived
from these experiences, not on hasty prejudices, individual likes and dis-
likes and other purely emotional elements that frequently shape our attitudes.
In the sense that visual education provides opportunity for undcrstondablo
and realistic experiences out of which understandings mayr be developed, it
also provides opportunities for development of attitudes and the exercise of
processes of critical thinking.
Because the situations visited or the pictures seen are so realistic,
thQV stir the interest of students, arouse curiosity, and stimulate a desire
to know more about what is seen in the field trip or in the pictures shown
in the school. One of the greatest values of the use of visual materials and
procedures is the interest, enthusiasm, and forms of expression they stimulate
in the students and the educational activities that result from this stimulation.
Field trips, motion pictures, still pictures, charts and globes are
not intended either to displace reading, the textbook, class discussion, research,
and creative expression or simply to supplement any one of these. Theor supply a
kind of experience quite different from reading and discussion, the kind of ex-
perience that makes reading and discussion more meaningful, provides a basis for
development and enrichment of meanings, and stimulates student interest, inquiry,
and expression. Visual education fits into and is related to other materials
and procedures of the curriculum; it is not simply added on without relation to
other experiences of children in the curriculum.
PART II
Chapter Two
THE TEACHER SURVEYS THE COMMUNITY
The community survey is enjoying increasing popularity in educational
literature. In various publications, from special bulletins prepared by state
departments of education to chapters in reports of national educational com-
missions, teachers are urged to survey the community. Results of such surveys
may vary from a simple alphabetical listing of parks, reservoirs, bakeries,
railroads, jails, grocery stores, water works, etc., which may be visited and
studied by pupils in various grades, to systematic data on the costs, operation,
services, and needs of all community agencies. In some publications, the pro- *
gram of the survey is extended beyond community agencies to homes and families
of the pupils, inquiring into such detail as food supply of the family, kind
and amount of insurance carried, number and kinds of rugs on the floor, color
and kinds of paint or wallpaper, number of closets in the home, distance of
the homo from the dress shop and cosmetics store, procedure followed in plan-
ning the family budget, how frequently each member of the family attends church
service, and how frequently guests stay overnight.
Back of any use of the community survey by the school is the growing
realization that school and community are organically related, that it is
the school's responsibility to educate children to live more effectively in
the community, and that the school can ind should contribute to the welfare
of the community. There are, howcvcr, two assumptions that may be made regard-
ing the relationship of the school and the community. The one is that the
school is part of the community and the other is that the community is part
of the school. On the basis of the former assumption, the school takes its
place along side of other community organizations such as the home, the church,
and also welfare, civic, industrial, and commercial agencies. It fits into
the pattern of the community, contributing what it may to its growth and improve-
ment. On the, basis of the latter assumption, the school supercedes other agencies
of the community, and becomes an over-all planning agency which sets a pattern
into which the other agencies may fit.
A recreational survey may disclose the fact that no opportunity is
provided in the community for playing bridge. Assuming that playing bridge
is a desirable recreational activity for boys and girls, the school may pro-
vide opportunity in its extracurricular program for bridge games and tournaments,
or it may provide for bridge instruction for boys and girls who have not learned
to play contract bridge. It is possible, howevcr, that many families in the com-
munity frown on card playing and that many churches in the community do not con-
done card playing as a social grace. If it is assumed that the community is
part of the school and that the school is nn overall agency of social action,
bridge tournaments may be established independent of parental or ecclesiastical
protests. If, on the other hand, it is assumo that the school is part of the
Community and subject to the same controls of other agencies of the community,
bridge will not be introduced in the school as either a curricular or an extra-
curricular activity.
This example is, of course, somow'hat of on oxaggeration, but it serves
to illustrate the consequent courses of action that follow from either assumption
on the function and the role of the school in the community. It also illustrates
-10-
the need to vioe the community survey in proper perspective, and to exercise
common sense in applying its results to the curriculum. The community survey
is a vital procedure in curriculum planning and development and need not
suffer from exaggerated amateur enthusiasm that often attends the introduction
of some new fashion into educational circles.
The point of view followed in this chapter is that teachers need to be
familiar with the organization of the community, that resources of the com-
munity should be utilized in the curriculum, end that, to a limited extent
students should participate in the study of community organization and problems
as a part of their curriculum. Certainly boys and girls leaving school should
be familiar with vocational opportunities that await them, or lack of vocational
opportunities that may necessitate their migration to other communities. They
should be familiar with the civic organization of the community, how the com-
munity is governed, what problems it faces, and what may be done about them.
They should be familiar with the natural, industrial, and social resources of
the community and its surroundings, the extent to which those resources are
used, and the extent to which they may be developed. They should know what
part the community plays in the economic and social welfare of the region,
state, and nation and the network of intorrolations of the community with the
outside world, if for no other reason than that each community is a miniature
society, and the health of a state and nation depends on the health of the
communities that comprise it.
Wise and effective i-tilization of community resources in the curricu-
lum and adaption of the curriculum to the needs of boys end girls for life in
the community.. require that teachers be familiar with community organization
and its resources for the curriculum. One way this familiarity may be developed
is through systematic survey of the community by teachers. It is the purpose
of this chapter to indicate how such a survey may be made, and some uses that
may be made of the results of the survey in curriculum development.
Types of Survey Activities
The most simple form of community survey is systematic tabulation by
the teacher of the resources of the community known to her. The telephone
directory, vith its classified advertising section, will be invaluable in identi-
fying and classifying those resources. The wealnmess of this procedure is that
resources tend to be viewed as individual items rather than as orr-inic parts
of the community. A teacher may list firehouses and grocery stores and the
postoffioo and the municipal building as resources to be used in the curriculum,
but such a listing does not provide for an understanding of the organization of
the fire department in terms of the community -its relation to the municipal
government -nor does it provide for an understanding of the relationship be-
tween the postoffice a.nd municipal building in terms of services of local and
national government in a community. Such relationships may be developed in the
curriculum, but they arc not a function of the simple listing of community re-
sources. This listing is more in the nature of a catalogue than of a survey.
Another type of survey involves the systematic study of the community
by the teachers in a school or by committees of teachers from several schools*
Such a survey may involve gathering data from community agencies and organizat
-11-
in terms of historical development, physical factors, population, industries
and business, transportation and communication, local government, social welfare,
housing, religion, health, recreation, library facilities, and education. Another
type of organization is thrt followed by the committee preparing this bulletin,
adapted from survey analysis technigue used by geographers. A bulletin provid-
ing for elaborate analysis of the community as a basis for curriculum planning
and development is available from the Alabama Education Association.1
This type of survey may be carried on by committees of teachers and
laymen'from other community organizations such as the Parent-Teacher Association,
welfare agencies, and similar organizations. A survey by committees of this sort
is valuable in developing cooperation between various community agencies and the
school and establishing closer contact and better public relations.
Finally, the survey of various aspects of the community may be adapted
to use with groups of students. In this event, the purpose of the survey is not
the discovery of resources of the community thot may be utilized in the curricu-
lum, but the study of various aspects of the community as a part of the curricu-
lum. A survey of vocational opportunities may be made by high school students
as part of the vocational guidance program of the school; a survey of health
facilities in the community may be made as part of the social studios program.
There are some schools in the country whore such community surveys constitute
the core curriculum in the secondary school. In Denver, for instance, high
school students may spend nearly a year studying food supply, health facilities,
job opportunities, or commerce and banking in terms of the community. A program
of production of sound motion pictures dealing with surveys of this sort has been
carried on with marked success as a part of the high school curriculum in Denver.
Core classes investigate community problems, gather data, develop outlines,
write scenarios, arrange for photographing scenes, and carry on other necessary
activities in production of films dealing vith community problems, and they do
this as part of their curriculum. It is not advocated that all high schools
in the country undertake a program of student production of films dealing with
community problems. This is mentioned here for the sake of illustrating the
extent to which aspects of the community survey are utilized in some high school
programs.2
Lime Rock Cottago Type
(Picture) (Picture)
City Hall Fcgro Church
(Picture) Picture)
Loading Watermelon Now Homo
(Picture) (Picture)
ISurvey Workbook for Community Analysis, Curriculum Bulletin No. 2, State
Department of Education, Alabama, 1937; reprinted 1939, Alabama Education
Association, IMontgomery, Alabama.
2For an account of the Dcrvor program of film production, see Floyde E. Brooknr?
and Eugene H. Horrington, Students Mako Motion Picturoe- Am-sr council on
Education Studies, Scri- I. Ho'K7TEG~-- 194
-12-
Survey of a Small lorida Community
To determine the advantages, disadvantages, and problems of using the
community survey in developing an enriched curriculum program, the committee
of teachers preparing this bulletin made a survey of a small community within
fifty miles of Gainesville. For the purpose of indicating how the survey may
be made and how the results may be applied to the curriculum, a general or
reconnaissance survey was considered sufficient since it involved the type
of teacher preparation that is being urged in this bulletin. Due to lack
of available time, only the economic pattern of the community was recorded
and interpreted, but the procedure followed is typical of the procedure to
be followed in surveying other aspects of a community.
In this survey there was no division of labor; the party was small
and the purpose one of determining practicability of the survey in the study
of a community by teachers or committees of teachers and laymen. Wore the
study to be made by students, it would be feasible to divide the group into
small parties of four or five each and assign a specific section of the com-
munity to each party for survey. In the survey described, only the approxi-
mate layout of the town was mapped. For a more intensive study, it might be
practicable to map accurately--a procedure which would involve measurement
by pacing.
Ao code was formulated for mapping the rural areas surrounding the
town, but notes were kept on the arrangement of land uses and the approximate
percentage of the whole occupied by any one use,
Findingslof the Survey
Much less than half of the land is under cultivation. The country-
side presents a hetorogonoous arrangement of small fields of watermelons
and tobacco, larger acreages of corn and peanuts (often in combination)
and still larger areas of out-over forest and land idle in rotation. The
few scattered homos in this rural area are of poor or indifferent quality;
the fences are in ill-repair--two factors indicative of poor quality soil and
unscientific farming methods.
The terrain of the entire area is flat or slightly rolling. Soil
differences are suggested by differences in crop appearance and other vogotal
cover. Oortain sections have soil that appears somewhat dark'and fortilo;
other sections seem sandy and infertile.
Map
(Figure 1)
Tho Community Land Use Pattern
-13-
The town presents no striking pattern of arrangement. (Soo map.) The
business houses are confined to small retail stores, filling stations, a bank,
barber shop, cold storage plan, hotel, and post office. One entire block
is composed of abandoned and tumbled-down store buildings. In no case did
a place of business look modern and prosperous.
There are approximately 200 rosidencos--the small cottage typo and
negro shacks. The negro quarters are located between the north-south highway
and the railroad and to the north of the few white residences which are
scattered along the main street. The school buildings are larger than the
number of residences in the town would seem to warrant. The municipal build-
ing is a now and well-built structure of stone, by far the most outstanding
structure in the town. The amusement centers of the town consist of a movie
house, bowling alloy, and skating rink. There are two churches for whites ,nd
three for negrooe. The water supply comes from an artosion well; the power
from an RE& cooperative. There is no cemetery within the city limits.
The only scene of special activity was the loading of approximately
twenty railroad ors ,with watermelons on the siding south of the east-robt
highway. (Figure 3)
In a hurried survey of this kind, it is not possible to enumerate the
different businesses and occupational groups, but the following questions
raised are little different from the general questions or problems concerning
an area which arisO from a more intensive survey:
1. What is the population of the town? What part white? What part
negro?
2. Since the town is obviously a service center, from what source
does it derive its income?
3. What are the transportation facilities?
4. 'hat are the cash crops, if any, of the rural area?
5. Is there any source of income other than farm products?
6. Since there seemed to be a largo percentage of negro houses,
what accounts for such a large negro population?
7. WJhat historical data account for the abandoned stores?
8. Does the cold storage plant serve only local needs?
9. How does the town happen to have such an up-to-date municipal
building?
-14-
In order to gather first-hand data in answering these questions, a
grocer, a filling station operator, the postmistress, and a member of the
high school faculty wore interviewed.
It was learned that the farm economy is based on a general farming
and livestock combination with watermelons and flue-cured tobacco as money
crops. The watermelons are sold in northern markets and the tobacco is
auctioned at a warehouse about fifty miles distant. The cold storage plant
serves local needs and excess livestock (mostly hogs) are marketed through
a cooperative marketing agency centered in a nearby town.
The population of the town is approximately 760 of which more than
half are negroes. This large negro population derives its maintenance mainly
from a turpentine still and three lime-rook mines about four miles from town.
They are transported to and from work in trucks.
Consolidation of schools in the county helps to crplain the presence
of the largo school buildings.
The municipal building (Figure 2) is constructed of native stone and
built with WPA funds--a fact which accounts for the incongruity of a modern
building in a town which seems to owe its existence to some momentum of the
past. Upon asking questions relating to the history of the town, it was
learned that the early prosperity and a local boom in phosphate mining wore
synonomous. When better phosphate rock was discovered to the south, the
industry moved out and left the town stranded. However, the demands for
limo-rock in the present defense program have inaugurated a new cra of
prosperity, based on the lime-rock industry near the town.
Since the interviews disclosed the fact that a large part of the income
of the community is now coming from the mines, it was thought practicable to
visit one of them. It was found that strip mining is practiced. A new cut was be-
ing opened and it was possible to observe the moans by which the top soil
is removed (Figure 1). In an interview with one of the mine employees, the
information previously given with reference to the present status of the
lime-rock market was obtained. It would be valuable to make an intensive
study of this mining industry.
Problems Presented by the Survey
While the reconnaissance survey gives a feeling for the general lay-
out of a community, intensive study of small areas representing each type
of development in the community is necessary to give a true picture of its
activities. For exomple, in the town surveyed it was evident that wator-
melons wore being loaded but it was not until the scono of activity was
visited and observed in detail that the number of cars, the method of grading
the melons (by scales on each car), and the number of men so employed could be
ascertained. Detailed study of the community then, calls for intensive methods
of survey.
-15-
Careful notes on nil observations should be made and questions which
arise concerning such observations noted at once, so that none of them will
be overlooked during the check-up by interviews or other means. Not only should
careful notes and maps be made but pictures of interesting activities, typical
homos or buildings ond unusual and usual combinations of activities should be
recorded pictorially to refresh the memory when the report of the survey is
being written.
Before beginning interviews, it is necessary to assemble the notes and
questions which have arisen and plan what can be answered by interview and
what c:n be checked by statistics, by maps, and by literature. Often a grcat
deal of wasted motion can be saved in this way. Then, too, the person inter-
viewed is spared from onsworing questions which might readily and more cffoct-
tively be answered by other means.
From all these data there should evolve a clear-cut statement showing
the relation Pnd interrelation the dependence of all parts of the community
to tho-whole community. The personality or character of the community is a
composite picture of all activities -'ithin its boundary ran reflects the in-
fluences of forces without the community. For example, the mining of rock
is a major source of income of the community surveyed. Not only the present
day mining which is geared to the defense program of the day, but the largo
negro population, the history, the social and civic life as well as all other
phases of the community's development are all tied up in this complex. To
understand the wholo, clear picture of each part of the whole must be
considered.
What are some of the problems pointed out by the survey? The economic
set-up of the community has been pointed out in the survey, but even this
study has not boon exhausted. Some of the followirng Questions might be
considered:
Aro the natural resources of the community being used to the best
advantage?
Is selective cutting being used in the forests?
When the present rook supply has been exhausted, where will the
mining interests turn?
If the mines shut down, what source of income will be open to the
negroes, constituting half the-population?
How will this affect the community in general?
Are there any foreign cultures represented in the community? If so,
what contribution have they made to the life of the community?
What provisions have boon made to safeguard the health of the citizens?
In what way may the home life be enriched by the agencies of the
community?
-16-
Are there adequate recreational facilities to moot the needs of all
the people?
What is the form of the local, state, and national government; and
what are the interlocking functions of those as related to the community?
How are the local civic organizations contributing to the betterment
of the community?
What public and private welfare agencies exist and how do these
function?
Are housing facilities adequate? How may they be improved?
How does the community communicate with the outside world?
What provisions have been made for artistic cxprossion--music,
literature, and art?
In what fields may a high school graduate expect to find work?
What are the vocational needs of the community?
Such questions deal with the individual and his place in his com-
munity and must be answered in whole or in part by cvory citizen. Out of
those and similar problems should come the idea of careful planning needed
to protect the best interests of the community as a whole.
Those problems of the survey must be considered from two anglos--the
school faculty and the pupils participating. The first step in making a
community survey involves very careful consideration on the part of the
faculty which plans to use it in curriculum construction. They must plan
all the aspects of the survey in the light of the questions that will arise
from it. In other words, this faculty must know in general what the lay-out
of the community is, how this layout functions, or does not function, and
what the advantages and the disadvantages of it are. They must know what
questions can be developed from a survey of the community; they must know
which of these questions can be dealt with in a school situation; they must
also recognize the questions which might be better unstudied--questions
which might form the basis for repercussions in the school and the community
relationship.
Iriplica'.tioa for the Curricul'm
Problems raised in the survey are problems that can be studied in
various ways throughout the curriculum, problems that are intimately related
to scope and sequence and to the organization of instruction on the high
school level.
Taking one of these problems, "How does the community communicate with
the outside world?" we can see how it can become a part of the curriculum a id
how results of the survey can be adapted to different units ond maturity
levels. Only one aspect of the problem, that of transportation, will be
considered hero.
'5: .
-17-
In the primary gradoo, pupils may study transportation in the com-
munity in a simple way. Children have soon railroad tracks and freight carol
on the sidings and buses driving through town stopping at the bus depot
to load and unload passongors, to pick up and to drop off the mail. They
have soon trucks passing through the community, carrying worcnon to cnd from
the mines, carrying slash pine to the railroad sidings, carrying farm produce
into tovn to supply the retail stores, carrying hogs and cattle to the cold
storage plant. All those can be discussed nnd the children can build various
language experiences around those discussions. They can go down to the bus
depot, inspect the passenger buses that stop there, talk to the driver and
the passengers, find out whore passengers are bound and from whence they
come. They can interview the ticket agent, find out how tickets are sold,
how much it costs to go by bus to nearby towns and places far away. They
can climb aboard the bus, try out the seats, open and close the doors, sit
behind the big driving wheel, examine the diols on the dashboard, discover
the gasoline tank, punch the tiros, look at the license plates, clean the
hoadlamps, vatch the driver start the motor, listen to it purr and break
into a roar, notice the change in sound as the gears are shifted from low
to intermediate to high as it speeds down the macadam highnz-; on its route
to the next community.
Back in the classroom they can talk all this over, read more about
buses and railroads, dramatize the problem, lay out tracks and move toy
trains and buses about, make up stop signs, direct traffic, paint and model,
and engage in all the activities that develop primary children; enrich their
lives, provide for expression and the development of fundamental skills
and abilities.
Higher in the grades and in the high school, this some bus is no
longer just an interesting machine thrt goes through town, grinding and
snorting, and blowing its horn end carrying people and mail. It is part of
a system of transportation under governmental regulation. Standards of
safety are proscribed by the state and by the company that operates the bus.
Regulations on rates, number of persons that may be carried, places that must
be included in the route, salo of tickets, kinds of lights, qualifications
of drivers, speed of travel, fire fighting equipment, smoking in the bus,
talking to the driver, stopping at railroad crossings, and on scores of
other matters that are of public concern may now be involved in this study.
Taxes that are levied on the bus itself, its operation, the gasoline and
oil that is required for its operation, the franchise to operate the bus--
all these are phases of the function, role, and operation of government
for the public welfare, phases which reach down into the community and
directly affect the lives of the people living there. Competition of
buses with railroads, relative costs of shipment by bus and by railroad,
relative income to the state from railroads and buses--those become olomonts
of the social studios that can and should be a part of the high school cur-
riculum of the town.
In the field of science, there are many ramifications of this subject.
Principles of the four-stroke-cycle motor are applied in bus transportation
as are the principles of combustion in the gasoline engine. Comparative
efficicno, of the gasoline motor, the stecm locomotive, and the Diesel motor
used in streamlined trains and in some trucks may be studied. The principles
of fuels and heat are likewise involved, as are principles of air currents,
friction, work, velocity, and other physical factors. Use of metals mja be
studied in relation to design and construction of various methods of
-18-
transportation--streamlinod trains, locomotives, trucks, and buses. There is
a tendency in newer curriculum development to study the significance of science
in everyday living without also studying the principles that are being applied
to significant situations. A much more important curriculum development is
the study and mastery of principles in their application, rather than the
study of principles as such or application as such. Relatively few prin-
ciples of science will be understood and applied to now situations if pupils
learn only that Diesel motors are used in streamlined trains without also
learning the principles of the Diesel motors which have boon nplied to this
development in transportation.
This is not to suggest that transportation, as on element in the
scope of the curriculum, must be introduced as such with nauseating repeti-
tion in every unit in every grade throughout the curriculum of the cormrsnity.
Transportation has been discussed hero merely for the purpose of suggesting
some ways that the curriculum con be enriched by a community survey, and
how the results of this community survey can be adapted to the curriculum.
It further suggests the many ramifications and the many activities of any
study of oloments of the cor~iunity. In this particular case, these ramifica-
tions develop out of the fact that the bus travels through and stops in town,
and that the railroad plays nn important part in its economy.
With the community as a starting point, the curriculum can extend
to a study of the state and nation; or vice vcra, with the state or nation
as a starting point, the curriculum cnn be brought back to a consideration of
the community. Suffice it to say that transportation is of little importance
apart from what and who is transraortod from what place to whore, under what
conditions, and for what purposos, and with what results on our ways of
living, and at what cost in time, effort, and money.
As a final note of caution, it is not prosupposed in this chapter,
or in any other chapter in this bulletin, that education consists merely in
looking at something. Watching a bus moa be a pleasant diversion, but one
may see only its shape and color, the styles of clothing worn by its pas-
songers, and the jaunty angle of the driver's cap. Reading! discussing,
interviewing, observing, experimenting, making hypotheses, testing these
hypothesos-all those are involved to some degroo in the activities sug-
gc;stod as outcomes or aspects of the community survey. All sorts of oppor-
tunities for development of skills and abilities of quantitative thinking
are afforded; all sorts of opportunities for language development, for
creative expression, for development of critical thinking and social attitudes,
of group participation, of planning, of assuming responsibility are involved
in the process. But existence of opportunity and making the best of the
opportunity are two different things. If these opportunities are to be
realized, definite provision for systematic experience must be provided in
the curriculum. An "experience" curriculum, to be effective, requires system
and order and planning and good old-fashioned school teaching. Every cur-
riculum is, by definition, an "experience" curriculum. The problem is one
of providing the kinds of experiences that are required in the development
of essential concepts, abilities, skills, habits, and values in growing boys
and girls.
-19-
Ohapter Three
THE PUPILS TAXE A TRIP
From the pupils' point of view, utilization of community resources and
of resources within traveling distance of the community involves going out of
the school into the field for the study of some situation in its natural
setting. Such a procedure is reforrod to variously as the school journey, the
field trip, and the school excursion. In this chapter, no distinctions are
drawn among those terms. They are used interchangeably. Some attempt has boon
made to draw a distinction between field trip and field study, but in essence
there is no difference between those two. Field study is a field trip cover-
ing a longer period of time and involving more detailed and penetrating study.
Use of the field trip is by no moans confined to the local community
in which a school is situated. It may involve travel some distance from home
and may vary in time from a few hours to several days or weeks. Among some
colleges, particularly in the summer session, there is a tendency to conduct
courses entirely on the basis of field study, with students and instructor
traveling and investigating over a period of four to six weeks. Among high
schools, the practice of taking a senior trip to Washington, or to the state
capital, is fairly widespread. But, as a general rule, field trips are con-
ducted so as to fit into the time period of the school day.
Many of the values claimed for the field trip are being validated by
systematic research. Particularly has it been found that actual field study
brings about shifts in social attitudes, that it provides experience in con-
sideration and solution of problems arising from individual and group partici-
pation in natural social situations, that it stimulates discussion, further
research, and language and creative activities, that students learn to get
along bettor with each other, that interests in many aspects of a situation
are stimulated, and that rich and permanent learning develops.
Kinds of Field Trips
The field trip may be short and simple, or long and involved. It
my consist of a short visit to the schoolyard or a journey extending over a
period of several days or weeks. There are trips for kindergarten children;
there arc trips for older elementary school children; and there are trips for
high school youth. Each trip may be completein itself or a number of trips
may be necessary to complete a study.
The most simple field trip--one that can be planned for kindergarten
or primary children--is one that has for its main purpose the identification
of the object observed. For example, a primary class visits the fire station.
They see what the fire station looks like; they learn that this building is
the fire station. They learn that there are fire trucks housed in the station
and that the name for such objects is fire truck. Perhaps they ride in the
fire truck for an extra thrill, and they learn that this truck or one like
it will come to help them if their home catches on fire. For this class,
fire station is not a combination of sounds but something real to them that
directly concerns their lives.
-20-
In the upper elementary grades, the trip to the fire station would
be handled somewhat differently. Older children can deal effectively with
the operation of the fire department. They want to know how calls are re-
ceived, how the ladders on the trucks are worked, how quickly the trucks can
got to a firo, how orders are transmitted to the firemen, and a thousand and
one other things. At this ago, children are also able, to a limited extent,
to deal with the function of the fire department in the community, its re-
lation to the safety program as a whole.
High school students will be concerned with still more complex aspects
of the fire station. The fire department is not only a safety device of the
community but it has other facets of interest. The cost of equipment, the cost
of operation, and the average cost of fires to the taxpayer are of vital interest
to citizens. Furthermore, the costs of effective fire protection are reflected
in the fire insurance rates of a city. Standards set by fire insurance under-
writers must be met before rates of insurance are lowered. To students con-
templating the choice of a vocation, the requirements of health and training
of firemen and salaries to be expected are problems to be investigated. Still
another facet of interest is the chemistry of fire fighting. What chemicals are
used, what theory controls the choice of these chemicals, what reactions are to
be expected from such use of chemicals, and what types of fires call for the use
of chemicals are all questions which arise. The theory of air drafts and their
behavior in different kinds of structure, in empty buildings, and in occupied
buildings are also questions worthy of consideration.
Opportunities for Trips
Obviously, there is a wide variety of journeys available to any school.
Science classes will find enriched experiences by direct contact with and
examination of native flora and fauna. Many sections of the state offer varied
opportunities for geological studies. In visits to radio studios or to free
concerts, music students find motivation for self-expression. A visit to a
home under construction in the neighborhood might be used effectively for
adding now meaning to home planning and beautification. In fact, there are
no city institutions or local industries that cannot be effectively utilized
in the school curriculum.
Florida is rich in possibilities for field trips, yet it varies enough
from section to section to provide distinct situations that may be studied
variously from one section of the state to another. It is the plan of this
chapter to describe the geographic pattern of Florida briefly, to discuss
some typical field trips that may be utilized in the Florida curriculum, to
indicate and discuss problems involved in administration of the field trip,
and to sketch the general procedure for effective use of the field trip.
Discussion of basic resources and stages of economic development in
various parts of Florida will enable the teacher to identify situations that
should be utilized in the school curriculum and that are accessible for field
study. Examples of field trips are chosen to indicate how the study of the
state, its people, its economic livelihood, and its relations to other parts
of the country and the world may be adapted to the curriculum. Administrative
problems have a common nature, irrespective of the location of the school and
are, therefore, discussed independent of regional geography. Finally, procedure
-21-
has common elements that make for the success or failure of a trip, and it is
outlined in this chapter as a final word of good advice.
BASIC INDUSTRIES OF FLORIDA
Tourism
Figure 1 Figure 2
Betting Bathing
(Picture) (Picture)
Citrus Fruits
Figure 3 Figure 4
Orange Grove Warehouse
(Picture) (Picture)
Lumber and Naval Stores
Figure 5 Figure 6
Lumber Mill Turpentine Still
(Picture) (Picture)
Resources of Florida1
Florida, the long finger-like peninsula of southeastern United States,
is the paradox among states east of the Mississippi River. It has the oldest
city in the United States, yet there are parts of it white man has never soon.
It is some 400 miles from Jacksonville on its east coast to Pensacola on its
west coast, yet on some of its southern keys one may look at the Atlantic Ocean
on the one hand and at the Gulf of Mexico on the other, While it is approxi-
mately 550 miles from the Georgia line to Key West, no part of the peninsula is
more than 75 miles from salt water.
Florida is a state of large area and few people. Five of our northeastern
states--Maine, Now Hampshire, Vermont, Cornecticut, and Rhode Island--could be
laid on its 58,666 square miles with little overlapping; yot its population could
all live, without crowding, in a city the size of Detroit. It has many rivers
and streams, numerous. lakes, and largo areas of swamp land in the south. It
has two distinct typos of climate (low latitude, wet and dry on the southeast
coast, and humid subtropical in the north) and a broad central belt in which the
climate partakes of the characteristics of both the northern and southern types.
The Land
Topography, soils, and vegetative cover also fall into three general
groups. In the northern part of the state the terrain is rolling; sandy loam
and the better sandy soils predominate; the forests are composed of long leaf
and loblolly pines and mixed hard-woods. A ridge flanked by flatwoods runs
through central Florida. In general, the soils of this section are poor, but
the hammock lands of the ridge are highly productive when properly fertilized.
The forests are predominately slash pine, sand pine, and cypress. In the
IThis section is based upon material contained in the following document:
Annico Davis Elkins, The Use of Sound Films in Geographical Instruction,
(Unpublished S.M. dissertation, Dept. of Gcography), University of Chicago,
1940.
-22-
Everglades (wot, level land) and prairies of the south, one soos monotonous
grassy landscapes dotted hero and there with small clumps of palms and tropical
hardwoods that give away to pine forests near the coast. The soils of this area
are composed of the extremely fertile poat and muck in the interior and of sands
in and neor the dunes along the coast.
The People
More than a fourth of Florida's people live in three widely separated
centors-Jacksonville and iaomi at the northern and southern oxtremotics of
the east coast, and Tampa centrally located on the west coast. In these cities
nnd in snmller urban centers, logging and turpentine camps, and similar rural
groupings, live four-fifths of the state's total population of approximately a
million and a half. Nearly one-half of this populations is engaged in gainful
work. Of these, nearly one-half derive a living from the tourist industry,
one-fifth from agriculture, another one-fifth from manufacturing, and the rest
in almost equal portions from forest work, mining, and fishing.
Their Livelihood
In south anc central Florida is found 95 per cent of the tourist
industry. The groatesu concentrationn of this industry is along the southeast
coast--the Miami area. A second center of concentration is along the central
gulf coast-The Tampa-St. Potcrsburg-Sarasota area. Both of these areas have
a more or loss ovcn distribution of tourist facilities--houses and rooms and
recreational accommodations. With the exception of a slight concentration on
the northwest coast between Pensacola and Panama City, north Florida's tourist
industry is negligible.
Gonoral farming with cash crops characterizes the agriculture of north
Florida. This farm area is inland from the gulf coast ind oxtonds in a narrow
strip from the western boundary to within fifty miles of the east coast. The
greatest concentration of farm lands in this bolt is in the western half of it.
The specialized fruit and vegetable production of central Florida is
the most important in the state. Production is heaviest in the northern part
of the area and gradually decreases towards the southern limits, where cattle
raising assumes importance.
Agricultural lands in south Florida, devoted largely to highly special-
izod vegetable growing and some fruit production, occupy three main areas
separated by unproductive lands. The most important of those areas forms a
narrow fringe on the northern, eastern, and southern shores of Loak Okecchoboo
vwhcre winter vegetables and sugar cane are grown. In the second area (the
Rodlands, south of Miami) the chief products are tomatoes and potatoes. The
third area is known as the Indian River citrus and tropical fruits area. It
lies along the Indian River and the east coast.
-23-
Each of the major divisions of the state has one or more characteristic
typos of manufacturing. Woodwork manufacture is concentrated in north Florida
with a few centers of production in central Florida and practically none in
south Florida. Fish processing also belongs to this northern area. It is con-
centrated along the northwest gulf coast and the east coast area near Jackson-
ville. Fruit and vegetable canning is widely scattered over central Florida
with a small area of concentration around Tampa. It is also near Tamrpa that
rock work, principally the manufacture of fertilizer and cement, is concentrated.
The cities of Jacksonville, Tampa, and Ponsaoola add irregularity to the pattern
in the north and central areas by specializing in diversified manufacture. In
the south, Miami is also beginning to develop a distinguishing typo of manu-
facturing--noveltios.
Of the other industries, forestry follows closely the pattern of wood-
work manufacturing and commercial fishing (with the exception of the sponge
fishing center of Tarpon Springs). The mining pattern forms a long, narrow
strip, gradually widening toward the south and extending from Marianna to
Lakoland.
The highway pattern of Florida consists of an even network of roads
in central and north Florida with a triangular arrangement in south Florida
connecting the largo tourist centers. An important feature of the triangle
is the absence of roads in its interior, a feature explained by the low,
poorly drainor, character of the area and its sparse population.
Economic Development
North Florida is not unlike adjoining parts of southern United States
in natural elements and development. Its rolling terrain, sandy soil, pine
forests, and humid sub-tropical climate are much like those of bordering areas
in neighboring states. The climate, modified by nearness of the ocean and gulf,
is warmer along the gulf coast where the Gulf Stream swings inward. Its natural
features are similar in many respects to those of neighboring areas and its
landscape evidences all the chief stages in the normal development of such
regions.
Where virgin forests moot the sea, the natural stages in economic
development are:
1. Clearing of forests, fishing, and grazing
2. Subsistence farming on cleared land
3. Introduction of field crops
4. Extensive farming in field crops with cash crops
5. Intensive farming involving specialized crops
6. Development of other industries as needed
7. Readjustment of occupancy patterns as earlier industries decline
8. Planning for future development in torms of long time considerations
and best land uses.
-24-
A Cross Section of Florida
Florida presents a cross section of those stage of development. Early
in its history as a state, Florida bogan to cut its forests. So vast were those
forests that oven today forest work involving lumbering or the production of
naval stores is the major economic activity in some parts of the state. An
area stretching from Ponsacola to Trmnv is used principally for collecting
forest products, for fishing and cattle raising, and for resorts and some
subsistence farming. The northeast coast of Florida has a similar aroa.
North Florida's only two largo cities are located in these areas--Jacksonville
on the east coast and Pensacola on the west. The population of those areas,
however, is predominantly rural. Hero the landscapo evidences a mixture of
the first two stages of development.
In the agricultural core, one sees evidence of the third, fourth, Ind
fifth stages. Field crops (stage 3) wore introduced into north Florida about
one hundred years ago. This general farming with corn, cotton, and peanuts is
typical today of the region west of Gadedon County.
In the central part of north Florida extensive farming involving
field crops with cash crops (stage 4) has predominated since the early settle-
mont in the area. Plantation agriculture has given "vn; to smaller units and
newer methods. Tobacco, the most important cash crop, is now rrown under
artificial shade. This tobacco is used for cigar wrappors and the shade
produces a thinner, lighter leaf in addition to giving protection from high
winds and injurious insects.
In contrast to this extensive farming is the socialized crop type
(stago 5) in the eastern part of north Florida. Hero, more profitable intensive
farming has replaced extensive farming of former years. Specialized crop
production also characterizes agriculture in central and south Florida. High
land value, derived from high income per acre from fruits and vegetables, dis-
courages much general farming.
The large production of citrus fruits reflects the milder climate of
central Florida. Ridges, preferably near lakes, offer the most desirable
location for groves.
Since most of the rainfall--averaging 56 inches annually--comes in the
summer, it is necessary to drain many of the fruit and vegetable areas of
central and south Florida. Conversely, spring droughts make irrigation
essential in these same areas. Underground irrigation by a series of tiles
fed from artesian wells is used in citrus culture while overhead systems of
pipes are used for other irrigation.
Green winter vegetables for the northern markets come from the extensive-
ly drained areas of muck soil in the Everglades, where frost is infrequent. In
addition to vegetables, large plantings of sugar caneborder Lake Okeechoboo.
However, a largo part of the Everglades is still undeveloped. North of the lake
lie broad prairies whore extensive grazing has been done for many years.
-25-
Development of Now Patterns
As development progressed to stage 6, other industries were encouraged.
Manufacturing is limited principally to forest products. Saw mills, turpentine
stills, crate mills, and other diversified "forest" manufactures are loading
industries in the State. There is concentration of manufactures in Tampa,
the leading center of such work.
Mining of non-metallic minerals is a productive industry. Fullor's
earth is mined in north Florida and limestone and phosphate in central Florida.
Phosphate for fertilizer has boon a groat asset to citrus culture on the poorer
soils, and limestone has helped to make possible the construction of highways in
the state.
Tourism outranks both manufacturimgand agriculture as an economic
enterprise in Florida. Beginning in a small way in north Florida, it becomes
more developed in central Florida, and roaches its greatest concentration in
south Florida--the strong hold of tourism. Many forms of tourist facilities are
offered, and Florida is visited by more than two million tourists yearly. The
visitors, it should be noted, outnumber the permanent population. Excellent
state and national highways contribute to the increase in this influx of visitors.
A sunny, mild climnto and long coast with many excellent beaches are major factors
in the growth of this young industry. The growth of urban centers of central
and south Florida is related in no small measure to the development of the tourist
trade.
A decline in early industries has necessitated some adjustment (stage 7).
For more than a hundred years, Florida has been cutting timber and producing
naval stores from her forests. As forest supplies decreased, the industry passed
its peak and is now declining. Florida has met the readjustment problem by turn-
ing to specialized crops of fruit and vegetables, fishing, mining, and the highly
developed tourist industry. Thebalance between supply and demand suggests need
for curtailing rather than increasing the production of fruits and vegetables.
Even in these agricultural sections the problem of idle land is acute. It is
even more acute in north Florida. In both sections, out-over lends loft denuded
by the lumber companies, have been subjected to repeated burnings by cattle mon
for production of now grass, with resulting loss of forest reserves and increase
in erosion.
Central and south Florida also have had "declining industry" problems.
Key West has faced such a situation several times. The moving of the cigar
factories to Tampa loft Key West with empty factory buildings and a remnant of
foreign cigar workers. Those people turned to fishing, principally for sponge.
The introduction of deep sea diving by the Greeks at Tarpon Springs soon resulted
in a decline of this activity at Key West. The Overseas Railroad with ferry
freight service to Cuba was abandoned in 1935. Now, Key West, with its now
overseas highway, is looking to tourism with new hope for new economic prosperity.
Tampa, too, has a declining cigar industry. It is adjusting by "com-
mercializing" for its newly acquired tourists, a Spanish "atmosphere" derive.&
from the foreign element in its population.
-26-
Pioneer lumbering--mining of timber--loaving desolate abandoned country
in its wake is roprosonted by the work of one lumber company in north Florida.
In sharp contrast are the modern methods--continuous production--of another
company, not many miles distant from the abandoned area.
The introduction of pulp and paper mills has shown the possibility
of returning Florida's economy in some measure to the forest and its pro-
ducts. As a result, conservation measures (stage 8) have established forest
preserves, fire control, and the like, and have inaugurated a program of
planting submarginal lands to pines.
Another example of economic planning and of the development of new
industry has boon the introduction of the tung oil industry into Florida. A
native of China, the tung tree has long been the source of oil impervious
to water, and because of this quality, in demand for paints and varnishes,
insulation, and other uses. Largo groves of tung trees have been planted in
north-central Florida and a small pressing industry has been developed in con-
noction with those groves. Yet, the United States is still largely dependent on
China for tung oil supply, and price of Florida tung oil is set by Tow York
quotations on Chinese oil. Tung oil production is a young and a small industry
in Florida but one that holds some promise for future development.
Thus, Florida presents all the stages in the normal cycle followed by
pioneer peoples socking to live more and more in harmony with their environment.
It is within this economic framework that the people of Florida live, and it is
with some basic consideration of it that the curriculum need be concerned. Use
of field trips for first hand study offers excellent opportunity for pupils to
develop basic understandings of the problems that will confront them as citizens
and which presently touch their lives through the economic opportunities of
their parents, the taxable wealth that supports their schools, and the choices
of economic opportunity that lie open to them.
Some Field Trips For Florida Schools
Several field trips are described in the following pages in order to
illustrate the ways Florida environment may onrich instruction, provide for
cooperative activity, and bring children into direct contact with various
aspects of their environment important for them to know and to understand.
A trip to the railroad yard where snow had been brought in from the
north on a freight train is briefly described. This trip is important in that
it provided a kind of experience almost foreign to Florida children--the fool,
the appearance, and other physical characteristics of snow. Absence of snow and
of harsh wintor weather of which snow is only a part accounts for much of the
economic well-being of Florida, particularly its tourist industry, its citrus
industry, and its truck farming in the south. Just the fool of the snow, its
damp coldness that penetrates into the bones, chills the fingers, stops cir-
culation, and finally seems to soar the flesh and paralyze the fingrs--those
are experiences that help children to understand climatic conditions surrounding
people to the north in the winter, why they come to Florida during the tourist
season, and what happens to the citrus and the tung trees when the temperature
drops. Those are important undorstandings, and to the extent that a few brief
-27-
minutes along the railroad yards in an old-fashioncr Now Englanre snow battle
helps children to develop those understandings through sensory experience with
snow, the trip described has an important contribution to the curriculum.
In the account of the second trip are described the exporiencos of a
class visiting St. Augustino, the oldest city in the United States, and center
of Spanish culture and military occupation before its conquest by England.
Rich in historical background, definitely Spanish in its old architecture, its
street names, and its traditions, St, Augustine is deep in the lore of its four
centuries of continuous habitation, Here, not in textbooks written by Now England
historians, was history lived and hero may it be studied in mellowed walls, nar-
row streets, and living legends of Ponce de Leon, Don Pedro Menondoz de Aviles,
and Don Fernando de la Maza Arredondo. Restored is Castle San iarcos, renamed
Fort Marion, the oldest fort standing in the United States and now a National
Monument, administered by the National Park Service. The legendary Fountain of
Youth is said to have been visited by Ponce de Leon in 1513. And nearby is a
reproduction of an Indian stockade and communal house, reconstructed from a
drawing made by a French observer in 1564. In the burial ground, more than one
hundred Indian skeletons are preserved under eerie green lights, in the same
positions in which they wero buried, with arms crossed in Christian fashion--
mute testimony to the pioneer missionary activities of Franciscan friars with
gentle hearts and healing hands. St. Augustine is a link in the cultural bond
among the Americas--uniquely Spanish in origin, and bo.rinj the unmistakable
imprint of Spanish culture in its modern personality,
The third project described deals with the beautification of school
grounds--design, layout, and planting of troos, shrubs, and flowers around the
school by a group of students in a science class. Before the project was over,
it had developed into nn entire community affair, with citizens and community
officials taking part, helping in the beautification of the school grounds,
widening the street, and climr~ing the project with an Arbor Dy, colobration.
What started out as a study of trees, shrubs, and flowers around the school
ended in organized and continuous civic action in utilizing the abundant plant
resources of the state and making the school and the community a more attractive
place in which to live. Within the context of this project were all sorts of
earnings on the nature of living things, the structure of plants, the variety
of species of plants, methods and care in transplanting, habits of growth,
characteristics of leaves and flowers, and climatic and soil requirements for
plant health. In this project it is apparent that biology need not be merely an
exercise in plant classification, all out of a book, or all under a microscope.
To the pupils and to the community a new realization of the role of plant lifo
grew and prospered, and what was learned in school became the intellectual and
aesthetic possession of present and future generations. This study led to an
expanding form of cooperative activity that grow beyond the bounds of the school
and enlisted the interest and enthusiastic assistance of both the children and
the adults, the home and the school, the community and its civic organizations.
The fourth trip described is a field study of the tung oil industry.
This trip illustrates the largo number of aspects of a situation that may be
developed in a field investigation. As already indicated in this chapter, the
tung oil industry is one of Florida's newer economic enterprises. It is interest-
ing, not only as a young and promising industry but also as an example of the
importation of an industry from China, and as evidence of the world wido drive
for national economic independence. Throughout the world each nation seeks,
insofar as possible, to make itself economically independent in raw materials
-28-
or to control the source of supply. As far as national economy is concerned,
world trade is thought of as a one-way road export of surplus products and
manufactured materials resulting in a favorable balance of trade. The rising
tung oil industry in the United States is an example of the attempt to become
independent of China as a source of tung oil. So far the United States is still
a long way from economic independence of China for tung oil.
The tree itself has a great deal of genetic determination. It resists
the fondest endearments of nursery attention. No truer words were over spoken
of the tung tree than "As the twig is bent so is the tree inclined," The tung
tree has an oriental implacability that torments American grove ovwnrs. The best
they have been able to do is to let it grow.
Like Florida real estate, Florida tung groves are subject to exploitotion.
Northern school ma'ams, retired grocers, and dirt farmers arc being urged to in-
vest in tung groves. Since the tung tree resists most attempts at cultivo.tion,
all one has to do is sit around until harvest time, pick the fruit, and sell. it
at fabulous profit. Thus goes the exploitation. But, say experienced growers,
there is more to successful operation of tung groves than appears in the sales
promotion literature.
Field study of the tung oil industry, with a visit to a grove and a
pressingrmill, reveals the many phases of the industry, its relation to economics,
international trade, weather ond climate, plant cultivation, industrial chemistry,
manufacture, household use, and investment opportunities. It may be studied from
any or all these points of view.
The final trip described deals with the influence of the Greeks and their
culture on working and living in Tarpon Springs. Out of the class visit to
Tarpon Springs developed an enthusiastic unit on Greece and the Greek people, and
a new appreciation of the contribution that various cultures have maIde nd are
making to life in the United States.
Such understandings are essential to the development of attitudes of
tolerance toward other nationalities, other races, other religions, other customs.
Florida children who have descended from o, long line of native American stock,
principally Anglo-Saxon in origin, may tond to look 'ith disdain on children of
immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, and to form the hasty judgnont that
because the background of this more recent immigrant stock is different from
their own it is necessarily inferior. Yet the Greeks of Tarpon Springs come from a
race far older in civilization than the Tnglo-Saxons, and they stem from an
ancestry whoso art, philosophy, architecture, and science is still the foundation
of- stern civilization.
Real .nprcci-tion of a culture and its contribution to prosont day living
cones throu-gh inti-atc contact 1:ith people living in that culture and through this
contact there may be developed an understanding of their customs, religion, econom-
ic development, an. progress in adapting to a new land and a now form of govern-
mont. The trip to Tarpon Springs was intended to provide experience out of which
these understandings could be developed.
The descriptions of the five trips are narrative in form. Formal state-
ment of objectives have been omitted in most cases because of the attention given
objectives in this preliminary discussion of the trips. Variation in style of
writing and in treatment of the trips derives from the fact that the accounts
wore written by different teachers. No attempt was made rigidly to prescribe
the form in whnch the reports were to be made.
-29-
A Snow Trip in Florida
One morning during one of the north Florida' freezes, when the tompera-
tures wore the lowest in fifty years, two fourth grade boys rushed into their
classroom and very excitedly told the teacher, "We saw snow on some boxcars down
on the railroad track." This amazing statement came ton minutes before the boll
for classes rang, and during that time, the news thoroughly permeated this group
of children iad excitement was the order of the day. When the roll was chocked,
two boys wore absent. Upon investigation it was learned that they had taken the
situation in hand and had gone to sec for themselves just what kind of stuff
snow, really is.
The thirty-three children that made up this fourth grade group were
natives of north Florida or south Georgia. Some of them represented families
whose economic status was substantial, but by far the greater number come from
families on "relief." None of them had taken trips far from home; certainly none
of them had been North in the winter time, and it just doesn't snow in Floridal
The teacher recognized the teaching value of the situation. Hero was
a ready-made field trip; no preliminary procedure for leading the children into
wanting such a trip was necessary. They were literally demanding the trip.
Furthermore, snow is not an unusual word in elementary school literature, and here
was a chance to have children who know the sound of the word, what it looks like
on the printed page, and how snow looks in pictures, learn how it looks in
reality and how it burns the fingers when touched. The teacher also recognized
the possibilities of valuable follow-up work.
Iuch of the economy of Florida is based upon the fact that northern
winters are snowy and dreary. Winter tourists come to Florida to bask in its
sunshine and to avoid the sub-freezing temperatures back home. Floridavinter
vegetables bring high prices in the northern markets rhore fields are blanketed
with snow. Marny oranges, another of Florida's main sources of income, are
shipped north to be sold and can come only from a region where freezes never or
very rarely occur. To broaden the scope of this trip, it was seen that concrete
imagery of snow could be valuable in adding understanding to some of the problems
derived from the geography text and dealing with such foreign lands as Switzorland
and Norway.
Planning the trip. The afternoon session in the school in question
lots one hour ond thirty minutes. It was decided to take this time for the
trip, and two children wore selected by the class to interview the orincipal
and to acquaint him with the plans for the trip. In this school system: school
journeys are encouraged but must be planned, as a rule, so that they aro within
walking distance of the school, since there are no easily available transporta-
tion facilities. Fortunately, the siding on which the snow-capp7d cars were
standing was within a half-mile of the school.
A short morning class period was used for the purpose of discussing
procedure to be followed in taking the trip. Simple rules wore formulated as
follows:
1. The group must stay together at all times.
2. School safety rules about crossing streets must be observed;
two boys wore selected to serve as patrol boys.
-30-
3. There must be no loitering when the signal for returning to
school was given.
As was expected, the children 'wont wild with enthusiasm when the cars
woro roachod. The boys and the more venturesome of the girls climbed up on the
cars. It took only a few minutes for the snowball idea to grow into snowballs
whizzing back and forth.
Use of the trip in the classroom situation. In the days following this
trip, many questions involving snow wore considered. Some of those wore:
1. How did this snow get into Florida without molting?
2. How does life in the north and life in Florida differ in January?
3. How do Floridans use these differences to help make a living?
The concept of snow was utilizod almost continuously during the ro-
mainder of the school term, and it never seemed to become a stale subject to
these children who had experienced it.
A Visit to St. Augustine
The colorful old city of St. Auguistino absorbed the interest of a
social studies class studying the part Spain played in the westward expansion
movement. From easily available sources of materials, a map and pictures of the
old city wore obtained nnd it was decided to take on "indoor" field trip. In an
indoor field trip, pictures of outstanding features buildings, natural footures,
etc. are located on a map or, in other words, fitted into the map.
The map and descriptions of buildings in the WPA Florida guide book wore
used as a basis for the study. Historic buildings wore studied and located in
order of ago. It was found that buildings erected before 1600 were at the
northern and southern extromotios of the present town. With the exception of
Fort Marion which was built to guard the entrance to Matanza Bay, the only
buildings erected in the 19th century that con now be seen are the reconstructed
City Gatos and the monument in the Plaza do la Constituoion.
After these points of interest woro located on the map, it was found
that all of those could be seen by following a route beginning at the City Gates
and going south on St. George Street, passing the City Gates, the Old Spanish
Inn, the Old Spanish Treasury, and the post office, turning loft at Cn.thoeral
Street to see the Plaza do la Constituoton with its old slave market and the
Cathedral of St. Augustine. A right turn into Charlotte Street, a right into
King Street and a loft turn into Aviles, brought them to Toledo House. To got
from here to the Oldest House, they must turn loft at Bridge Street and right
at Charlotte. By going south on Charlotte to St. Francis Street and turning loft
Florida, A guido to the Southernmost State (Oxford University Press, 1939,
pp. 245-257.
Kathryn Trimmer Abbey, Florida Land of Chonge. The University of North
Carolina Press, 1941, pp. 34-121.
Bulletins of the StatC Department of Agriculturc, Tallahassce, Florida:
Florida the M.:.rch of Progress, Scenic Florida, Florida Recreation and Points of
Interest.
Bulletins of the Stato Road Dopartment of Florida: Highways of Florida,
compiled by Walter E. McDonald, 1938.
-31-
into Marine Stroot, they reached St. Francis Barracks. From hero they turned
right into Cemetery Lane, right into St. George, left into St. Francis, and
right into Cordova Street to reach the Ponce de Loon Hotel and the Spanish
Cemetery. Next they turned right into Orange Street and proceeded to Fort Marion.
They left the city by the same route they used in entering and went north to
Occan Street whore they turned right to reach the 7uostra Sonora do la Locho and
the Fountain of Youth.
The interest in St. Augustine aroused by this laboratory study carried
over into plans for a real trip to the town. The students wanted to check their
laboratory work by comparing it with the town itself; they wanted to compare
pictures and written descriptions with the buildings themselves.
School authorities and parents readily cooperated in making such a
well planned trip possible. Transportation was furnished by several mothers who
used their cars and charged a nominal sum. The time of departure was planned
so that the party might have throe hours before lunch to tour St. Augustine.
Each child packed a lunch which was eaten near St. Augustine after all the
sightseeing was completed.
When they reached St. Augustine, they rode once through the town before
they stopped to study any of the points of interest in detail. The purpose of
this was to got a fooling for its a-ppoarance of antiquity. It was desired to
bring out more strongly than could be done with a map and pictures the appearance
of a town whoso streets wore planned to take u' as little space as possible
(a necessity in a walled town), of buildings flush with the sidewalk and
hiding lovely gardens in the rear, and the importance of the toin square with
its slave market and buildings of worship--the appearance of a city that has
never outgrown its leisurely inheritance.
In the follow-up work, notes taken on the trip were re-checked against
the findings of earlier studios. The class was particularly interested in the
fact that the latest trend in the architecture of the town evidenced by the now
post office is in kcoping with the early Spanish buildings. Interest in the
restoration project which is now under vway will be a "continuing" outcome of the
trip.
While the emphasis in this description has boon placed on development
of basic skills in map reading and spatial representation, the trip was by no
moons limited to experiences of this type. The actual trip ,.was intended to
develop a sensor of historical continuity of the past nnd the present and an
appreciation of the influence of Spanish culture on the modern City of St.
Augustine. Certainly, for those children, Spanish exploration and colonization
of North America was no. longer merely a lodger of names and dates, but an
enduring effort of a great people.
A Community Project in School Beautification
To make a student community or environment conscious, beautification
of the school grounds furnishes an excellent beginning project.
Planning to make the school campus more attractive may easily become a
continuous cooperative program between the school and community and should also
lead to individual home beautification projects. Every student in school may
-32-
have a part and contribute something to such a project even though it may be
sponsored by a small science group as is the case in a north Florida town.
The teacher, nco in this community, was impressed with the possibilities
for improvement apparent at a casual glance. &t a far corner of the school
area a goodly number of towering pines wore clustered together. Here and there,
a massive love oak spread its drooping branches to protect the small children
at playtime, but aside from those casual trees, there was very little to mako
one say, "This is the spot we admire." A vast stretch of sondy, uninteresting
soil with many scraggly shrubs lay around the three buildings. The time was
ripe for an awakening an eye for the aesthetic needed to be developed.
In the early fall it was not difficult to interest the science classes
in the beauty of autumn colors since many children came to school by bus and
passed daily through colorful, wooded areas where gay-leavod dogwoods, especially,
wore much in evidence. Then followed a field trip to investigate the trees and
shrubs on the school grounds. A multitude of questions arose.
How could the grounds be improved?
Why did much of the shrubbery already there look so forlorn?
What kind of soil would various trees and shrubs require?
What should be chosen for the planting?
How should trees and shrubs be transplanted?
Whore could the names of trees and shrubs be found?
Should the trees mnd shrubs be labeled?
Would civic organizations be interested and cooperate?
Would the city be likely to vTddn the narrow highway (street) in front
of the two main buildings?
In order to get a better view of the entire program a committee volun-
toored to prepare a rough man of the school grounds. Large dots were placed on
the map to represent the trees and other plants already growing on the campus.
The students felt they could learn to know plants better if they could call them
by namo. Then it was decided that the map would be more useful in planning and
in future plaiting if the names of the shrubbery could be included on it. Only
a fow helpful books about trees and shrubs were found in the school library, but
the science teacher's library, supplemented by publications of the Florida Forest
Service3, was most helpful. For further identification the students found the
publications of the State Department of Igriculturo4 very valuable.
Similarities often made identification difficult. But those very similar-
ities gave the students an incentive to observe more closely, more minutely, the
bark, loaves, buds, flowers, branching and growth habits, and to reassure them-
selves that their classification was correct. Little did the instructor dream
that the beautification program would develop into such an interesting study of
biological likenesses and differences. is time passed on into days and woeks of.
planning rmac, study the roughly sketched map bogan to appear more like the ,'ork of
a landscape architect.
The class obtained permission to visit the beautifully; landscaped gardens
6Common Troos of North and Northwest Florida and Common Forest Trees of
Florida, Florida Forest Service, Tallahassoe.
Native and Exotic Palms of Florida (Bulletin No. 84), and Ornamental Trees
(Bulletin To. 95), Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Florida,
Gained svillo.
-33-
of a woll-to-do citizen. This visit made them more than over conscious of the
consideration that must be given to typo of soil, natural habitat, fertilization
by use of docayed leaves and other vegetation, availability of water for dry
seasons, if the project 'ore to appear in reality as it did on paper.
A visit to the County Agent' s office resulted in adding another loyal
supporter to the new project and in securing definite information concerning the
actual transplanting of the trees and shrubs. The class found excellent assistance
in Bulletins No. 1567 and No. 1591 for transplanting and propagation of trees
and shrubs. Three reliable students from the rural areas chocked the suggestions
for successful transplanting, gleaned from various sources, with their fathers
who were progressive farmers.
In transplanting of both trees and shrubs it was generally agreed that
all students doing the actual planting should adhere to the following directions:
1. Remove the tree at the dormant season, without bruising the roots
any more than nocossary and keep some of the soil in which it grow packed around
the roots.
2. Protect the roots with wet burlap and soil.
3. If someroots are cut or injured, prune them and balance the top by
pruning it also.
4. Dig the hole large enough to take the roots without doubling them
back.
5. Allow sufficient depth so thot the plant will stand at the same
depth as it grew.
6. Make use of the rich top soil, and do not use.the poor subsoil around
the roots.
7. Work in the fine soil among the roots and leave no opening under the
roots.
8. Have the roots sprood out as they wore originally, layr by layor.
9. Tamp the soil carefully 'bhen the hole is partially filled.
10. Fill the hole with loose soil leaving only a "circle" for wator.
11. Keep the plants voll-wattorod until growth is assured.
12. Protect by mulching with leaf mold and other suitable iotorial.
Now thoy wore road to go to the woods, their homes, nnd the nurseries
to procure the plants they had, through careful study and investigation,
determined to be most satisfactory for beautifying the school grounds. Arbor
Day was near at hand. The P.T.A. members had, because of homo discussions
among their children, become interested and had offered assistance. Students
wore noe leoo.ingi the real value of a cooperative ontorpriso.
The son of the mayor kn!o~ thrt the city was considering widonig the
main highway in front of the school. He volunteered to consult the city
engineer who very kindly gave an estimate of the npproximato width of pavement
and sidewalk if the proposed chrngo were effected in the near future. By
this time, the cooperative planting program had gained such momentum that the
children in the elementary school were asking their teachers if they could help
plant a tree. Then it was that the biology class decided to appoint committees
to plan an Arbor Day program to include the entire school and others who chose
to cooperate. The skill, resourcefulness, and tact of the whole science class
that originated the plan was taxed to the utmost. Not only did the early
sketched map of the school grounds need to be enlarged but each group or grade
demanding a part in the planting had to be guided and assisted. Planting could
not take place in a wholesale fashion all in one day. What should be planted
5Farnmers Bulletins, Propagatio~n -f Trees and Shrubs (Bulletin No. 1567)
and Transplanting Trees and Shrubs (BEllottn :'o. 1591), United GSttes 'Dcpornnt
of .1riculturc, lt,.shnJgof 3, 3.0.
-34-
first and who should do the planting? Most of the grades were willing to
donate, plant, and care for one tree. Through the cooperation of thirty or more
teachers and the generosity of several public-spirited citizens, the planting
began on Arbor Day with appropriate ceremonies and continued for sometime
thereafter.
During the school year the desire of each grade to make its tree grow
faster aroused and sustained enthusiasm for the necessary care of the trans-
planted trees, but the problem of care during the summer had to be solved. The
local trustees agreed to retain the janitor throughout the hot summer months
at regular salary to continue the work s well begun.
As the plantings grow, pride of the children and the community developed.
The tall stately pines and spreading oaks shared their popularity with the quick
growing red buds, dogwoods, wild plums, crepe myrtles and wax myrtles that
added much color to the formerly open stretches. Other varieties of oaks and
nut trees were planted. A crepe myrtle hedge at the rear cut off an unsightly
view. Graceful palms waved long fronds across the front, and close to the
building plantings of ligustrum, abolia, plumbago, josomino, spirea, and pitos-
porum gave color and fragrance the year around.
Identification tags made by the students of later years by use of a
machine which prints the name on metal strips makes those plantings more
interesting to the passore-by.
As a result of the project, not only the class that sponsored the move-
ment but others as well knew more about how living things obtained their food,
how thoy made use of their food, how they grow and how they maintained their
kind.
Piold Stud- of the Turn Oil Inutryz
Preliminary to a trip to the grove and the pressing mill of the Alachua
Tung 0il Company, near Gainosville, a survey of centers of information on the
tung oil industry was made in Gainesvillo. Visits were made to the tung area on
the University of Florida campus; the Agricultural Experiment Station of the
University of Florida; the laboratories of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United
States Dopartment of Agriculture; and the Buroon of Agricultural Chemistry and
Engineering Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, at 217 West
Main Street South, in down-town Gainesvillc. All three of the above-montionod
organizations are conducting extensive research related to tung oil. Publica-
tions dealing with various aspects of tung tree culture are available from them.
Dr. Wilmon Nowoll, Provost for Agriculture, become intorostod in the tung
tree when he took over the direction of the University Experiment Station. It
was ho who started Mr. Harold Howry on his studies.
We found Mr. Mowry in the Horticulturo Building. All we had to say was,
"tung tree," and Mr. Mowrry immediately became interested in the idea of a field
trip. Before the survey committee could say Alouritcs fordi, Mr. Movry had
whisked thna over a map of northern Florida, indicating the larger plantings,
identifying their owners, and locating the oil mills. One cannot be dis-
interested in tung oil vhcn Mr. Mowry tells about it. And then, to be sure
one's interest does not lag, he conducts the group to the little brown building
-35-
nearby where Mr. G. H. Blackmoh and Mr. R. D. Dickey are continuing the study of
single and cluster, high and low headed trees; seedlings versus asexual propa-
gation, fertilizing, bronzing and frenching. In short, the University Experi-
ment Station men are determined to mako the tung industry work in Florida-
production is what they desire.
From the brown building the survey committee was directed along a path
to two whito buildings that house the laboratories of the United States Depart-
mont of Agriculturc'o Bureau of Plant Industry, whore Dr. Felix S. Lagasso is
in charge. They are friendly there, too. After being shown models of the dif-
ferent typos of soil by Dr. Matthow Drosdoff, who explained them, the committee
was guided through the laboratories. There is amazing activity in this building,
ail directed to finding out why, when, and where the tung tree makos oil. Dr.
Harold M. Sell ~akows more about Alouritos ford than the Mayo Clinic Imows
about an old patient. Finally, the committee visited the Bureau of Agricultural
Chemistry and Enginooring and extended their interest and information on the
problems that are being investigated in the field of tung oil. & very interest-
ing fact was disclosed. Chinese agriculturists come to Florida to study tung
oil cultivation and processing so they can go back to China to improve the
industry that was imported to the United Statoo from China.
From this preliminary exploration dozens of questions arose. Here aro
some of the more important ones:
What different kinds of tung trees are there?
That do they look like?
What methods are used in their cultivation?
.hat are the effects of climate on tung trees?
How are trees selected for now plantings?
What methods are used in setting out now groves?
How many men are required to cultivate the groves?
How and when is the crop harvested?
How is the oil extracted?
How is the oil refined?
Wha.t is the yield per acre under intensive cultivation?
JTat is done with wasto products?
To answer some of these questions by observation and interview, it was
decided to visit the groves and pressing plant of the Alachua Tung Oil Co~pany,
a few miles outside of Gainosvillo.
The highway led by and through part of the grove of approximately 1200
acres. The land was rolling, the soil sandy. The effects of freezing wore
plainly evident, increasing from tip twigs on upper slopes to whole trees in
the lower dips. The troes wore almost exclusively of the low heading6 variety,
although there was an occasional high head or whorl. We could not determine,
in passing, whether the trees wore the single or cluster variety. The leaves
wore largo, mostly chordato, dark green. o e saw no clear evidences of bronzing
or fronching.7 A few fruits were soon--in the green stago.
6R. D. Dickey and Walter Routhor, Flowering, Fruiting, Yield and Grovth
Habits of Tung Trees, Bulletin 343, University of Florida Agricultural
Experiment Station, Gaincsvillo, Florida, 1940, pp. 18-24.
7Harold Mowry and A. F. Camp, A Proliminary Roport on Zinc Sulphate as a
Corrective for Bronzing of Tung Trees, Bulletin 273, University of Florida
Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainosvillo, Florida, 1934; and 7Waltr Routhor
and R. D. Dickoy, A Preliminary Report on Fronching of Tung Troos, Bulletin 318,
University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainesvillo, Florida, 1937.
The extraction plant had largo storage sheds attached, whore the fruits
wore stored in sacks after harvesting. The sacks wer o open material allowing
the dry;'i of the fruits. We learned that they try to have the harvesting com-
pleted by the first of the year.8 In November colored women and children begin
the task of harvesting. There is the "Christmas money" incentive in getting the
work completed. If not harvested and expressed in a reasonable time, the nuts tend
to turn yellow indicating a chemical change in the kernels. Dr. Robert S. McKinney,
in charge of the Bureau of Agricultural Chomistry and Engineering Laboratory says
that this results eventually in preventing oil extraction, since the pressing
process produces a mushy yellow material from which the oil can not be separated.
The manager of the grove told us that the company maintains its own
nurseries. The trees set out are seedling stock. Seed are selected from prolific
trees of the low heading cluster variety in which the fruit in the individual
cluster is not too numerous for the leaf and stem formation to support--that is,
to supply with food enough to develop all fruits set into maximum oil producers.
Seedlings will grow to a height of ton feet the first year. Trees begin to bear
at five years.
Trees seem to have fixed genetic qualities, so that seedling offspring
are remarkably like parents in appearance, branching and fruiting habits. If a
seedling heads low, it may be transplanted and cut back in full confidence that
it will come back low-headed. There are many problems presented by this fact to
the practical grovo owner, the nursery man, the plant brooder, the geneticist,
the biologist, and others.
Trees wore originally sot out 121 foot by 30 feet with the idea of
eliminating undesirable trees. Now that reproductive habits are known, they are
set 25 foot by 25 foot or 25 foot by 30 foot. Cover crops of crotalaria are
grown in unshaded strips between trees. Shaded portions are cultivated. This
serves the dual purpose of supplying humus (nitrogen) and of protecting the
cultural bacteria which cannot stand the 135-degree temperature of the top three
inches of unprotected soil in direct sunlight. It is interesting to note that the
best self-seeding orotalaria are those that are poisonous to stock.
The eighty trees per acre in this grove produce about a ton of fruit,
Present methods of extraction give about eighteen per cent oil, or about one
hundred eighty pounds. The fruits are hulled by machinery which also removes
part of the seed coat (tosta) of the kernels. It was found that all of this
tough coating should not be removed, otherwise the extractor could not build
sufficient pressure to remove the oil. After hulling, the kernels are heated
and ground to a meal. This meal is fed into an extractor which forces the oil
out of the meal under tremendous pressure. The most efficient of those machines
leaves from three per cent to seven per cent of the oil unextraotod. At the
United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and
Engineering Laboratory in Gainosvillo, they are attempting to discover a solvent
method of oil extraction which will be more efficient.
The extracted oil, due to the presence of particles of test and dirt,
is a dark brown color. This oil is forced through a filter, from which it emerges
a clear, transparent yellow, to be stored in tanks whore it settles and awaits
shipment.
The entire care of the grove brings in many questions. The tree is a
native of China. Chinese have been using the oil for hundreds of years. Properly
treated, it forms a film impervious to fresh or salt water. Once sot, the film
8The Tung Oil Tree, University of Plari~a Agricultural Experiment Station,
Gainesville, Florida, 1935, pp. 61-62.
-37-
resists all known solvents. The Chinese, because of it, have managed without
rubber. And yet, Chinese come hero to our own University to learn more about
the tree.
On the basis of the trip, now and moro profound problems developed.
Here are a few:
If the tree is genetically stable, how are improved varieties to be
developed? We may--with study--find how to increase production by proper
fertilization. Present fertilization is confined to application of the bagasso
of the oil extraction process. That is all the trade can boar. The problem is
to increase production without increasing the cost. The laboratory of the U.S.D.A.,
Bureau of Plant Industry, is working on those problems as is our University
Experiment Station where the problem was originally attacked.
Another problem of interest is the weather and climate. The Gainosville
area is in a "cold river" extending out to the West Coast (Florida) near Tarpon
Springs. Early freezing frosts kill the forming flower buds which begin to form
eighteen months before they bloom. A tree in the dormant condition is not affected
by temperatures down to 25 degroce or even lower.
Then there is soil. Alouritos fordi (tung tree) requires a slightly
acid soil. Eucoh of Florida has a limestone base. The soil must be well drained;
not be of too heavy a clay subsoil; not have a dirty gray sand subsoil which
indicates poor drainage or high water table. It should have a high water and
nutrient storage capacity, have a gray, brownish gray, grayish brown, or brown
surface soil.
In the commercial use of the oil there are interesting problems. The
raw oil is not a good paint or varnish oil. The treatment is heat, but the heat-
ing rcouires careful control. If heated too long or too high the oil forms an
insoluble jell. If not enough it does not dry properly. So far, no comparable
substitute has been found.
Summing up, we may say that the only stable part of the whole problem
is the genetic character of the different varieties of trees. What can be expected
in the way of crops, the conduct of the trees on different soils and localities,
improvement in productivity of the tree, increase of oil content of the kernels,
improvements in oil oxtraction--all of these are variables in process of investiga-
tion by able workers. But no one has yet found the answers. Therein, perhaps,
is a partial answer to the question of why this whole problem becomes so fascinat-
ing: it is the challenge of the urnkown.
Tarpon Springls
Fig. 1 Fig. 4
Epiphaoy ceremony hold on January 6 Sorting sponge in the Exchmngc
of each year attracts many visitors. . . at the left.
(Picture) (Picture)
Fig. 2 Fig. 5
It was aboard the St. Nicholas the Packing houses have platforms
class saw how sponges were gathered, on which . . .
(Picture) sponge to desired sizes.
(Picture)
Fig, 3
The principal activities of the sponge Fig. 6
industry. . .in the background. A typical coffee shop along the
(Picture) water front.
(Picture)
-38-
Fig. 7
One of the many shops showing sponge
and shells.
(Picturo)
A Visit to the Greek Colony at Tarpon Springs
A visit to the Greek colony at Tarpon Springs was effectively used to
initiate a sixth grade social studies unit on Greece. The idea of the trip
grow out of class questions raised about Greek Cross Dayo. Ono of the pupils-
a Greek boy named Nick--was absent from school on January 6th. The next morning
when he explained his absence to the teacher by stating that he had attended this
Greek religious celebration, several of the children asked, "What is Greek Cross
Day?" To answer the question the toacher read the description of the celebration
from Florida, .rAmrican Guide Series. During the discussion, Tarpon Springs was
located on a map and, when it was found to be only a couple hours' drive from
their school, the children asked if they might visit the town. The teacher
promised to investigate the praoability of their making the trip.
Teacher plans for the trip. The first consideration dealt with the
contribution of such a trip to the sixth grade curriculum. It was decided that
the trip could be used to advantage in social studios to develop certain essential
understandings of the contribution of the Greeks to the ways of living in Tarpon
Springs, and hence, in Florida. Such concepts as the following were listed as
desirable outcomes of the trip:
1. How they live
a. Kinds of houses
b. Clothing
c. Food
2. How they make a living
a. Shops--curio----
b. Sponge fleet
c. Sponge Exchange
d. Sponge packing houses
3. Social institutions
a. Church
b. School
4. Influence of America on the Greeks
5. Affect of Greek colony on Tarpon Springs
6. Relationship of this Greek colony to mother country
(This will follow the field trip.)
Secondly, the teacher discussed the plan with her school administrators
to secure their cooperation before making a preliminary survey of Tarpon Springs.
Due to careful thinking through and outlining of the objectives of the trip, the
teacher encountered no difficulty in obtaining permission to go ahead with plans
for the trip.
She next visited Tarpon Springs to plan the minute details of the trip.
She contacted the Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of arranging for guide
service and securing exact information about the layout of the Greek portion of
9Florida, A Guide to the Southornmost State (Oxford University Press, 1939),
pp. 420-423.
-39-
the town and the most typical section to visit. She also arranged for the noon
day meal since the trip would be on all day one and expenses must be carefully
calculated. On a map secured from the Chamber of Conrnorco she marked the exact
route for the trip and indicated points for rest and detailed observation. Time
required to mako the trip was also carefully estimated.
It was fortunate that the teacher had not delayed in making her invosti-
gation for she learned that she must take her class on the journey the next week
secondd wooek in January) if she expected them to got an idea of the number of boats
engaged in the sponge fishing. The sponge boats are in harbor in full force only
four times each year--the first two wceks of January, April, July, and October.
She also found that the Sponge Exchange operates only two days each woek-Tuesday
and Friday--and that her trip must be planned for one of these days. (Fig.2 and
Fig. 3)
Teacher plans with pupils for trip. Class discussions wore held to
decide such questions as:
1. Date of trip
2. Means of transportation
3. Cost
4. Procedure during trip
5. Purpose of the trip
The date was set for Friday. It was arranged that several of the
mothers of the children in the class use their cars for transportation. Basod
on costs of transportation and lunch the contribution of each child was sot at
one dollar. This sum provided a small surplus to take care of the expenses of
several children who could not otherwise afford the trip. The route of the trip
was learned by each child and a map prepared for each car. Each group of children
assigned to a car appointed a loader who was responsible for the map, interviewing,
and other details. Each child was provided with pencil and notebook so that notes
might be taken on the trip. It was also arranged so that most of the oars con-
tained someone with a camera.
In their preliminary preparation for this trip the class formulated
these specific questions about the ttwn and people which they wore to try to
answer by moans of their observations and interviews:
1. "-cro in Tarpon Springs is the Greek colony?
2. Arc their homes similar to the homes in our town? How are they
different from our homes? How are they like our homes?
3. Do those Greeks wear the same style of clothes as ours? How aro they
different? How are they like ours?
4. From our Greek luncheon discover how their food is like ours. How
is it different?
5. How do these people mako a living?
6. What kind of school do the children attend? What church?
7. How do they play?
8. Has living in America changed these people much?
9. Does the Greek colony affect Tarpon Springs in any way?
10. Is the economy of the town the same as it would be without the
Greeks?
-40-
The trip to Tarpon Springs. The party began their trip about eight
o'clock in the morning so that they could be in Tarpon Springs by ten o'clock.
They entered the town from the east by the way of Tarpon Avenue. Their first
indication of Greek inhabitants came from the signs on the stores printed in the
Greek alphabet. (Fig. 6) They proceeded to the section of town where typical
Greek homes wore located. They observed that most of those homes wore of the
small cottage type not radically different in architecture from millions of American
homos; but, still, those houses have a definitely foreign appearance. They dis-
covered that this resulted from the painting. Greeks like bright colors and this
characteristic shows up very clearly in the abundant trimmings on their cottages-
trimmings of bright red, vivid orange, light blue, and brilliant green. Further-
more, while it was still mid-morning, they noticed that almost every family was
having an outdoor party. Later, when they asked their teacher about this, it
was brought out that Greeks almost always make time to stop for a cup of coffee
on the porches or in the yards.
From the residence section adjacent to the waterfront, it is only a
few stops to the Spongo Exchango--the next point of interest. (Fig. 3 and Fig.4)
Strangely enough, "Spongo Exchangc" is used to denote the entire waterfront, not
just the warehouse where the oxchango of spongo--the buying and solling--goos on.
Along the waterfront the children saw anchored many queer shaped and
bright colored boat--boats painted very nr-ch like the houses. They were taken
on a short boat trip to a sponog bed in the Anclote River. Their guide explained
the method of diving for spong as the diver made ready, jumped overboard, and
looked for sponge. When they had seen the mechanics of sponge harvesting they
went to the warehouse to learn something about the marketing of the product.
There the children saw great piles of sponge graded and strung on strings in
bunches and were told how the buying by sealed bid is carried on. Not far from
the Exchango a packing house was the next stop. (Fig. 5) Here the spongo is
cleaned of rock =an graded for more oven sizes and packed in bales wrappod in
burlap.
Upon leaving the packing house the group proceeded to a Greek restaurant
on the waterfront vhcro for lunch they had fish with lemon sauce, lamb stow with
vegetables, salad of ripe olives, cucumber, watercress, tomatoes, cheese made of
goat' s milk, and Greek brod--very dry and crusty.
After lunch they walked along the water front where the curio shops
and coffee shops with sidewalk tables are intermingled. (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7)
After several curio shops wore visited, the children returned to the cars and
drove to the Greek school that the children attend after the American school is
dismissed. By interview, it was learned that religion, Greek songs, and Greek
history were taught in the Greek language in this school. They also learned
that these Greeks have their own church--Greek Orthodox. They visitocO the wnall
frame church whore they learned that the Greek church is more highly decorated
with paintings and that the service is more rich in liturgy than those with which
the children wore more generally familiar.
Interviews. In answer to oucstions the following data wore assomblod:
The Greek oolony has contributed the following to Tarpon Springs:
1. A million dollar a year industry--the basis of the economy of the
town.
2. A colorful atmosphere which reflects the appreciation of a foreign
culture.
-41-
3. Religious toleranoo as shown by the union services of both the
Amorican and Greek churches at Thanksgiving. Recently this service was hole in
the Greek church.
4. Ourio shops that encourage Florida arts and crafts.
5. Income from thousands of tourists attracted annually to the Greek
colony.
The Greeks have reacted to Amcricanism in the following ways
1. A majority of the Greeks are naturalizoO citizens and fulfill their
rights and duties as good citizens.
2. They are most active in community affairs, serving as city commis-
sionors, police officers, members of the school board, officers in civic and
service clubs, and participating in all the welfare movements of the town.
3. Many of the Greeks are property owners.
4. Some of the most successful professional and business men of the
town are from the Greek Colony.
5. A large peroontago of the children are high school graduates and
many are college graduates.
6. The younger members of the colony are inclined to follow the
American social customs while the older members cling to many of the Old World
customs.
7. As a whole, the standard of living is high.
8. Most of the hones had the some type of modern applicancos and
electrical equipment as the general, American homo.
Follow-up work. In school after the trip, field notes wore compared
and chocked for accuracy. In doing this, questions raised before the trip wore
answered as far as possible. The State's census reports wore consulted to help
answer such questions as, "How does the Greek colony affect the economy of Tarpon
Springs?" From these discussions there wore evolved questions which could be
answerod only by the study of the mother country--questions port-ining to the
"at homo" appearance of the Greek colony in Tarpon Springs. In other words, how
could this foreign group settle so happily and maintain its unity so completely
in a bustling central Florida tourist town?
There was no lack of motivation for an intensive study of Greece,
and the study was approached with a more sympathetic undorstanding and tolerance
on the part of the students.
Administrative Problems of the Field Trip
None of the field trips described abovo merely happened. In all of
them, administrative procedures had to be planned aoid many adjustments made. In
planning for field trips it is advisable to discuss the proposed field trip with
the proper school authorities in advance. This will generally insure a fine spirit
of understanding and cooperation. Furthermore, a discussion of the proposed
journey will protect the teacher and will allow the school authorities to contact
the group in case it becomes necessary to notify- any member of illness or other
emergency at home.
In planning the field trip the general school schedule must be considered.
The length of -eoriods, possible conflicts with work under special subject toachors,
conflicts with club, assembly or cafeteria activitiosr-all those will have a
determining influence on the length and scope of the journey. Since schools differ
-42-
in their philosophy and administration, it will be necessary for the teacher to
plan her trip accordingly. There arc many ways that suggest themselves as a means
of planning the field trip within the school schedule. The most common and
feasible one is to plan a trip which can be completed within the regular class
period. There are occasions, however, when noro tino is needed. If the period
is just before, or just after lunch, the lunch period may be used to supplcnont
the regular class period. In some schools it might be possible to assemble before
school at the place selected for investigation, thus adding valuable tine to the
length of the first period. In like mannor, the last period of the school day
might extend overtime. In those latter cases, however, bus schedules night make
either of these plans inadvisable. Where buses carry double loads, this difficulty
could easily be eliminated.
When schools are small enough to operate on the single cycle plan, it
is often possible, with the cooperation of the teacher of the preceding or succod-
ing class, to arrange to use two successive periods. A science trip, for example,
night provide valuable source material for a language arts or social studies class.
In the school where the core curriculum plan is in operation there is sufficient
flexibility to allow for longer field trips than is generally possible to be
allowed in the more formally organized schools. Whatever the type of school,
there is always the possibility of well-planned, after school, Saturday, or other
holiday field trips. Before working out the final details of the trip, it is
advisable to have the cooperation of the parents of those individuals who will be
members of the group making the trip. Many excellent suggestions for the final
planning may be the outgrowth of conferences.
Transportation may involve the use of school buses. This,in turn, will
necessitate a conference with proper county or local school officials concerning
the qualifications and licensing of bus drivers. doequate and safe transportation
facilities should be considered whatever the conveyance may be. Care should be
taken to eliminate hazards insofar as it is humanly possible by proper supervision,
whether traveling by foot, bicycle, private car, bus, or train.
Any field trip that includes a visit to an industrial plant involves an
expense on the part of the management of the plant. There are times when a visit
moans a slowing up of production. In all cases it necessitates provision of some
responsible person to act as a guide and to explain what is seen. Courtesy demands
that precise arrangements be made with the management. The guide will need to
know how many there will be in the party; their approximate ages; the exact time
of arrival; what phase or phases of the industry the class wishes to see and to
have explained.
On the part of the teacher, it will be necessary to know how many can
be taken through in one group; whether it will be necessary for those not accommo-
dated in one group to await the return of the first party or to be assigned to
another guide making the tour at about the same time. If divided, provision
should be made for some responsible person to be with each of the divisions. This
is a good place in which to use school patrons who volunteer to accompany the class
on its trip. It is always good policy to have some parents with you "wheon nmking
a trip in which transportation is required. It simplifies the discipline problem
and the logal responsibility.
Where long trips of half a day or longer are made, now problems arise
which do not appear in the short trip. In such cases, it is advisable for the
teacher to go over the route personally, if practicable. She will then know what
to expect in cost, housing facilities, food, clothing, comfort stations, and rest
-43-
periods. She will have a clear understanding of what help she will need in handling
the group taking the trip.
Where tripe occupy several days, the care in preparation should be re-
doubled. Hero it will bc necessary to perfect a parent organization to work with
the teacher. Parents with special abilities or experience can and should do much
of the detail work in arranging the trip. There should be committees to arrange
transportation, meals onrouto and on location, housing, effective grouping of pupils
at meals and for housing; plans for the use of leisure tino or whilo not ongagod
in the purpose of the trip; minimum and maximum clothing requirements. Finally,
there should be a carefully worked out set of rules of conduct planned cooperatively,
governing pupils on buses or trains, at meals, in hotels, for dating (if both boys
and girls), and for time of retiring and arising. Those should be as few and simple
as is consistent, but they should be discussed and fully understood by everyone.
If in doubt about the adopted plans the children should be instructed to consult
with their group captain or adult loader. Those experienced in working with boys
and girls are practically unanimous in agreeing that whore such roasonablo pro-
cautions have boon taken, they have no trouble outside the usual oxpoctancy, and.
the proclivity for escapados which seem to seek young folks out. Boys and girls
definitely have a sense of honor and of living up to one's expectations of them
in such circumstances. One must sot the stage vrith a god plan and a good oxaep1lo.
Finally, regardless of the size or importance of the trip, those things
should always be done:
1. Take evero possible precaution to prevent accidents while on trips.
2. See that there is a joint sharing of responsibility by parent land
teacher.
3. Soe that the trip is within the moans of all for whom it is planned.
4. Kike all arrangemonts with an eye to the good health of the group.
5. Find sono way of showing appreciation for the good services of those
who make the field trip a success. On the surface, those responsible for the
facilities studied are sometimes gruff and unrosponsivc. Underneath they aro very
human. One will be surprised at the "follow-up" your expression of appreciation
often brings. It is inexpensive to you but priceless to the one for whom intondod.
Teaching Technique
The following teaching technique, recommended for use in all field trips,
was developed by Dr. 0. F. Hoban, formojly director of visual education in Pennsyl-
vania, and was first published in 1930. It has since been widely quoted but
little improved upon during this period. In view of the variety of preceding; matori
al end somewhat extended discussion of various trips, the outline is roprodluced
without further adornment:
First Stop--Evaluate the advantages in order that as many as possible may
be profitably utilized.
Second Step--Determine the purpose for which the journey is to be con-
ducted; or a possible combination of purposes.
Third Stop--Examino survey data for
1. MHtorials that will develop correct concepts
2. Situ-tions around which activities may be organized that will assist
pupils in dcvelopi.n desirable attitudes, skills, and habits
i Visual Education and the School Journey, Commonwealth of Ponnsylvania,
Department of Public Instruction, Harrisbua., Ponnsylvania, 1930, p. 17.
-44-
Fourth Step--Make nccossary arrangements with
1. School authorities
2. Ownors or representatives of placos to be visited
Fifth Stop--Initiating the journey:
1. Dovolop the nood--during class discussion, or group activity.
2. Have pupils fix definitely the aims,
3. Teacher proparationrgfarmiliarity with place, route, features,
necessary reference material
4. Pupil preparation
a. Equipment--notebook, field glasses, proper clothing, and other
nocossities
b. Study reference material
c. Spirit of alertness; determination to meet and solvo situations
Sixth Stop-Instruction on route and the lesson:
1. On the way-pupils alert, at times noting and listing thingll soon;
teacher a constant guido
2. At the place-the definite lesson; pupils utilizing initiative,
self-activity, observation, teacher guiding the organization of pupil observations
3. The return--pupils exchanging ideas, freely discussing experiences,
asking questions, etc.
4. The follow-up:
a. Reports from pupils
b. Discussion of reports; questions by pupils and teacher,
evaluation reports
c. Coordinating the work with on-going activities and now problems
Seventh Stop--Appraise the lesson.
1. Teaching values
a, Enriching and vitalizing
b. Motivating
o. Socializing
2. Constructive influence on pupils' attitudes, habits, and skills
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PART III
Chapter Four
MOTION PICTURES IN THE SCHOOL1
One of the producers of educational motion pictures uses the slogan,
"Brings the World into the Claseroom." This slogan epitomizes the role of motion
pictures in the school--bringing the world into the classroom. With its sound
and motion, and lately its color, the motion picture is one of the most powerful
media of education yet developed and it serves to extend vividly and realistically
the experience of children beyond the bounds of the community and the region in
which they live to the far corners of the earth, into the heavens, the world be-
neath the microscope, and times and events gone by.
Despite increase in their use in the past twenty-five years, motion
pictures in education are still in the early stages of development. Much progress
remains to be made in this development in Florida, as in other states. Old notions
associating motion pictures with entertainment in the theater and textbooks with
education in the classroom have obstructed the growth in effective utilization of
motion pictures in school. There are some regions in the country whore people
still think that the school is no place to show motion pictures, that children get
their fill of motion pictures, and maybe more than is good for them, in the double
feature programs and the western-thriller serials shown every week in the theater.
There are some school people who think of motion pictures in the school as a money-
raising device in which hour-long features or comedies salvaged from past theatri-
cal programs are shorn for a small admission foe.
In neither case is there any basic understanding or appreciation of the
fact that hundreds of films have been produced for showing in the classroom cor-
related with the units that are being studied, and used as an integral part of
the classroom procedure along with textbooks, supplementary reading, class dis-
cussions, language and creative notivitios, field trips, pictures and slides, and
other materials and activities that are part of the modern curriculum program.
These classroom films bear little resemblance to the feature films shown in the
theater. They are mado to be shown on portable projectors for use in the class-
room, requiring no special booths or professional operators; they may be one or
two reels, requiring ton or twenty minutes for their showing, leaving ample time
for preparatory and follow-up activities within the highly scheduled class period.
It is the plan of this chapter (1) to distinguish the kinds of films
shown in the school from those shown in the theater, (2) to discuss the values of
motion pictures in education in terms of typical situations in which these values
have been realized, (3) to set forth a number of guiding principles in the school
use of films, (4) to indicate the sources from which films are available to schools,
and (5) to discuss types of equipment, illumination and ventilation, training of
operators, and other problems related to administration of a picture program in the
school.
lMuch of this discussion is based on the abundant use of experience and
publications of the Motion Picture Project, American Council on Education. Since
one of the committee of teachers preparing this bulletin has been intimately
associated with the Hotion Picture Project for five years, there has boon no
hesitancy to quote with impunity.
-46-
Differences between School and Theatrical Films2
The subject matter of a motion picture intended for curriculum use is
frequently quito different from that of a motion picture intended for a theatrical
audienoo. The mothcd of its treatment is also frequently different. This dif-
fcronco derives from the requirement that a school motion picture fit into the
subject matter which the school is intended to teach and contribute to the
purposes of the curriculum.
The difference in subject matter may be soon by contrasting films
dealing with nature mado for the theater with those made for the school. A
beautifully photographed and fascinating series was made for the theater a few
years a{o .Throughout this series there is the recurrent theme of "kill or be
killed." All situations woro selected to emphasize an implacably murderous nature
that thrusts species against species in the battle for life. Only the stronn and
the cunning survive. The voakc perish. The earth, the soa, and the sky wore
searched for dramatic material to illustrate end to develop this theme, and -in
each picture of the series, the theme is ropeatod. While this series of nature
films is fascinating entertainment, it is biolog-y with a down boat.
Contrast this with a biolo
emphasis is on the continuity of life; its order, not its chaos; its laws of
growth, not its rules of death. The purpose of this series is a realization of
the possibilities of man's rational control over nature, not his destruction by
its blind forces. Subjects in the school series may include plant growth, seed
dispersal, how nature protects animals, and more complex. subjects dooling with
digestion, the heart and circulation, the kidneys, etc. Scones are selected not
for their dramatic value but for their importance in the. development of fundamental
undorstandlings of the tremendously complex organization of livir-- organisms oav the
laws which control their operation, While those subjects may indeed suffer from
lack of the broad orientation of life and its meaning to man, nevertheless they
indicate the systematic approach to irmortant aspects of the subject.
Treatment of those subjects is more frequently logical than dramatic.
There are occasional dramatic scones, such as the rovrt .- of the roots and
tendrils of a plant and the stem reaching for the sun under the slow-motion
camera, but this drama inheres in the subject rather than in its treatment. A
school film on plant growth begins with the seed and ends with tbo seed, tracing
each staro of gro,:th and indicating the laws which control it. Frequently a
school motion picture fails to achieve warmth of meaning and to establish the
relation of the subject to the evcryd0a life of the school audionco, strossing
rather the illustration of a principle than the appreciation of its manifestation,
but the treatment is intended to produce a reaction more intellectual than emotional.
This is not to say, however, that no school film dare have an emotional tone or
dramatic quality.
SThe material in this section is quoted directly from a report proparod
for the Committoo on Motion Pictures in Education of the American Council on
Education by Charles F. Hoban, Jr. It may be published later in its present
or revised form by the American Council on Education, and is reproduced hero
with permission of the Director of the Motion Picture Project of the Council.
It may not be otherwise reproduced without permission of the American Council
on Education, Jashifnron, D.C.
-47-
Characteristically the school motion picture in its present status is
16-mm. in width, is one reel in length, although it may include as many as three
reels, and is projected in the classroom by teachers or students. It deals with
the subject matter being taught in the class and contributes to the objectives of
the school curriculum. Its organization is more frequently logical than dramatic,
and its appeal is primarily intellectual rather than emotional,
Uses and Values of Films in the Curriculum
There are many ways in which uses and values of films in the curriculum
may be discussed. One way would be in terms of development of concepts, attitudes,
and appreciations. Another would be in terms of the general areas of the curriculum,
such as science, social studies, language arts, mathematics, and similar subjects.
A third way would be in terms of grade levels such as primary, intermediate, junior
and senior high school. What is attempted in this chapter is a cross section of all
three methods. Typical situations have been selected in terms of various grade
levels, subject matter, and educational objectives, and some successful uses of
films arc described in these relationships.
First, the use of films in development of language activities in a
first grade unit on pots is described; second, use of films in developing safety
habits in the intermediate grades; and third, use of films in a twelfth grade unit
on modern problems which resulted in an investigation of the problem of juvenile
delinquency in the local community.
A First Grade Unit on Pots
The fascinating story of how a first grade teacher used motion pictures
to arouse a lethargic class of first graders is told in detail in Motion Pictures
in a Modern Curriculum.3 The use of only those films available from the
cooperative film library, Gonoral Extension Division, University of Florida, is
described here, since attempt is made to discuss films and other visual materials
available to Florida schools.
The class in which the pot unit was being developed was a particularly
dull one. All efforts to cut through the crust of indifference were to little
avail. The children wore willing enough to do what they were told to do, but they
showed little evidence of initiative or spontaneity in developing their own
activities. The pot unit was initiated when one of the children brought a kitten
to school. A trip to the local pot shop followed. Moro pots wore brought to school
and"adoptod" as members of the class. Then motion pictures wore introduced into
the unit. Among the films used were Advcnturos of Bunny Rabbit, Gray Squirrol, and
Animals of the Zoo.
Adventures of Bunny Rabbit arrived close to Easter time. Interest
developed out of this timolinoes was ougmented by the presence of a gray bunny
already adopted as a member of the class. Here is how the teacher described the
reactions of the children to the films and some of the classroom activities that
grew out of its use.
3Riodol, Harjorio W., Motion Pictures in a Modern Curriculum, Chapter II,
"Films and Little Children;" Amcrican Council on Education (oMy, 1941)
pp.13-23. All quotations in this section are taken from this chapter.
-48-
"After seeing the movie, the children told the story as they remembered
it. The teacher wrote their story on the board and later on chart paper. As
the children learned to read the story, small books were made so that they might
take them home and road them to their parents. r.ll these chart stories and books
were illustrated by the children, A puppet show was made in the room, and the
children played the !Adventures of Bunny Rabbit' with their own paper puppets.
"Those activities led to many more, The children made up their own
little stories and rhythms about Bunny Rabbit, how the bunny got up in the morning,
hinted for his food, lay down to rest, ran and played, wont to bed, and so on.
Songs and poems centering around the movie were never difficult to find. The
following story was included in an illustrated book made by the entire group.
"Mothor Rabbit and her bunnies had a nest in a hole in the rocks.
Mother Rabbit got food for her babies.
Ono day Mother smelled the fox.
Mr. Fox smelled Mother Rabbit.
Mother Rabbit hid in the house.
She told her bunnies to be quiet.
Mr. Fox tried to get into the bunnies' house.
Mr. Fox was too fat to get into the house.
The white rabbit came to visit.
She said, 'Come to the farm and get some lettuce.'
Little bunny went to get some lettuce.
He mot a frog.
He met a turtle.
Ho mot a squirrel.
Ho found lettuce in the greenhouse.
The farmer did not want bunny in his greenhouse.
Bunny ran home to Mother."
Another film used in this unit was Gray Squirrol. In preparation for
the film shown the teacher had arranged a "beauty spot" in the corner of the
room, with a papier-macho sauirrol and some acorns scattered about. The children
told the stories they know about squirrels and the teacher road a poem about
"Frislky Squirrel," showed the children some pictures of squirrels, and taught them
songs about them. Then came the movie. The children wore delighted with it, and
they made picture charts, songs, and poems. Later dramatic and rhythmic play
centered in the incidents and events in the lives of the squirrels shown in the
film. Later they composed and road the following poem:
"Little Squirrel,
Where are you going?
I am going to hunt
for some nuts.
Little Squirrel,
Where are you going?
I am going to the brook
for some water to drink,
Little Squirrel,
Where are you going?
I am going to make a summer homo
for my babies."
-49-
Some of the children composed and road the following "story" about
Gray Squirrel, based on what they had seen in the motion picture:
"One day a squirrel came to my house to got a little drink. I lave him
a drink and I gave him a nut. Then the squirrel wont home to his babies. The
babies had some milk. They they took a nap in their soft little beds. They wore
so comfortable.
"Onoo in the snow a fox chased a squirrel way up in the tree. Mr. Fox
couldn't got up into tho tree homo, so he ran away.
"Little squirrel has a nice warm homo in the tree. When I coauby the
tree I saw a gray squirrel. I gave him a nut to eat.
"Once a little squirrel came to visit school. I gave him a big nut to
eat for his lunch."
The film, Animals of the Zoo, was shown after class discussion of
visits to the zoo and activities built around the arrangement of papier-mache
animals in the "beauty spot." The following rhymes were composed by the children
after seeing the picture.
"The big giraffe
lives in the zoo.
Every day he eats
something new.
The big elephant
tramps around
in his pen.
He goes up and down.
This rhinoceros
lives in the zoo.
He eats vegetables
like we do.
Many monkeys
live in the zoo.
They eat oranges
and bananas, too."
The language expressions have boon quoted in some detail to illustrate
the kinds of development that may grow out of motion picture use in the first
grade. It should be noted that the story of "Gray Squirrel" composed by the
children shows maturity in sentence and paragraph structure, in ability to
communicate a series of meaningful situations in language, a continuity of thought
among sentences and paragraphs, and an interplay of personal action and inter-
pretation.
The motion picture lends itself well to the development of such abilities
in thought and language expression, since it is organized in terms of action within
meaningful sequences. In other words, the motion pictures used in this unit had a
continuity, presented a series of related actions, and did those things in pictures
that were easily understood by children and wore related to their interests. The
running commentary, geared to children's interests and vocabulary, associates
-50-
language expression with the pictures. In this way the films furnish a base for
language expression by giving children experiences that are meaningful to them,
and hence could be expressed in their own language.
Too frequently children are expected to "express" themselves in language
without due consideration of what it is that they are to "express." Language
teaching up and down the grades tends to get itself concerned more with language
forms than with the thoughts and feelings that are to be expressed in language
forms. On the other hand, the curriculum may easily swing to the other extreme
of neglecting language form in the interest of "personality" development and
"creative expression."
Another thing to notice is the use of the film, Animals of the Zoo in
the first grade. This film has a wide grade range of usefulness. It is of interest
not only to primary children but to adults-just as real animals in a real zoo are
interesting to all those. There are many films which, like Animals of the Zoo,
have a wide range of subject and grade usefulness, but not all films are useable
with equal effect in all grades and in all subjects.
Finally, it should be noted that the films were an integral part of the
unit on pets. They were not simply dumped into the unit or tacked on to it. Their
use grew out of preceding activities and of the development of the unit. The
teacher carefully prepared the class for what they were to see. Sometimes she
read them stories related to the film. At other times, the film showing grow out
of a field trip, or some other activity in the classroom. Always there was time
for discussion after the film. The children talked about what they saw, composed
stories and rhymos, engaged in rhythm activities and dramatic play, and drew
pictures.
Summing up her experiences in using films in this unit on pets the
teacher says that it is her judgment, "based on her experience with the activities
of this and many other first grade groups, that the use of motion pictures in this
class stimulated, guided, and enriched creative capacities in more than one aspect
of the curriculum's scope and sequence. .Asido from stimulation of interest and
creative abilities, powers of observation were developed. The films seemed to
draw out latent capacities for art and music. They helped motivate poor readers,
gave them a background of experience and meaning in preparation for reading skills
.But above all, the films helped to create a happier working attitude in the
room and to develop a splendid spirit of cooperation."
A Sixth Grade Safety Unit
A full account of the unit herein summarized is to be found in Motion
Pictures in a Modern Curriculum.4 Only those parts are selected for retelling
which are sharply illustrative of the development of critical thinking and of a
form of social action as an outgrowth of the use of films in the teaching situa-
tion. Some of the films cited are available for rent from Bell and Howoll,
Chicago, and others are available without rental cost from various commercial or
industrial concerns.
4Fronk Van Schaick, "Films and Safe Conduct," Chapter V, Motion Pictures in
a Modern Curriculum, pp. 65-84. All quotations in this section are taken from Mr.
Van Schaick's chapter.
The problem of teaching safety is an ever present one--a problem that
sharply challenges the school to influence the behavior of children so as to
reduce the casualty cost of accidents. In one of the Santa Barbara schools
"the general attitude of the children at Wilson School toward safety regulations
(including the committee, monitors, and policeman) was the traditional one--more
prestige to him who could get away with violations, who could flaunt his dis-
regard of the authority of the safety agents. This attitude was expressed by
constant repetition of violations, despite the investigation of each offense by
the teacher, and repeated disciplinary action against the pupil. Despite the
vigilance and the punishments, there was little improvement in the conduct of the
boys and girls." The major problem, then, was to bring about a change in attitude
among the children toward safety regulations and a change in their conduct on the
streets, playgrounds, school grounds, and highways. The unit was built entirely
around films, with a few reference books and posters serving as supplementary
materials.
The first film used was Once Upon a Time, available to schools without
charge from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. After the film showing, the
children listed the following inferences drawn from situations shown in the film:
"1. Don't take unnecessary chances.
2. Stay on the right side of the road.
3. Don't pass over the white line.
4. Stop at the red light.
5. Stop. at railroad crossings.
6. Watch whore you are going.
7. Don't go too fast.
8. Don't be a back seat driver.
9. Slow up at corners.
10. Don't show off.
11. Dontt be a road hog.
12. Look all ways before you cross the street.
13. Use both hands when you are driving."
After these wore listed on the board, one of the children pointed out
that they wore not facts but advice. Asked what was necessary to determine whether
the advice was good, one of the class replied, "You need to prove it." It was
decided that the class would have to find facts to prove that the advice they had
compiled was good advice, and to do this, another showing of the film was requested.
They were to look for proof in the nature of facts, and they were to determine the
authority for the statements presented in the film.
On the second showing, the children discovered that the only proof
in the nature of facts presented in the film was the statement that 33,000 people
wore killed and 1,200,000 injured in the United States in one year. The children
noticed that the film was produced by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and
they raised the question of the reliability of this company as on authority in vital
statistics. Some of the children brought out the fact that life insurance companies
keep careful records of accidents, and others pointed out that life insurance
companies are likely to be reliable authorities in these matters becauseo they
don't want people to be killed because then they will have to pay insurance."
Another film shown in the unit was Spinning Spokes, a film on bicycle
safety available from Boll and Howell, Chicago. After discussion of the film,
the children summarized their findings as follows:
-52-
"Facts:
1. 810 children were killed in bicycle accidents in 1936.
2. 24,000 children were injured in bicycle accidents in 1936.
3. Messenger boys have bicycle inspections. They test brakes, horns,
pedals, chain and sprocket, lights, wheels, frames, guards, handlebars and grips,
tires, chains....
"Good advice about bicycles:
1. Ride close to the curb.
2. Ride in single file.
3. Don't do tricks except in safe places.
4. Ride a bike that fits you.
5. Learn to ride in a safe place.
6. Don't race on sidewalks.
7. Keep away from ruts and car tracks.
8. Walk your bike across busy streets.
9. Obey traffic signals and signs."
Further class discussion brought out the fact that the students could
check their own bicycles to see that they met standards used by messenger boys,
and this was followed by the suggestion that they check all the bicycles at
school. checklist was compiled and the entire class mado an inspection at
the school bicycle stand. The report follows:
"On January 12, 1940, we checked all the bicycles at school to see if
they wore safe. There were 24 bikes. We found 7 poor brakes, 6 poor tires, 9
faulty handlebars, 5 loose seats, 7 faulty pedals, 19 missing lights, 5 faulty
frames, 23 without horns, 3 faulty wheels, and 10 faulty chains and sprockets."
In the next film shown (Bicycling With Complete Safety, available for
rent from Bell and Howell, Chicago), the class observed a bicycle inspection in
which policemen helped children to fix defective bicycles. The class discussed
this type of inspection and this discussion led to the suggestion that the
school safety committee might have a bicycle repair boy on the school playground
for use by all bicycle riders in the school.
From the film, On Two Wheels (available to schools without charge from
General Motors, Chevrolet Division) the children got the idea of establishing
a safety court to deal with safety violations. On the basis of this discussion
the following report was written:
"Some schools have safety courts to help avoid accidents. They might
have a judge to review the case and sentence the offender. The judge might
sentence the offender to leave his bike with the court for a week. The offender
might be told to have his bike repaired. Sometimes the judge might toll him to
talk with safety exports or a policeman. Ho might tell him to write an essay on
safety. The offender would usually have to report back to the court after he had
done what the judge told him."
Several other films wore shown during the unit. With each, the children
grew in their ability to distinguish fact from opinion, to examine the authority
of the facts and opinions presented in the films, and to garner out ideas which,
if put into local practice, would improve the attitudes of the children toward
safety agencies, and would help to make their conduct safer. Plans for a safety
court wore drawn up in detail by the class, and this plan was adopted and put into
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use by the school. A bicycle repair box was planned, constructed and installed
on the playground. Included in the box was a pair of pliers, a wrench, a hammer,
screw drivers, a spoke tightener, a pump, extra chain links, oil and grease, and
rags. Four large maps POere drawn of the neighborhood, designating dangerous
crossings, car tracks, ond rough places on roads. Those maps wore hung in the
halls of the school for everyone to see.
This use of films in a safety unit illustrates some ways in which films
may be used to develop aspects of critical thinking in the elementary school,
to provide experience out of which more desirable and wholesome attitudes may
be developed, and to stimulate a group to cooperative social planning and to
carry this planning into forms of action that were beneficial to the larger
social group. Distinguishing between fact and opinion and evaluating reliability
of fact and opinion through examination of the source of data are aspects of
critical thinking. Shifting from a characteristic mode of antagonism toward
safety regulations and safety agencies to a mode of cooperation and constructive
suggestion involved a change from an undosirablo to a desirable attitude on the
part of the pupils. Inaugurating bicycle inspection, constructing and placing
a bicycle repair box on the school grounds, and development of plans for a
safety court and adoption of these plans involved cooperative social action,
thoroughly consistent with democratic processes and democratic ideals.
It should also be noted that films were used in a series, that they
were carefully selected to fit the purposes of the unit and to moot the needs
of the class, that a few carefully chosen "free" films wore used and evaluated
in this unit, and that a largo number of student activities were dovelopod out
of the film usage.
A Unit on Juvenile Dolinquency
Juvenile dblinquoncy is one of America's greatest problems, and it is
a problem of boys and girls of high school ago. Realistic study of juvenile
delinquency, its prevalence, its causes, and some measures that may be taken
to elevate the problem is, therefore, one of the necessary units in any high
school social studios program. The unit here described was developed at Tower
Hill School, Wilmington, Delaware. It exemplifies the power of motion pictures
to stir up a social concern on the part of high school students in this problem
and to stimulate investigation of the extent of the problem in the local com-
munity.
Early in the unit, the March of Time film, Juvenile Delinquency (avail-
able for rent from the Division of General Extension, University System of
Georgia, 223 Walton Street, N.W., Atlanta), was used to dramatize "the fact
that the jails are being filled with young criminals. It shows the environment
from which such offenders come and develops graphically the relation of slum
conditions to delinquency."5
In the discussion following the showing of the film, the students
(twelfth grade) quickly narrowed the problem down to its manifestations in
Wilmington, traced the causes of juvenile delinquency shown in the film to
similar causes that might exist in the local community, and raised the question
as to the extent of juvenile delinquency and conditions surrounding it in
Wilmington.
&A School Uses Motion Pictures, American Council on Education, September,
1940, p. 46.
-54-
The group divided into a number of committees which interviewed the
following community authorities on the problems:
City Government
City Solicitor
Education
Board of Education
Safeot
Statistician of the Delaware Safety Council
Manager of the Delaware Safety Council
Manager of the Safety Division of the E.I. du Pont do Nomours
and Company
Industry and Public Utilities
President of the Chamber of Commerco
Director of the Legal Department of the Horculos Powder Company
Industrial Kccidont Board
Traffic Manager of the Marine Terminal
Chief Engineer, City Water Department
Juvenile Delinquoncf
Superintendent of the Forris Industrial School
Juvenile Court
Superintendent of the Girls' Industrial School
Crime and the Courts
City Solicitor
Now Castle County Workhouse
Wilmington Police Force
Housing, Parks, and Playgrounds
Chamber of Commerce
Police Force
Superintendent of Parks
Secretary of the Wilmington Housing Commission
Member of the Wilmington Housing Commission
Real Estate Owner
Public Health
Superintendent of Nurses, Wilmington General Hospital
Superintendent of the Brandywine Sanatorium
Head Turse, Edgowood Sanatorium
City Nurse, Board of Health
City Bacteriologist
City Meat Inspector
Board of Health
City Physician
County Tuberculosis Association
Social Welfare Organization
People's Settlement
Summarizing the findings of those committees on the problem of juvenile
delinquency, the teacher reports as follows:
"The students discovered rnany facts most surprising to them. One girl
found a statement in a local newspaper to the effect that there were no slur
areas in the city. After various interviews with community groups and agencies,
she learned that technically the term 'slum area' was defined as five or more
city blocks of sub-standard dwellings. In ilrmington there are no such areas
as housing conditions vary considerably even within blocks and thus, technically,
the newspaper was correct. The students were much amused at this explanation.
-55-
Another member of the class wont to the police department to find out the limits
of the slum areas. The police officials told him that Wilmington had no slum
areas but, then, as the boy remarked, took him around town in a police car and
showed him the districts. Students became increasingly sensitive to the way slum
areas wore 'explained away.'
"From the juvenile court students learned that 85 per cent of all
delinquency cases came from certain areas in the city. From the board of health
they learned that most of the cases of tuberculosis and of venereal diseases
that wore being treated at the various clinics also came from the same areas.
They also discovered thnt little had been done to alleviate these conditions.
The mnno7 earmarked by Congress for Delaware had been held up because of a
difference of opinion between federal and state authorities as to the interpreta-
tion of a state law. Students, by presenting their findings to the class in
oral reports, opened up manr new phases of the problems for the discussion of
the group.
"I.n 5immarizing our uses of this film, it should be noted that Juvenile
Delinquency had the capacity to arouse student awareness to the point of motivat-
ing a study of actual conditions in the community. It seemed also to sensitize
the students toward social action so that what they did after seeing the film
seemed more important than what they said."6
This report is quoted at length to show the role of motion pictures in
developing "social sensitivity." This term is increasingly used to designate the
development of awareness on the part of students that social problems actually
exist, and that something ought to be done about them. The dramatic qualities of
motion pictures, their realistic dealing with social problems, and their inherent
action make them particularly susceptible for use in attaining the objective of
social sensitivity. It should be noted in this use of a film, as in the others
described in this chapter, the film was an integral part of the classroom pro ..
cedure and it was followed by analytical study of the applicationof what was
shown in the film to the community situation.
Some Principles of Film Use
Throughout the discussions of uses of films in various units cited,
attempt has been made to point out several of the circumstances that led to
effective use in various curriculum areas and in the attainment of various ob-
jectives of student growth. Before attempting to set forth any sot of principloc
that should govern film use in school, it is necessary to become familiar with the
motion picture as a medium of communication so that it is possible to understand
the kinds of experiences children have when films are used in school.
The discussion of the role of films in science teaching, prepared by
Richard G. Sagobeer of Tower Hill School, and published in A School Uses Motion
Pictures, is so cogently prepared, so rich in insights, and so generally applicable
to the use of motion pictures throughout the curriculum, that it is reproduced
hero without alteration.
"The use of films in the teaching of science would appear to have value
for children of all ages in school. They extend greatly the horizons of the
science class. They are practical substitutes for travel and show at least
selected views of strange topography, exotic plant and animal forms, and the
-56-
activities of people in foreign lands. They give access to industrial processes
and allow an infinite variety of quick comparisons. The microscope field becomes
visible to whole groups and the tempo of any process can be increased or decreased
at will for the convenience of the eye.
"The versatility of the camera is not strange to students, but its full
range may surprise them. The teacher will wisely provide against such surprise
when it might detract from the purposes.-of the film. The antics of a microscopic
protozoan may be merely amusing unless the students have found more interesting
reasons for seeing such a film. Faulty logic is usually amusing. & given film
may or may not be appropriate at the time it is shown during a particular course.
It is, after all, simply a matter of.logic. The teacher can accomplish much that
is entirely beyond the control of the commentator in this respect. Moreover, the
teacher is able to know, before the film is shown in class, exactly what the com-
mentator will say.
"Moving pictures provide a flexible teaching medium which seems to have
special value in the teaching of science. Phenomena can be shown in their natural
setting when desired or can be shown abstracted from this setting through
the use of animation. Sound films can be shown with or without the commentator.
Any film can be interrupted or repeated. Many machines allow the film to be
stopped for the closer inspection of a particular frame, a most useful factor
in showing science films.
"In addition to this mechanical flexibility, however, there are several
other important aspects. The opportunity to proviow a film gives the teacher
many advantages. The situation itself can be altered and the introduction
prepared ahead of time. Many films are accompanied by a manual, enabling the
teacher to answer those questions actually asked without introducing too much
material beyond the comprehension of the group. Finally, the ability to control
the situation and to reproduce it may be found valuable in obtaining educational
measurements for research or other purposes.
"Films may be used in many instances to give to students that sense of
acquaintance which comes only from seeing the thing itself. A picture of the
assembling and operation of an automobile motor offers satisfaction to the
mechanically minded, and to a degree not even approximated by diagrams and text.
To others, the giraffe must be seen in action to be fully appreciated.
"An interesting liability attends this last point. Suppose the student
does become visually acquainted with the giraffe, he still may know very little
about the animal. How much value such superficial acquaintance may have is a
very real question,. particularly if the student presumes too much upon it. There
are at least two answers--one negative and the other positive. One film certainly
cannot and should not pretend to tell all about giraffes, or about motors. Nor
can a series of films Zoos and shops are still needed, and so are teachers.
So much for the negative reply. The implication that films may give reassuring
visual products which, nevertheless, tend to be superficial bears scrutiny. This
actually may be the tradition of the 'movie theater' and even of the 'educational
films' shown there between features. If so, additional responsibilities are
placed upon the school and the teacher in using films for specific education. The
teacher will see, however, that the very nature of the learning product produced
by a moving picturo--essentially visual and frequently not amplified by verbal
comment--con be a tremendous asset, if utilized. The student who can verbalize
adequately after seeing the film has proved beyond dnubt his ability, for he has
-57-
not been able merely to repeat parrot-like what he has heard or read. The
student who cannot comment freely and accurately does not yet have this ability,
but he does have a stimulating need for the acquisition of such facility. Here,
if at all, he can be taught to supply the words necessary to describe his ex-
perience. Ho hears others do it, and the teacher can oven allow him to repeat his
own experience, if necessary, by a second showing.
"It must appear, therefore, that the use of films in teaching science"
(as in other areas of the curriculum)"holds much promise. Many technical
difficulties are being overcome by newer pictures and many devices will be
discovered by teachers for introducing films more effectively, for stimulating
and directing discussions, and for organizing the results. The films themselves
are admirable scientific tools. They can take apart and put together, slow down
and speed up, magnify and reduce. They can reproduce in natural colors, they can
add sound effects. Their use increases the responsibility of the teacher--it
does not dispense with him. "
Sagebeer's last words may be heartening to those elements which have
mistakenly believed that the motion picture in school would result in dispensing
with both the textbook and the teacher. There is a subtle virus.abroad in the
land that spreads these baseless fears about, and to no small degree obstructs
the development of motion pictures in education, and hence the developing
effectiveness of the school program to moot the needs of boys and of girls, to
build a more effective manhood and womanhood that can attain peace and justice
in the world. Fr from eliminating the teacher and the textbook, the school
use of motion pictures increases the need for more effective teachers and
teaching, for more effective textbooks and other reading materials.
After two years of intensive experimentation in the use of films through-
out the curriculum, Santa Barbara teachers formulated principles governing the
usage of films as follows:
"1. There must be a definite curriculum purpose for using a motion
picture.
2. The motion picture must be an integral part of the classroom work.
3. After the motion picture has been shown, there should be time for
child reaction to the picture and these reactions should constitute a check on
learning.
4. The teacher is to guide the work in the developing of the recog-
nized purpose.
5. A general procedure may be used to ease the class into a discussion
situation which will encourage free and spontaneous reactions. This may result
in several types of behavior such as discussion, construction, and creative
activities, using dance, music, art, or oral expression.
6. An opportunity should be given for the raising of new problems,
the altering of old ones, or setting new purposes.
7. Provision should be made for the satisfaction of these now problems
or purposes."8
7Ibid., pp. 75-78
8Reginald Bell, Leo F. Cain, Lillian A. Lamoreaux and others, Motion
Pictures in a Modorn Curriculum, pp. 170-171.
-58-
The Santa Barbara curriculum, in its basic philosophy and its structure,
is very much like that developing in Florida. While there are some variations in
the scope and sequence, there is much resemblance between the Santa Barbara
program and that set forth in our Florida State Bulletins Nine and Ten. Exper-
iences in developing the use of motion pictures in the Florida curriculum may
reasonably be expected to parallel those in Santa Barbara. For this reason, the
very excellent discussion of methodology and range of usefulness of motion
pictures prepared by Doctors Boll, Cain, and Lamoroaux at Santa Barbara, California,
is reproduced hero for the benefit of Florida teachers just beginning the systemat-
ic use of films in the curriculum.
"Teachers found films effective for meeting different methodological
needs. Lotion pictures wore used to introduce or initiate a lesson or a unit.
They were presented when interest lagged during the progress of the unit. They
were found helpful in supplying concrete information of widely varying kinds,
such as specific data on processes, conditions, cultures. They stimulated or
forwarded research on-the part of the children. They awakened or clarified
child purpose, gave now impetus to construction and to creative activities in
the course of the unit. They were used to carry through reviews of units nearly
completed as well as to initiate new ones. They proved valuable in unit culmina-
tion. Those who had thought of films as being limited to any one kind of con-
tribution found their colleagues using them for different purposes; then they
themselves began to experiment and gained skill and flexibility in using motion
pictures to great advantage.
"Although the use of films was extended to many classrooms, teachers
gradually came to realize that there were no formulae which would indicate the
'bost' way in which to use films. No sot procedure could be effectively
developed for the use of specific kinds of films; no dogmatic rules could be
applied for grade-level selection of material; no 'method' of approach could
be called the 'right' one. Although teachers came to realize that in order to
use a film adequately the practice of becoming familiar with the material was
essential, continued use showed that each film must be adapted to the specific
classroom situation.
"Teachers also came to realize that no 'best' number of showings could
be determined. Hero, again, the number of times a film was shown was determined
by the teaching situation. A film was found to have many possibilities of use
just as has a good reference book. Some films treat one specific aspect of a
specific topic and perhaps contribute their maximum value in one showing. Other
films may demand reshowing since it appears that they can effectively serve as
stimulation for new points of emphasis. Others, because of the technicality of
the subject presented, may demand two or more showings .
"As teachers began to develop their understandings and appreciations of
the principles and methodology of motion picture usage, they also became aware
of a quality of motion pictures as instructional materials that they had not
anticipated: the same motion picture is often usable at widely different grade
levels and for many different purposes. They had become so accustomed to concepts
of grade placement of both units and reading materials that they had applied those
same more or loss rigid concepts to motion pictures. In other words, they thought
that a given motion picture had a particular grade-level and subject-matter appli-
cation, and that the use of a given motion picture was limited to this specific
grade level and subject matter.
-59-
"Whilo not all motion pictures used in the exploratory study at Santa
Barbara had an equally wide range of usefulness, the majority of them wore
found useful on more than one grade level and in more than one subject-matter
relationship. The Wheat Farmer,9 for instance, was used successfully from the
kindergarten through the eleventh grade. The kindergarten teacher used the film
to acquaint the children with a different kind of farm and farmer than could be
found around Santa Barbara. The third and fourth grade teachers used the film
to help the children to understand our great dependence on workers who make
plants serve us, and to answer the question of what has to be done before plants
can be of use to us. A fifth-grade teacher used the film to show methods of
farming and types of machinery used, and a ninth-grade teacher used it to present
the stops and methods used in raising and processing wheat. In the eleventh grade,
the film was used to develop an appreciation of the need for conserving both
natural and human resources.
"Many other examples could be given of the wide grade and subject
range of motion pictures, particularly those which deal with people and what they
do. The interesting thing about films like Th he Wheat Farmr is that teachers in
the many grades rate them uniformly good or excellent.
"An important conclusion regarding the use of motion pictures emerged
during the second year: effective use of motion pictures in the curriculum is
not to be judged by the quantity of films used by teachers. Actually, effective-
ness of use increased during the second year as the number of films used decreased.
Remarkably enough, with the decrease in the number of films used there was a
corresponding increase in the number of teachers using films in the classroom.
The actual quantity of motion pictures shown in school has little relation to the
effectiveness of a curriculum motion picture program.
"On the basis of our experience it would seem that no school system
is justified in taking the position that no films will be used in the curriculum
because there is not complete motion picture coverage available for all areas
of the curriculum. While the existing motion pictures leave much to be desired,
both in technical quality and in subject matter covered,thero is hardly an area
in the Santa Barbara curriculum for which films are not now available, and there
is a surprising diversity of motion pictures available in many curriculum areas.
"In respect to the available educational films, there is no great
problem in adapting them to the kind of developmental curriculum represented by the
Santa Barbara schools. If a motion picture is made as a motion picture, not just
as a series of unrelated scenes, it can be used effectively in a dynamic curricu-
lum. Orientation and adaptation of use is primarily the responsibility of the
teacher. The good teacher adapts the materials of instruction to the orientation
of the curriculum and to the needs of the children. If a motion picture does
a good job of covering an important area of subject matter, whether it be in the
field of physics or social studies, and this subject matter is important in the
kind of a world the children live in, it is the kind of motion picture which can
be used very effectively in the modern curriculum, regardless of whether the
curriculum is labeled 'progressive' or 'traditional.' Indeed, good motion pictures
go a long way to make a good curriculum."10
9Available from Division of General Extension, University of Florida.
O1Bell, Reginald; Cain, Leo F; Lamoroaux, Lillian A; and others, Motion
Pictures in a Modern Curriculum: A Report on the Use of Films in the Santa
Barbara Schools, American Council on Education Studies, Washington, D.C., May,
1941, pp. 171-174.
-60-
Free Films and Auditorium Use
Two major questions inevitably arise when a school begins to develop
its use of motion pictures:
Shall we use free films or shall we acquire films by purchase or rental?
Shall we show films in the auditorium whore the whole school can be
assembled, or shall we show them in the classroom to individual classes?
The position of the committoo preparing this bulletin is probably
abundantly clear in the foregoing discussions. As a general rule, the policy
formulated by this committee opposes use of free films in school and exclusive
showing of films in the auditorium. There are, however, circumstances which
justify the use of free films and the auditorium showing of films to the entire
school.
"Freo" films are not good or bad because they are free, but because of
the point of view and the material presented in the films. There are many films
available from state agencies without cost to schools that are excellent instruc-
tional materials. Films from the State Board of Soalth dealing with community
health, preventive health, causes and cures of various diseases are important
films and because they aro important they are made available by state agencies
to schools without cost. On the other hand, thoro are films produced by in-
dustrial and commercial concerns for the solo purpose of advertising a product,
promoting a certain economic doctrine, or selling a particular brand of goods
that have no place in the schools. It is not the business of the school to sell
Campboll's, Heinz' or Blackwoll's soup. It may be the business of the school to
point out the nutritive value of soup and its importance in a rounded diet, but
not to introduce instructional material that leads pupils to believe that those are
the exclusive possession of one particular brand of soup against all other brands.
The question, then, in deciding whether free films will be shown in school is not
how much advertising is contained in a film, but what is advertised and how it is
advertised. The National Tuberculosis Association, for instance, "advertises" in
films the methods that are available in detecting tuberculosis, in treating and
curing the disease. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey "advertises" the
way it gathers and broadcasts news on the Esso news radio program. General
Motors "advertises" the principles of the Diesel motor and shows how those
principles have been applied to the development of streamlined trains. Kotro-
politan Life Insurance Company "advertises" the need for prevention of accidents
and reduction of casualty rates.
The real basis on which films are selected is the extent to which they
contribute to and enrich the curriculum. There are excellent films available
from industrial and commercial concerns, free to schools, that do make this
contribution, that are correlated with the major emphasis of the curriculum
program, and that do not contain advertising materials that are highly competi-
tive or against the public interest. But complete reliance on those films for
the motion picture program, merely because no cost is involved, is indefensible
from the curriculum point of view. No school would depend on free advertising
or public relations pamphlets or books for its reading materials, nor should it
depend on their equivalent for the motion picture program.
Similarly, there are films that are easily adaptable to auditnrium use,
but many of the films produced for classroom use arc not suitable for showing
in the auditorium with large and unselected groups of students. For instance,
a film dealing with the principles and laws of heredity and made for use in
college instruction is hardly appropriate for auditorium showing in the elementary
-61-
school. The concepts presented and the diagrams and animations used in the film
are much too abstract and too complex to be understood by elementary school
children. Furthermore, unless there is adequate provision for preparatory and
follow-up activity, a short instructional film shovn among several others in an
auditorium program, is likely to be soon forgotten. There is an air about the
auditorium that is not conducive to readiness and interest in ro~l learning, and
films shown as part of a general entertainment program in the auditorium may
prove to be both poor entertainment and poor education.
On the other hand, there are some films of a general nature, that per-
tain to certain common elements of the curriculum, th!ot may be selected for a
unified program suitable to the auditorium. At the P. K. Yongo school, during
the 1941 Workshop, a program of this sort was arranged. Give Me Liberty and
Declaration of Independence, each two-reel subjects produced in Technicolor for
the theater, but now available to schools, wore selected and shown on the morning
of July 1. They v\oro appropriate to the Fourth of July holiday to follow; they
dealt with the subject of American independence and the Declaration of Independence
being celebrated; and they wore of a general dramatic quality that hold the inter-
est of the audience, irrespective of ago and particular workshop interest.
Films used in the auditorium should be selected with even greater care
than those used in the classroom,since there is no opportunity provided in
auditorium use of films to check on the kinds of learning, the kinds of mis-
conceptions that may have been developed by the children from the film showing.
Films are not the Little Magic Knowlofego Builders that some people think them to
be. Many children got wrong notions from films, many films are outside the
comprehension of children, and without some provision of discussion and inter-
action of the children and the film, many films pass into psychological oblivion
when the boll rings and the auditorium program is over.
If it is accepted that motion pictures are curriculum materials, then
it must also be accepted that, as a general rule, their place of showing is in
the classroom at the time they fit into the unit, and as a part of an integral
series of activities.
Selection and Evaluation
It follows that if films are to be used in the curriculum they should
be selected and evaluated in terms of curriculum purposes. This means that they
should be ordered in advance so as to arrive at the time appropriate for their
use, they should be carefully previewed, and plans should be made in advance for
their use in the unit.
It is often said that no two teachers ever agroo on the value of a film.
This is true, when they are evaluating a film in terms of different purposes, but
it is not particularly true when the teachers are evaluating it in terms of the
same purposes. For instance, a film on soap carving may be rated excellent by
one teacher and useless by another. The first teacher may be appraising the film
in terms of its value in showing certain techniques of soap carving, kinds of soap
best adapted to carving, and kinds of objects that may be carved out of soap. The
other tc cher may be appraising the film in terms of certain principles of sculp-
turing that have been applied to stone and bronze by the world's great sculptors
and are a part of art appreciation. For the one teacher it was an excellent film;
for the other it was useless. The variation on value assigned to the film re-
sulted from variation of purpose for which the film was to be used in the curriculum
-62-
Had purposes boon clearly definite in the beginning, it is likely the two teachers
would have agrood in thoir rating.
As a matter of fact, thoro is surprising lack of disagreement on the
value of any film when the film is appraised in terms of the purpose it may
logically servo. In developing this bulletin, the committee appraised a large
number of films available from the Division of General Extension, University of
Florida. There was little variation in the values assigned. The reason for
the uniformity of ratings lies in the fact that the committee rated the films in
terms of purposes they could serve in the curriculum. The value was assigned in
terms of the excellence of the film for those purposes, limitations of how much
material can be presented in one reel of sound film intended for classroom use
being kept in mind in the rating.
The film French Canadian Children was rated excellent by the committee.
It was agreed th-.t it could be used to develop an understanding of the cultural
characteristics of French Canadians, the kinds of homes they live in, their
occupations, their moans of transportation, their schools, and their dross; the
occupations in the winter time; and the general appearance of the St. Lawrence
valley in winter. nhat was particularly liked was the story form of the film,
centering around the lives of two Fronch-Canadian children, their relation to
their parents, and the events in a typical day. The teachers would have liked
to have some of the French-Canadian dialogue translated by the commentator.
They agreed that in the use of this film, other materials and student activities
would be necessary to bring out certain other facts relating to clirnto and
occupations in the summer, and other occupations in the winter, such as logging.
They rated photography and sound excellent since they could see what they wore
supposed to see and hear what they were supposed to hear. They indicated the film
would be best suited to social studies in the upper elementary grades but that it
would be very useful in grades above and below this level, in geography or social
studies units, as background for literature dealing with the French-Canadians such
as Evangoline, that it would stimulate discussion and reading and other activities
in the unit when used by a teacher who believed in these activities, and that
many problems vould be raised for investigation by the children. On the basis of
these considerations, they gave the film an over-all rating of'bxcollont."
Teachers using films should have an opportunity to appraise films in
these terms before using them in class, and to plan for their use in terms of
the kinds of situations presented in the films. Then films are ordered for
use in any unit in a school, opportunity can be provided for presenting those
films to all teachers in the school so they may become familiar with its content,
develop discriminations toward educational films, plan the uses they might make
of the film, and record their reactions for future reference. The chairman of
the school's visual education committee may be made responsible for such appraisal
and for keeping the records of toachor reactions to all films. In this way, a
cumulative record of films will be available in the school, and much waste in
ordering films ill-adapted to school use may be eliminated. A handy evaluation
form, adapted from that developed by the Motion Picture Project, American Council
on Education, riay be used for this purpose.
.63-
Motion Picture Appraisal
(After the Motion Picture Project, Amerioan Oouncil on Etucation)
Namo of Film
Rental Source
.________ Longth __
Producer
So-Si- Teacher
Strong Points:
Weak Points:
General Comments:
Photography
Sound
General Rating
12345
12345
12345
Rating
Educational Purpose Served 1-2-3-4-5 Grade Level Unit or Subject
t_________________--------------- 1------------______
I It i II L It
-64-
This general pattern of evaluation may be adapted to use by the teacher
after use in class. The basis of evaluation then changes from what purposes the
film will potentially servo, to how well it served particular purposes with a
particular group. To the questions asked in the preview appraisal form must be
added the question: What reactions of the students led you to believe the purposes
wore served? On the basis of the reactions of your blass, the film is given a
general rating. When these questions are asked it is necessary to know the ago
level of the group, and the kinds of activities that preceded and followed the
film showing, for the evaluation is no longer a general one but a particular
evaluation in terms of particular purposes with a particular group in a particular
situation.
It can likowiso be adapted to use with pupils. Instead of asking the
student what purposes the film served, it might be better to ask them what they
learned from the film. Likewise the teacher will want to know what they liked
best, what they liked least, what they would like to do following the film
showing. Those questions will evoke a series of answers amazing to the teacher
who idly believes that all children observe the some things in a given motion
picture, react uniformly to the film, and learn exactly what the teacher hopes
they will learn in exactly the hoopd-for manner. Use of student evaluation
forms, easily developed along this pattern, is well worth the trouble. Those
reactions provide excellent diagnostic material which may be used in planning
follow-up activities, correcting wrong impressions, retoaching basic concepts,
and reshowingT the film.
Sources of Films
There are literally hundreds of sources of motion pictures in the
United States. .'or Florida teachers this list can be simplified to a few basic
sources easily accessible and adequately stocked with excellent educational films.
The cooperative film library of the Division of General Extension,
University of Florida, Gainesville, has an excellent nucleus of classroom films
and a wide selection of the best of the industrial and government films. The
Division's excellently selected collection of free films are available to all
schools of the state. The following rules govern the service:
1. Films are scheduled for one day's showing unless otherwise spoocified.
2. The only charge is transportation from Gainesvillo and return.
When films are sent by express, they may be returned for half the outgoing rate.
3. The borrower is responsible for the return of films in good condi-
tion. Lost or damaged films will be charged at the cost of replacement.
4. All uses of films must be reported on blanks supplied by the
Department.
5. Requests should be made as far in advance as possible, since in most
cases only one print of each film is available. Second choices should be in-
dicated when another film may be substituted for the one requested.
The Florida Cooperative Film Library is centered in the General
Extension Division. A school must be a member of this Library to use its films,
but it need not be a member to have access to the industrial and government films
also maintained by the Division.
-65-
The Florida Cooperative Film Library maintains a collection of educa-
tional films purchased by Florida schools for their joint use and by commier6il
sponsors, such as the Sparks' Theaters of Florida, who are assisting in this way
to help Florida schools develop best use of classroom films. The films of this
Library arc circulated among member schools by the Department of Visual Instruc-
tion of the Extension Division which acts as the Library's distributing agent.
The films in this Library are designed especially for classroom use and are among
the best teaching films available in their several fields.
Library membership and access to those films are open to any Florida
school. The only requirement is the purchase and deposit with the Library of
one reel of approved classroom film.
One roll of sound film priced at forty-five dollars permits the donor
the use of sixty Library films over a period of.two years. The cost per booking
is,thus,just seventy-five cents. One reel of silent film privod at twenty-four
dollars permits the use of thirty films during a one-year period. Library members
have unlimited use of industrial films and pay all transportation charges on all
films.
All schools in Florida are urged to become members of the Florida Co-
operative Film Library, or, in case of largo city school systems, to begin to
build up their own film library resources. The advantage of the Cooperative
Library is that it is a constant growing thing; the more schools that become
members, the wider the choice of films available to any one school. Furthermore,
membership over a period of years automatically increases the number of films
available, since one film must be deposited every two years. Perhaps the greatest
feature of a cooperative library is that it is owned by member schools. This
means that members take full advantage of their membership, since they have a stake
in the library, and they are much more careful to avoid film damage for the same
reason. Film damage in the Florida Cooperative Film Library has been hold to a
minimum, largely because of the feeling of belonging and of individual responsi-
bility which all schools share toward this Library.
An extensive educational film library is maintained by the Division of
General Extension, University System of Georgia, 223 Walton Street, N. W., Atlanta,
Georgia. This Library has perhaps one of the widest assortments of films for
school use of any film library in the country. It is, like the Florida Library,
efficiently staffed and efficiently administered. Films may be rented from this
Library for educational use any place in the country. Write for their catalogue
for film titles, descriptions, and rental prices.
Similar libraries, not so extensive in size, are also located in the
Extension Division of the Universities of South Carolina, North Carolina, and
Louisiana.
The most extensive general film catalogue in the country may be pur-
chased from the H. W. Wilson Company, 950 University Avenue, New York City. This
catalogue is developed according to the Dowey-decimal system, which many people
find particularly confusing. Once the reader has learned the system, the cata-
logue is an extraordinarily usable document.
The American Council on Education hos published within the last '.years a
catalogue of approximately 450 films widely useful in general education. Each
film is described in detail, the purposes for which it can be used are enumerated,
ratings based on classroom use are given, grade level adaptability is indicated,
and all known sources from which the film may be purchased or rented are indicated.
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A card index catalogue is published by the Euucational Screen, 64 East
Lake Street, Chicago. This catalogue is compiled on the basis of teacher reports
on film usage.
The best advice to the beginning school is to obtain the catalogues of
the University Libraries mentioned above. If the films are not available from
these libraries, the chances are they will be difficult to secure when wanted.
Projection Equipment, Its Selection and Use
Effective use of motion Picturos in the curriculum requires the careful
purchase of a 16-mm projector, provision of room darkening and ventilation
facilities, and development of a staff of well-trained, efficient operators.
Before any of this i discussed in detail, a word of advice must be
presented: do not acquire a 16-mm motion picture projector without first setting
aside sufficient funds to provide for the use of films in this projector throughout
the school year. A projector is no good without films, and not very good if only
advertising films are to be used. Make a study of the films that are available,
how they fit into the curriculum, where they can be secured, and how much they
will cost before buying a projector; If funds available are sufficient only for
the projector and there are no funds for the use of films in this projector, sot
the funds aside until forty-five dollars more can be raised for membership in the
Florida Cooperative Film Library, or for rental of classroom films from some
other source.
Selection of Projection EquipmentlO
Some Americans drive the same mako car year after year. Others seem to
live for the opportunity of changing makes. Most cars are reliablo--tho choice
is a matter of personal preference. The same may be said about projectors,
except that one is unlikely to trade them in every year.
What then should be considered?
Educational films are rapidly being standardized in 16-mm. There are
films of an educational character in 35-mm, but this field is quickly narrowing.
Further, even when entertainment films are released to non-theatrical users, they
are released in 16-mm size. Practically all educational subject producers are
releasing their films on 16-mm stock. The projector, then, should be 16-mm.
When purchased, projection equipment is used for many years. Considered
in this light, the extra cost of sound equipment is not so unreasonable. The
trend is toward the sound film. We will not stop to discuss this trend beyond
saying that sound films have a greater appeal to pupils because of their dynamic
character, and because in the motion picture theatre the silent film is passe'.
Another advantage of the sound projector is that it can be used to show silent
films. Sound films cannot be used on a silent projector. The extra sot of
sprockets on a silent projector punch dents--or even holos--in the sound track of
the sound film. This ruins the sound film--at the rate of $4.50 a minute or 710
a second, as you will find if you are tempted to try it. The other advantage of
sound projectors is that, by the addition of a microphone, most of them can be
l pFift-r conts spent for Projecting Motion Pictures in the Classroom from the
American Council on Education, Washington, D. 0. may be cheap insurance against
purchasing expensive equipment not fitted to your use.
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used as a public address system.
The best accepted practice in the use of educational films is to use
them in the classroom as an integrated part of the class work. For this reason it
is best to select one of the one- or two-case, portable types. They use Mazda
lamps which are of ample power in auditoriums seating up to 1200, as well as in
the classroom. There are 16-mm portable arc projectors which are vory efficient,
but which, to all practical purposes are not portable. It is best to learn how
limited their use is from the experionco of others. They are not adaptable to a
flexible program of educational motion picture use.
In addition to the foregoing you should:
1. Investigate the standing of the salesman who is trying to mako the
sale.
2. Confine your tests to the standard makes of machine.
3. Find out how available repair facilities are in caso of need. (Needs
do arise.)
4. Know where the machine must go for overhauling. (It comes eventually.)
5. Try machines together under your operating conditions in the place
where you will use them. If impossible to try out together, keep careful notes on
each machine tested.
6. Do not lot the sales representative use a cartoon as a demonstration
film. Use some kind of film as will be used by your classes.
7. Sit in all parts of room to test what the children--not the operators
--are to see and hoar.
8. Note how hot the machine gets, how clear-cut is the full imago, noise
of machine, flicker or jump on screen, quality as well as volume of sound, ease of
threading film, accessibility of parts in operation, provision for central oiling.
9. Do not be tempted by gadgets such as reverse, ability to stop on
single frame, etc. Experience shows that teachers seldom use them and that they
are very likely to cause film damage if not thoroughly understood.
Again, let us recommend that you study some of the best publications on
visual aids before you purchase equipment. Do not be rushed I
Operation of Projectors
A specific training program, however, should be set up for all those who
may operate the projector since valuable films are often seriously damaged by poor
operating techniques. At all times, the policy of training will be determined on
the basis of answers to several questions:
1. Is the school planning to make extensive classroom use of films?
2. Will a limited use of films for assembly be substituted for classroom
use of films?
3. Can the school be organized so as to provide for projection as a
student activity?
A few schools in the state have boon able to establish a part time
director of visual instruction. This, of course, simplified the -roblem of
operation and training of operators. Among important duties in care and use of
projection equipment that a director may encounter are (1) making an inventory
of the projection equipment in the school, (2) arranging for servicing of worth-
while old equipment, (3) placing orders for necessary replacements, and (4) training
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teachers and student operators. Often too many minor time consuming details are
expected of the person administratively in charge of the motion picture program,
and the important training of teacher and student operators is neglected.
Different methods of training of teachers-in-scrvice have been tried
in various schools. The director of visual instruction or some teacher, particular-
ly interested and qualified, may serve as an instructor. Copies of instruction
shoots, well illustrated, can usually be obtained from the company that manufactured
the machine onved by the school, for use by interested teachers. Some slides and
films showing detailed study of machine parts, the threading moves, how the sound
is produced, may also bo obtained. Short periods of instruction, so planned that
the teachers actually thread the film and adjust the machine are probably more
effective than long periods of verbal instruction. A practice roll of film that
the individual teacher may use whenever she has time to do so, may help to give
her a feeling of confidence. An operator's card issued after a qualifying examina-
tion, and expiring at the close of the school year serves a twofold purpose (1)
creating a just prido in the person obtaining the license and (2) withholding the
use of the machine from those not qualified to operate it.
It has frequently been suggested that a Student Operators' Club might be
formed at the beginning of the school year. Students will usually consider it an
honor to become qualified as operators. They soon realize the value of the equip-
ment and hol- to take care of it. Plans may be worked out through the Students'
Club to furnish trained operators for each period of the day and also to care for
other projection problems in classrooms and auditorium. A special "Operator's
License," issued each semester, and based upon examination of ability to operate
and care for the machine, creates a real pride in the student. Many personal
qualifications dealing with cooperative work might be considered in giving the
students a little higher rating. Often students take a greater interest in school
work and school property if given some of those added responsibilities. Students
enjoy working in teams in a classroom, and together a toom can care for the obtain-
ing of films and other aids, getting the machine ready for projection, darkening
the room, planning for ventilation, and replacing all equipment at an appropriate
time during the period.
Operators should be expected to pass performance tests on basic skills.
This will depend upon the individual school and how interested teachers and students
may be in caring for projectors and films, so that others that follow may profit
by their integrity. The following performances should be chocked before student
licenses are issued:
isBasic Skills Needed for Projection Operationl1
1. Assembling equipment
2. Positioning machine for proper screen size
3. Cleaning optical equipment
4. leaning aperture gate
5. Adjusting controls shockingg volume and tone)
6. Threading
7. Focusing
8. Framing imago on screen
9. Inspecting film for possible damage while machine is in operation
10. Emorgoncy splicing of film (with paper clip)
11Francis W. Nool, Projecting Motion Pictures in the Classroom, American
Council on Education, Washington, D. 0. 1i7cvrmber, 1940, p. 50.
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11. Rewinding
12. Disassembling equipment and packing it (whore necessary)
13. Oiling projector
Other Desirable Skills not Necossary Under Most Classroom Conditions
1. Replacing projection lamp
2. Replacing and adjusting exciter lamp
3. Replacing fuse
4. Checking and replacing tubes
5. Repairing electrical extension cords
6. Splicing films
7. Cleaning films"
Illumination and Projection12
Proper balance between room and screen illumination is basic in success-
ful projection of motion picture. Provision must,thereforo,be made for proper
illumination conditions before motion pictures are used.
Several factors are involved in securing proper screen illumination.
Equipment. Modern lens and higher povrr IMazda are essential to good
production. Often older projectors may be modernized with the noewr types of
lens and light globes. As a rule, this should be done at the factory.
Physical condition of equipment. Efficiency of equipment has direct
bearing upon adequate screen illumination. Reflectors, lens, and lights must be
kept in best condition as they effect projector performance.
Density of films. Films vary in density. Poor light conditions in
filming scenes result in poor projection. Amatour films have groat variation
in density, while animated cartoons with little detail and high contrasts project
well under very unfavorable conditions.
Dirjtani .re t croon tfo rGmoe npr odnat, h.n a o.=ofthe picture.
These two closely related factors are important to the study of illumination prob-
lems. The greater the distance the projector is placed from the screen, the larger
the size of the picture-provided the same focal length of lens is used. A size
of throe and one-half to four foot in width is most satisfactory for a thirty-foot
classroom. With a standard focal length lens (two inches), the distance from
projector will havo to be approximately twenty foot to obtain this size picture.
Increasing the distance from projector to screen produces a larger but loss bril-
liantly illuminated picture. The nearer the projector to the screen, the smaller
the picture and the brighter the picture. Therefore, the larger the picture
desired, the darker the room must be to maintain proper illumination of the screen.
12Based on Francis W. Noel, Projecting Motion Pictures in the Classroom,
Amorican Council on Education, November, 1940.
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The importance of the screen. Poor projection is often caused by a
faulty soroon. Thore are two general classifications of scroens--boaded and flat
white or silver. The surface of the screen has direct bearing upon the efficiency
of lighting. A flat surface screen, either white or silver, is oroferred by many
since it produces a more satisfactory lighting from all anglos of the room. A
beaded screen reflects more brilliant pictures but only for those directly in front
of the screen or at a narrow angle from the center.
Effect of window eoposuro. Often, well fitted Venetian blinds are suf-
ficient whore the exposure is northern and morning hours are used for projection.
However, south exposure requires good darkening equipment for any hour of the day.
Provision for ventilation should be made if the room is to be darkened for a long
period of time.
7ays of darkening classrooms are varied in methods and costs. Probably
the most satisfactory and economical method is the use of curtain or drapes. For
this purpose blue or brown denim--the lowly "overall" variety--is practical. These
are colors which harmonize well with other colors in the classroom. They do not
fade whon exposed to strong light. Furthermore, the material is heavy enough to
make lining unnecessary.
There are two methods of hanging curtains in general use. One is the
use of rings attached to the curtain and slipped over a hollow tube or wooden rod.
The second method of hanging is the use of a track. The best results are obtained
from the use of metallic tracks and roller hangers.
Curtains should be made much longer and wider than the whole window
frame, thus avoiding streaks of light around the curtain. No fullness by the use
of folds is necessary if the curtains are wide enough amply to cover the window.
This generous length and breadth of the curtains allows considerable ventilation
with little light exposure.
Vonetion blinds are not generally suitable for no nrwtter how closely
they fit the window a certain amount of light filters through the openings of the
blind. Only in a situation whore the sunlight does not shine on the windows in
the morning may one use Vonotirn blinds with any rdoroe of satisfaction.
Paintoi windo" lights may be used in a room not needed for cny other
purpose but projection. The best method for this is painting the inside of the
glass with an opaque paint made by mixing powdered burnt umber with undiluted
condensed milk. This paint should have the consistency of thick cream to spread
easily. Oil paint applied either on the outside or on the inside may be used if
a more permanent finish is desired.
Frame inserts covered vith tar papor and hold in position by friction
between the frame and window opening have boon used for darkening a room. The
disadvantagos in this method arc the installation time required for each showing
of pictures, the problem of ventilation, and the problem of storing the frames
when not in use. Strong building paper is a cheap and adequate material for tempo-
rary use. As this paper is completely opaque and very strong it may be tacked to
the window frame without danger of tearing.
Audition factors are other important considerations in proper projection.
In a motion picture projector, the sound apparatus, with the exception of the
photo-electric coll, is similar to that of a radio sot. The light shining through
the sound track on the film is converted into electric enorgy by the photo-electric
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coll. This current is then amplified in a circuit much like a radio, until it
will operate a speaker whore this energy is converted back to sound.
Sound fidelity can be overstressed. There is a groat variation in the
quality of film sound tracks and if the sound is reproduced reasonably well, giving
clear enunciation when tested, further effort to got apparatus and room conditions
adjusted for theater-quality is not justified by the expense involved. Perfection
of light projection rather than high fidelity sound should be stressed. The oar is
not strained by limited frequency reproduction, while much eye fatigue and strain
may result from poor illumination. Present 16-mm school projectors involve a
frequency range from 500 to 5000 cycles. This is adequate for ordinary purposes,
and with the sound films now available. However, no purchase should be mado unless
the projector has boon tried out in the auditorium to test the sound.
Frequent checking of the electric equipment should be made. The phote-
electric cells or exciter loams of the projector will give little trouble,but the
condensers, like radio tubes, will need replacing occasionally. Mushy or noisy
reproduction is the result of faulty condensers.
The sound track on 16-mm film may vary greatly in quality. There are
several causes for this variation. Dirt, oil, and scratches on film, or, frequently
or poorly patched film, all lessen the quality of the sound. The kind of sound
being reproduced is another factor affecting the quality. Often music reproduction
may show considerable distortion while speech may be clear. The greater spread
of high and low-pitched tones in music is the reason for this.
The age of a film has bearing on the quality of reproduction. The
methods of recording today are so superior to those of a few years ago that the
date of the film is important in considering sound perfection.
The accoustical properties of the classroom must also be considered.
Few schools have boon built with proper planning for sound. However, sound may be
greatly improved by the use of curtains which eliminate one hard-wall surface.
The placing of the speaker in reference to the audience, the distance from the
wall, the angle to the wall, and the distance from the floor, all affect the
fidelity of the reproduced sound. The proper place for the speaker is found by
trying it in different positions while the students are seated, since an empty
room has a very different effect upon the reproduction of sound. Once this posi-
tion for the speaker has boon found, it is easy to mark it for the showing of films.
Ventilation during projection is a most important consideration. Fresh
air is essential regardless of darkening equipment. Forced draft ventilation
in some schools eliminates this important problem. However, many schools must
consider means of securing proper ventilation while the room is darkened. When
using shades, a window at the back of the room may be left open without having
direct light on the projection. Curtains permit some passage of air when the
windows are loft open. Where the projection is to last a full period some moans
of ventilation which allows rapid change of air should be provided. Electric fans
placed in an open window are probably the best method devised for this.
Screens vary as to kind, styles, and types. For classroom use, portable
screens, which roll into a protecting tube, are more efficient. Those may be had
with or without attached collapsible steel tripod legs. Often map hooks already
available may be used to hang the screen. Screens of rigid material suitably
framed may be used. However, the care of such screen when not in use is a problem.
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Location of the screen doecnds upon the darkness of the room. The center
of the front wall is ideal if the room is sufficiently darkened. Whore the room is
not properly darkened, the screen may be placed in a diagonal position at the front
corner nearest the window. The screen must be far enough from the audience, When
using a screen four feet in width, at least six foot is needed between the nearest
student and the screen. Screens should be hung with the bottom of the screen on
the eye level of the audience.
Screens may be constructed in the school. Colotox or similar rough mate-
rial may be coated with flot white paint ond bordered with a deep border of black
paint. Improvised screens for temporary use may be light colored walls, a shoot,
the white back of a map, or oven the blackboard chalked with an eraser. Those,
however, are unsatisfactory as a permanent arrangement.
There should be a table or a projector stand for the projector and
supplies. tho stand is preferable for, if properly designed, it can be pushed
from one classroom to another. One may be made in the school shop of welded
pipe with heavy castor. Handlos should be welded to each end of the stand.
One set at the top and one at the bottom of the stind make it easily carried from
one floor to the other. A chock should be made on the electrical outlets of the
room to be used for projection. Baso plugs must be fused to carry the heavy
electrical current. A 20-ampore fuse is adequate.
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Chapter Five
STILL PICTURES
Although the term "still pictures" usually refers only to such visual
aids as prints, photographs, drawings, magazine pictures, and textbook illustra-
tions, it is used in this chapter to designmto all pictorial visual aids other
than motion pictures. Thus, all unprotected pictures and the following projected
aids: pictorial materials used for opaque projection, stereographs, storoopticon
lantern slides, and filmslidos are grouped together for purposes of this dis-
cussion.
These several types of pictorial aids are fundamentally very similar.
The variation f'mong them, although at first glance it appears to be large, is
only in the medium of presentation not in the content. The same picture may occur
in the form of a colored print, a photograph, a storeograph, a lantern slide, or
a filmslido. It cannot occur as an object, specimon or model, nor as a map or
graph, nor as a motion picture. Those are fundamentally different media; they are
not still pictures. It is the purpose of this chapter to consider still pictures
in terms of (1) their selection, (2) their use, (3) mounting and filing, and (4)
typos of projection equipment.
A teacher wishing to use a picture of, let us sny, Yellowstone Canyon
from artists' Point has a number of types of pictorial aids from which.to choose.
She may use a post card or a picture from a railway advertising folder. She may
put either of these pictures into an opaque projector and by means of reflected
light project them, greatly increased in size, upon the wall or a screen. She may
havo this picture on a lantern slide and use a stereopticon lantern to project it
for her class, Dr she may have a roll of filmslides which includes this partiular
view of the Canyon -nd may present it with the filmslide projector. Perhaps instead
of those aids she uses -. storeograph of the scene. Her storeograph is a double
photograph mado up of two pictures token from slightly different points of view.
These are enlarged and merged by the lenses of the stereoscopo, the projector,
into one view. Her choice among all these aids will probably be made on the
basis of convenience.
It is true that each type has some specific advantages. For instance,
unprojocted pictures are plentiful, steroographs give the illusion of three
dimensions, the opaque projector permits the use of a very wide range of materials,
slides give brilliant illumination and so can be used with unusually large groups,
filmstrips are inexpensive and easy to use and store.
Actually, of course, the only reason for projecting still pictures at
all is the necessity of showing them to a number of persons simultaneously. A
returned traveler shows his snapshots to his friends as individuals, his slides to
groups of friends. If it were convenient to use life size photographs, projection
equipment would not be such on asset in the classroom.
Since mounted pictures are not designed for group use, they must be
handled quite differently from projected pictures. Sometimes each child has his
own copy of the print, sometimes the picture under discussion is passed from
one child to another, sometimes it is hung on the wall and the children pass
along in front of it. eoro often the picture is hung on the wall or placed on
the library or study table so that each child hos an opportunity to study it
between class periods.
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In whatever form it appears, a still picture is a unit; it carries a
total impression. Even when it is used in a series, it is complete in itself
and the series is made up of a group of units. Consequontly, it follows that
each still picture used for instruction must be chosen on its own merits. The
important thing is not whether to use a slide or a filmslide but whether the
picture is worth using in that given situation.
Ihat are good pictures ar yTv? What factors are involved in their
excellence or mediocrity?
A serious study of the characteristics of good instructional pictures
has boon made by Miss Lolia Trolingor, of the University of Colorado.1 In this
study the opinions of a largo group of visual instruction specialists wore used
as the basis for the compilation of a list of qualities common to all good oduca-
tional pictures and the preparation of a score card to be used in grading pictures
for classroom use. The qualities deemed essential to good instructional pictures
are given here with an explanation of each term and the numerical valuation
ascribed to each quality.
Instructional Quality
Truthful
Relevant
Stimulative
Significant
Authentic
Suggestive of
size
Artistic.
Clear and
definite
Of practical
use
Properly colored
Free from
hM r4 ahr
Does the picture represent a true and typical situation; convoy
a true impression?
Is the picture pertinent to the subject under discussion,
appropriate to the class ago level and understanding?
Does the picture raiso questions nnd problems; con it be utilized
to develop thought activity?
Does the picture portray important things anR is attention
directed to them rather than to unimportant details?
Aro the facts or sources of the picture sufficiently vouched for
so that truthfulness may be assumed?
Does the picture include some known object so that on intelligent
comparison of size is possible?
Technical Quality
Is the picture attractive? Does it comply with fundamental art
principles?
Are significant objects in sharp focus? Will the finish prevent
reflection of light from the surface?
Is the picture largo enough to be used without oey-strain?
Is color essential? If colored is the coloring truthful nnd
artistic?
From a purely mechanical standpoint is the picture free from flaws'
1Lolia Trolingor,"Evaluation of Still Pictures for Instructionol Use,"
Educational Screen, A-ril, 1939, pp. 116-117, 142.
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Those eleven points may seem to make up a rather long checklist for the
busy teacher, but a moment's study of the list will show that no item can be
safely omitted. A picture which convoys an untruth, one which diverts attention
from the matter under consideration, one which cannot be soon because it is too
small, or not sufficiently clear, or blemished is worse than no picture at all.
Those characteristics apply equally well whether the picture under con-
sidoration be in the form of a print, a slide, or a filmslido. Many toochers whon
choosing pictures, chock on those qualities almost unconsciously. Others not so
experienced will do well to examine pictures with the list at hand until the pro-
codure becomes a habit.
The emphasis placed upon truth as an essential quality for instructional
pictures does not mean, of course, that illustrations of fairy tales and other
fanciful pictures have no place in the classroom. They have exactly the same
function as the material they illustrate, providing they are true conceptions of
the fanciful characters or scenes.
The teacher who chose the photograph of a piece of statuary depicting a
game of chess played by Quoon Elizabeth and Philip II of Spain with tiny sailing
ships as chessmen to introduce a study of the ago of Englishoexploration made no
mistake.2 The two rulers probably never played a game of chess together; most
certainly sailing ships are not ordinary chessmen. Though portraying a fanciful
situation, the picture is nevertheless profoundly "truthful."
This "truthfulness" must be made crystal clear by the teacher. Johnny
must not go homo thinking that the Queen and King had castlos close together and
spent many pleasant evenings playing gamos.
The only thing involved in the use of still pictures which is more im-
portant than careful selection is effective use. Effective use moans intelligent-
study. A casual glance nt a good instructional picture is not enough. A picture
is a source of information like a textbook and study of the picture is the only
way to secure that information.
It has often been said that a teacher who uses more than throe slides
during a class period should justify her teaching method. Why? Because if her
choice of slides is good, she has introduced sufficient study material for the
time at her disposal.
Use of Pictures
George Washington,
colonial planter, lived in
this mansion overlooking the
Potomac. The house typifies
(Picture) the life of the Virginia
aristocracy built on an
agricultural slave economy.
Effective use of pictures in teaching involves careful study of what is
shown in the pictures and the drawing of inferences from what is shown. A study of
"Daniel 0. Knowlton, "The Factor of Selection in the Use of Visual Aids,"
Educational Screen, February, 1941, p. 55.
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the picture of George 7ashington' s home at Mt. Vernon will help to make this clear.
The general outline of the house is familiar to most people. It is a two
and one-half story dwelling, with a two-story portico marked off by eight square
pillars. Dormer windows jut out of the soft sloping roof, and the building is
topped with an octagonal cubicle. An arcade in both directions at the rear of the
house leads to the outbuildings--the kitchen, smoke house, and other buildings
used in colonial days. A large rolling lawn, carefully cultivated, spreads out
from the house in all directions. Trees shade the lawn, but not the house. It
stands on a high knoll, overlooking the Potomac.
So much for the general appearance of house and lawn. Now the question
arises why George Washington, whoso family was small, maintained such ao large
house. Obviously, not all the room space was needed for his immediate family.
There must have been other demands for a large house of many rooms than those
of housing a family.
Wo may begin to ask ourselves some of the characteristics of the life of
wealthy planters in colonial Virginia. What influence did slavery have on the
social living of the Virginia planter? Did he have to spend his time working
in the fields, cultivating the crops, and supervising the work of the field hands,
or did the planter live more as a medieval baron, high above the labor of the
fields and those who labored? If the colonial planter was a man of high social
position, and the actual operation of the plantation was carried on by slaves
under the supervision of an overseer, what did the planter do? Is it likely
that a kind of civilization built on slave labor created an aristocracy not only
free of hard manual work, but disdainful of it? If so, into what form of activity
didthis planter society direct its energies? A little freshening of the memory
will revive the fact that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroo, and
other wealthy Virginia planters devoted themselves to the graces of social living
and to the development of political thinking and forms of government. They consti-
tuted a political as well as on economic aristocracy, and political progress of
their day was political progress of their social class.
Back to the picture of Mt. Vernon, it can now be seen that the manor
house was designed in terms of social living for the planter aristocracy, for
entertaining large parties, for long political discussions among the men under
the shaded portico, and for lawn parties where men and women could prune ond strut
in fine clothes of lavender and lace, tended in every detail by the house servants
carefully selected from among the slaves, and constituting among themselves a
rigid aristocracy in slave society.
High above the Potomac, the plantation owners could scan the landscape
and say with confidence and security--this is my land as far as I can see, these
are my slaves, this is my world. In the cubicle the plantation owner could scan
the Potomac for river commerce, watch the approach and departure of boats of goods
and of visitors. Colonial life, then, was in their front yard, and trade and
commerce flowed past their front door. Is it any wonder that the privileged
planters of the South viewed with alarm the growth of industrialism in the North,
and fought a war to preserve their way of living? For all that Mount Vernon stood
for in the social scheme of the South passed into oblivion at Appomattox, and Mount
Vernon stands today as a symbol of political progress that was the function of the
social aristocracy of a slave economy.
This story is written indelibly in the picture of George Washington's
home at Mount Vornon just as it is written in the record of his great service in
founding and guiding the nation in its formative days.
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Not all pictures are as rich in inferences as is that of Mount Vornon.
But in all pictures there are relationships that should be inferred, details
that should be studied, and meanings that should be developed. It is for this
reason that teachers'are urged against trying to show too mony pictures in a
class period. Not any one of them can, under this circumstance, be studied in
sufficient detail to build proper meanings. Those toachers who have watched
boys and girls pour over the comic strips, studying each picture with what seems
to be insatiable interest, can understand that teaching with pictures should not
be a fleeting parade of scores of pictures in a single class period.
Much can be learned about pictures from the comic strips. In the four
pictures that make up the daily strip, the artist manages to convey the sense
of movement and interaction that constitute a self-contained episode in the life
of the characters. Master of this technique is Ohio Young, creator of Blondie.
The behavior of Dagwood, violent more often than not--all this violence is sug-
gested in four still pictures. A description of one of the daily Blondio strips
will illustrate this technique. In the first picture, Dagwood is shown walking
down the street with eyes buried in a magazine, pushing the baby's perambulator.
All is peaceful and serene in this picture. Dagwood is playing the role of duti-
ful father, taking the baby out for its morning airing, exposing its face to the
vitamin-producing rays of the morning sun. This obviously relieves Blondie to
carry on the work of the house and implies a highly cooperative family unit. In
the next picture, the baby's older brother, lately called Alexander, rushes wildly
through the front door into the Bumstoad hallway, creating a noticeable aircurront.
He calls to his mother, tolling her that "Papa was in a collision on the corner--
there are cops and everything." Madly, Alexandor and Blondie rush out of the house
in the north picture, taking the same enormous strides which imply speed and physi-
cal exertion. In the next picture, two perambulators are shown pushed against
each other, standing at dangerous angles, front wheels smashed, and front ends
buckled. The babies in each are curious but unoxcitod, but in the background,
another proud father is shown with head tilted and mouth wide open. Dagwood stands
with teeth grating and an accusing finger pointed toward the other father. A
policeman bawls, "Let me see your driver's license." Dagwood growls, "He didn't
hold out his hand." The father of the second baby says, "Ho was speeding." Blondio
and Alexandor stand open-mouthed at the extreme right of the picture.
In this strip the artist has managed to convoy a series of actions of
two doting fathers, innocently taking their young children for a morning walk,
becoming preoccupied with some other situation, and utterly oblivious of the
presence in the world of anyone or anything blse but themselves, their babies,
and their perambulators. The slow approach of the perambulators is implied
as is their violent collision. Rudely awakened, each father projects his own
carelessness into the person of the other. The argument must have reached con-
siderable heat, since a policeman found it necessary to take the situation in hand.
The argument must also have boon prolonged since it was still in progress when
Blondio and Alexander arrived on the scene.
The second father and baby and perambulator are not introduced until the
fourth and last picture, yet they were involved in the action intervening between
the first and the fourth pictures. From the results shown in the fourth picture,
the reader is able to infer the series of actions which produced those results and
the intervening actions which resulted from them. This involves a highly developed
skill in reading a series of pictures--a skill which school, children have developed
to a remarkable degree. It remains for the teacher to capitalize on this skill,
to select pictures in terms of it, and to utilize it in the development of funda-
mental understandings involved in the curriculum.
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In the use of glass slides, 2 x 2 color slides, or film strips, pictures
are used in series; i.e., more than one picture is shown on a given topic. This
demands a careful selection of pictures and careful study of the pictures selected.
There is an abundant supply of glass slides available for use in education. Many
schools still own the old "600 series" of the Keystone View Company. It is possible
to rearrange this series and to mako new selections of these old slides that fit
into the now curriculum. Newer units of Keystone View Company have boon compiled
to fit into curriculum topics; study guides on their use are available. A largo
collection of glass slides is available from the General Extension Division of the
University of Florida. Glass slides are in 3s x 4 inch size, and are projected on
a "storeopticon." They require a darkened room, but some illumination may be
admitted.
Color slides in 2 x 2 inch size are being introduced for classroom use.
They are generally (but not exclusively) made on 35-mm Eastman Kodachrome film,
inserted between two strips of cardboard or glass. There is rich opportunity for
teachers to make their own 2 x 2 color slides. Cameras which take color pictures
on 35-mm film are available for less than $15, and a roll of 18 frames of color
film costs 02.50. By making every picture count, and by careful use of the full
film, color pictures can be made for approximately twelve cents each. The price
of the film includes its processing in Rochester, Now York, and the mounting of
the picture in a cardboard frame.
Some 2 x 2 color slides are available from Society of Visual Education,
Inc., Chicago, Illinois. The price is 50 cents each.
Film strips are inexpensive. They consist of a roll of 35-am black and
white film, on which a fairly largo number of pictures is printed. The film strip
comes in "single" and "double" frame; i.e., a "single" frame is one-half of an
ordinary 35-mm framo, and a "double" frame is a full 35-mm frame, In this sense,
the terms are misnomers. The "single" frame is really half a frame, and the
"double" frame is one full-sized 35-mm picture.
Film strips often consist of alternating pictures and titles. In pur-
chasing or using film strips, care should be taken to examine both the titles and
the pictures, to ascertain whether the picture actually shows what the title says,
and that there is a continuity and integration between picture and title. It
frequently happens that there is little relation between picture and title, that
titles are very complex, involve abstract concepts, and are quite lengthy, and that
there is little in the following picture which either relates to the title or
clarifies the concepts stated in the title. Despite the fact that the film strip
is one of the least expensive "visual aids," and holds great promise for teaching,
much remains to be done in the production of film strips to make them effective for
teaching purposes.
All that has been said on principles of usage in the chapter on motion
pictures applies equally woll to still pictures. The difference in method of use
derives out of the fact that in the still picture, each picture must be selected
and used with care, and that actions and relationships must be carefully developed
with each picture. However, teachers will find that still pictures may be one of
the most effective methods of instruction, and that they are essential for detailed
study of any situation. A motion picture is fleeting, a still picture can be
studied as long as necessary.
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Mounting and Filing Pictures
Whether or not projected visual aids are used in a school-room is usually
determined by the policy of the school administration and by the over-important
budget, since projectors and collections of slides, filmolidcs, and stereoscopes
are properly school property.
However, individual teachers in schools in which such aids are not avail-
able may borrow slides and storoopticons, and filmslidos as well, from the General
Extension Division of the University of Florida, which maintains a lending library
of visual aids for the schools of the State. The only charge for those materials
is transportation from Gainesvillo and return.
Unprojoctod pictures, on the other hand, are so plentiful, inexpensive,
and easy to mount for classroom use that every teacher may have her own collection.
School picture collections which serve the entire organization often take the place
of or augment individual teacher's files. Those are prepared by the school librari-
an, the visual instruction director, or groups of teachers. The minimum essentials
for those collections are magazines, paste, mount board, a steel edged ruler and
razor blades.
Prints purchased from picture publishers are good investments provided
the teacher can secure the type she needs. Some of the bettor known art companies
are as follows:
Artext Prints, Inc., Westport, Connecticut
Colonial Art Company, 1336 West First Street, Oklahoma City
Coploy Prints, 221 Columbus Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts
Elson Company, Belmont, Massachusetts
Instructor Magazine, Dansvillo, Now York
National Geographic Society, 16th and M. Streets, Washington, D.C.
New York Graphic Society, 10 West 33 Street, Now York
Perry Pictures, Malden, Massachusetts
Photographic History Service, 5537 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood,Califormn
University Prints, 11 Bond Street, Newport, Massachusetts
The F ompton Company, 1000 North Dearborn Street, Chicago, publishes sets of
pictures. Black and white drawings prepared to illustrate specific subjects are
new. They are produced by the Blackhurst Company, 1066 U. P. Station, Dos Moinos,
Iowa nd Informative Classroom Pictures, 48 Division Avenuo, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
and others.
The list of souroos of educational pictures available free of charge is a
long one. Discarded books, magazines, catalogs, rotogravure sections of newspapers,
advertising matter, travel circulars, and pamphlets all offer fine material. Many
schools and most communities have quantities of discarded periodicals which may be
procured with a little effort.
Such periodicals as Asia, Instructor, Lifo, National Geographic, Nature,
Travel, mad the home and garden magazines such as House and Garden are especially
rich sources. A teacher will gain by looking, with her picture file in mind,
through any illustrated magazine that falls into her hands, as well as through news-
papers and other publications. If possible, two copies of each publication should
be procured so that pictures on both sides of each page may be used.
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Much time will be saved if a teacher uses the picture rating scale,
"Instructional Quality," given in this chapter as a guido in choosing pictures
to be cut. No illustration which fails to moot the requirements of a good instruc-
tional picture should be considered. Spectacular photography does not make up for
inaccuracies or lack of significance.
Everyone has had a good deal of experience in cutting pictures since the
days of his interest in paper dolls or fire engines. The four stops in the mochan-
ics of picture file preparation--cutting, mounting, classification, and storage or
filing--are all simple, but the suggestions given here may be helpful in saving
time or in making thb collection more usable.
Cutting pictures from bound material, such as books and magazines, is best
done with a steel-edged ruler and a razor blade. .ftor the picture is removed,
the margin may be straightened with a poor cutter or by using the ruler and razor
blade again. If a white margin an eighth of an inch wide can be loft all around
the picture, the result will be more effective. Care taken to cut the margins
absolutely straight will be well repaid by the improved appearance of the mounted
picture.
Each picture should be identified at the time it is cut, of course.
Title and descriptive matter may be written lightly in pencil on the back or be
cut out of the reading matter and clipped to the picture. This is important since
this information is often vital to a picture's usefulness.
Ordinarily it is convenient to classify pictures roughly under tentative
subject headings as they are cut and then to mount a number of them at a time.
This sorting before the mounting is done has two advantages. It prevents duplica-
tion, and it permits the selection of the best pictures which may have been cut
from time to time for the same subject so that the others may be eliminated before
more time is spent on them,
Only a few of the many kinds of mount board canbe suggested. Bristol
board, announcement board, railroad board, and mat board and such cover papers as
Hannrmrmill, Atlantic, Potomac, Volume, and Recondite and others have all been used
in various collections. Most boards are made in several weights so there is a
wide choice. Gray, tan, and brown are the best background colors and so make the
best mounts. If gray plus tan or brown can be purchased, a choice may be made be-
tween them as each picture is mounted. Ono or the other color will be satisfactory
in practically all cases. Not all boards are made in those colors.
Local printing establishments or the following paper companies, which have
offices in the larger cities of the state, will be glad to give information and
samples: E. 0. Palmer Paper Company, Jacksonville Paper Company, Knight Brothers
Paper Company, Virginia Paper Company.
The board should be chosen before the mount size is determined, because
different papers come in different sized shoots, and money can be saved if those
shoots are cut with as little waste as possible. A shoot twenty by twenty-six
inches will produce four mounts ten by thirteen inches in size, but only two mounts
eleven by thirteen. The other important consideration here is the size of the
filing case or box in which the collection is to be stored. When using two sizes
of board, the collection is more easily handled if the smaller size is just half
the larger.
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Usually it is more satisfactory, and more expensive, to have the paper
company cut the mounts since it has better equipment and can size the mounts more
accurately than an individual. However, if a good paper cutter is available and
the measurements are carefully taken, the work can be done by the teacher.
Any rather stiff library paste may be used. Sphinx paste, manufactured
by the Arabol MmItfacturing Company, 110 East 42 Street, Now York, is excellent.
Rubber canont is difficult to handle. Cooked flour paste is satisfactory. One
recipe for it is one cup flour, one-eighth teaspoon powered alum, three drops
oil of cloves, and water. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly. One-half
ounce quinine added to each gallon of paste prevents damage by roaches.
There are two schools of thought on the question of spreading paste over
the entire picture versus tipping the four corners with paste. Pasting the corners
only results in a more artistic piece of work but a less durable one, When pictures
are filed vertically, unpasted edges can be easily torn by careless filing. The
position of the picture or pictures on the mount should be carefully measured and
marked lightly in pencil before the pasting is done.
It is important that the lower margin be wider than those at the top
and the sides. A fairly safe rule :is to make the bottom margin half an inch wider
than the others. In mounting several pictures on one mount, the space between the
pictures should be loss than the width of the outside margin.
As soon as the pasting is done the mounts should be placed in a press or
under a weight to prevent warping. The paste should be thoroughly dry before the
pressure is removed. Slip sheets between the mounts will absorb excess paste.
The most important stop in preparing a useful collection is classifying
the pictures. Consequently, the teacher will do well to plan her classifications
system carefully and in detail. Her own organization of subject matter is the basis
for classifying a collection devoted to a specific subject matter field. For a
more general collection,such as one to be used by the entire school, a uniform
system useful in many fields is necessary. The Dewey Decimal classification is
too detailed for a picture collection. Headings used in the Reader's Guido to
Periodical Literature are useful.
Simple and fairly broad headings are best, although in many cases sub-
divisions are required. The heading, "South America," is too broad, for instance.
It may be subdivided to include such headings as topography, climate, resources,
history, and people; or the names of the South American countries; or in any other
way. The important thing is that the classification be made practical for the use
to which the collection is to be put and that ij be set up in detail when the work
is begun so that there will be no time wasted in re-classifying.
The simplest way to file a picture collection is to letter each mount with
its proper classification or subject heading and to put it with other mounts under
that heading. Guide cards lettered with the some headings as the pictures separate
the groups. A card file indicating what headings are included in the collection
and the number of mounts under each is convenient but not absolutely necessary.
The only disadvantage of this method is that a picture which may be
equally useful for two or more subjects is lost to the others if filed under one
of them. Thus a picture of a valley might be filed under "Rivers" but be just as
valuable for study in connection with "Erosion" or "Land Use."
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To avoid this situation each picture may be given a number instead of a
heading and be filed numerically. Then a card catalog of subject headings gives
for each heading the numbers of the pictures correlated with it. In such a filing
system the volley picture, say picture number 109, is listed by the number on the
cards for 'Rivors," "Erosion," and "Land Use." In selecting pictures from the
file for use with any subject the teacher runs through the file picking out the
numbered pictures listed for that subject in the card catalog.
This method requires more work in preparing the collection and in using
it, but it is probably worth the extra effort if the collection is to be used by
many teachers for many purposes.
The heading or number given to each picture may appear on the upper left-
hand corner of the face of the mount or on the back. Descriptive material, informa-
tion concerning the source of the picture, and any other pertinent matter should be
typed on white paper and be pasted on the back of the mount whore it will be easily
accessible and cannot be lost. The sheet of paper pasted on the back tends to keep
the mount from warping.
Stool files are the best storage cabinets for pictures, but boxes are
frequently used. Orange boxes are convenient. Sometimes shirt boxes from clothing
stores are used. Each box is labeled with subject heading and is placed on a shelf
like a book so that it may be easily removed.
A school collection used by a number of teachers and students requires
some method of charging out pictures to individuals. Each subject heading may have
a charge out card bearing the number of prints in that heading to be handled like
a book card, or the numbers of the pictures withdrawn may be written in on the charge
out card.
Typos of Equipment For Still Picture Projection
Several types of projection equipment may be involved in the use of
projected still pictures. An opaque projector projects flat pictures, such as
post cards, book illustrations, and any picture printed on paper. It is large
and heavy due to the internal arrangement of mirrors required for projection of
opaque materials and the fan system that is necessary to eliminate the heat from
high powered lamps. Opaque projection requires a well darkened room. Opaque
projectors may be equipped with a slide projection attachment on which 53 x 4
inch glass slides may be projected.
A film strip requires a film strip projector. Some film strip projectors
are equipped for projection of 2 x 2 slides as well as film strips, but 2 x 2 slide
projectors and filmstrip projectors may be purchased as separate units.
Glass slides arc projected on a slide projector, or storeopticon. A
film strip attachment may be purchased for use with slide projectors. Many teachers
feel that the opaque projector, with its glass slide and filmstrip attachments, is
the most scrviccable of all projection equipment, and that because of its tri-fold
purpose, it is the one single piece of projection equipment that should be first
acquired by a school. In this event, some form of moveable stand should also be
acquired, since the machine is heavy, and provision should also be made for room
darkening.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Audio-Visual Department, General Extension Division, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Florida.
a. Free Industrial Films, 1942-43
Films produced by commercial firms, the United States governmental
agencies, and such organizations as the National Tuberculosis Associa-
tion, Florida Bureau of Health Education, and Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company. The films are 16mm., sound and silent.
The Bulletin also lists the Florida Cooperative Film Library titles and
describes the organization.
b. Visual Aids Sterooptican Slides
Storooptican lantern slides on a variety of subjects.
c. Filmslides
Single frame, 35mm. filmstrips, all in black and white. Only a limited
number are available at present.
d. Prints and Unit Picture Collections
Mounted prints from wall size to 10 x 13 inch mounts. For art appreciation
study and elementary school activity units.
e. Talking Machine Records
Music only; no radio transcriptions nor dramatic recordings.
f. Distributor for most of the United States Office of War Information films.
g. Distributor for some of the 0.C.D. films for Local Defense Groups.
h. Distributor for some of the O.P.A. films.
i. Distributor for many of the O.I.A.A. films.(Office of Coordinator of
Intor-Amorican Affairs)
2. American Council on Education, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C.
Send for annotated list of publications: "American Council on Education Studies:
Series II Motion Pictures in Education"
Examples: ITo. 3. A School Uses Motion Pictures
No. 5. Projecting Motion Pictures in the Classroom
No. 6. Motion Pictures in a Modern Curriculum
No. 7. Students Make Motion Pictures
No. 8. Selection, Use, and Evaluation of Motion Pictures
3. Florida Bureau of Health Education.(Films are free to County Health Depart-
ments, public health nurses and other public health workers for use before
medical societies, schools and civic organizations)
Films on communicable diseases, maternal and child health, nurses and nursing,
nutrition, obstetrics, personal hygiono, sanitation, tooth, tuberculosis,
venereal diseases.
4. Checklist of Radio Programs.
Carried in many Educational magazines. Examples are N.E.A. Journal, Frontiers
of America.
5. Checklist of Films or Film Reviews.
A regular feature of many school magazines. Some magazines carrying this
feature are Nation' Sroools, Educational Screen, N.E.A. Journal, Progressive
Education, Parents.
The Other Americas Through Films and Records. American Council on Education.
Note: Most of the films available and of the few records available may be
obtained from the Audio-Visual Department of the General Extension Division.
a. Prepared by the Motion Picture Project of the American Council on
Education with the assistance of the Pan-American Union.
6. Educational Film Catalog.
This catalog is a classified list of non-theatrical films, with a separate title
and subject index. Supplements are published quarterly. W. H. Wilson Company.
Catalog Q2.00; with supplements, $4.00 per year.
7. Educational Screen.
Publishers of "1000 and One" Film Directory. This is a magazine devoted
entirely to the field of audio-visual education in the United States. A page
of ADDITIOEL VALU.BLE LITERATURE is carried each month. This gives an
annotation of excellent recent books in the field of audio-visual education.
Educational Screen, Inc., 64 East Lake Street, Chicago, Illinois. Per year,
$2.00. Free to members of the Department of Visual Instruction of the
National Education Association. Our State Representative at present is
Mrs. Bornice Mims, General Extension Division, University of Florida.
8. Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of Education Bulletin, 1941, No. 4,
Conservation Films in Elementary Schools. (10o)
Excellent suggestions given for evaluating and selecting films. In setting up
standards, the relation of film content to curriculum, suitability to children
for whom intended, contribution to educational objectives and technical quali-
ties are considered in some detail. There is also a summary of standards.
Definite plans are given in preparing for previewing films, viewing the film
and a complete evaluation card. A complete "use" annotation is given for
twelve films on conservation. There is also a supplementary annotated list
of twelve films on conservation.
9. Hudspeth, J. and Hudspeth, F. II., Handbook for Teachers of Elementary Science.
The Steck Company, Austin, Texas. (50f)
This handbook of about seventy-five pages contains helpful suggestions for
the elementary and secondary science teacher concerning field trips, mounting
magazine pictures, making hand drawn slides, maintaining aquaria and terraria,
and many other visual aids.
10. Motion Pictures of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1941: Miscel-
laneous Publication, No. 451.
Contains information about the distribution and purchase of these motion
pictures and a list of the state institutions from which they may be borrowed.
The Bulletin contains a complete alphabetical descriptive list of U.S.D.A.
films.
11. Sources of Visual Aids for Instructional Use in Schools, Federal Security
Agency, U. S. Office of Education, Pamphlet No. 80 (Revised 1941). Superin-
tendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. (15/)
Includes sources of distribution of instructional materials, such as maps,
charts, and lantern slides; of mechanical equipment, such as cameras and
projectors; and general information sources, such as the American Council on
Education, the Educational Screen, and certain Federal and State offices.
12. A List of U. S. War Information Films, Office of War Information, Bureau of
Motion Pictures, Washington, D. C.
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