An Experiment in Survey Science

The objectives of higher education are being critically examined these days. In an earlier time culture was the attainment most sought - a culture which was rooted in the classical languages, Greek and Latin. Utilitarian subjects rated but little following. And the sciences such as they were, thrived around the philosophical round table and not in the laboratory. Gradually the ideals of a liberal education have shifted to a new emphasis and with this shift the laboratory sciences are coming into their own. It is now generally recognized that every student who seeks a broad, well balanced college education must devote some time to the laboratory sciences, both physical and biological. In the liberal arts, nonprofessional college the problem of the distribution of subjects seems to be fairly well solved. On the other hand the professional college - and I refer especially to teacher training institutions - still faces the question of what price science

The General Education of the Science Teacher

Volumes have been written on this topic and it would be the height of temerity to assume that anything really new could be contributed in this paper. Opinions, of course, differ and one justification for this discussion lies in the exchange of ideas which it may provoke. Another reason for discussing this subject stems from the present movement in colleges and secondary schools to inject the concept of so-called general education into the curriculum. The best-known effort of this sort is centered in Harvard College and has been reported in the volume General Education in a Free Society. The general education idea postulates that, regardless of the vocational aims of the student, certain basic training should be given to everyone

The Single Precipitation of Calcium Oxalate in the Presence of Magnesium

It has been known for a long time that when calcium is precipitated as the oxalate in the presence of magnesium some magnesium is likely to be found in the precipitate. Therefore, it is customary to perform a double precipitation whenever the content of magnesium amounts to more than a few milligrams. With a view toward eliminating the time-consuming second precipitation whenever possible, it is the purpose of the present work to determine to what extent reliable results may be obtained for calcium using merely a single precipitation

Aspects of the Blood Alcohol Tests to Determine Intoxication

We have today definite, scientific methods for determining the degree of alcoholic intoxication of any individual. We commonly hear that some person can hold his liquor better than another. Alcohol must be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the brain where it acts as a depressant, to cause intoxication (2). Alcohol may be absorbed directly into the blood stream and its absorption is affected by a full or empty condition of stomach, strength of alcoholic beverage, rate of drinking, quantity of alcohol, and resistance to absorption such as might be found in the case of tapers. Intoxication is therefore not to be measured by amount of liquor drunk but by the amount reaching the brain. The blood alcohol concentration is a very close indication of the brain alcohol concentration. Maximum intoxication usually occurs between one-half hour and two hours after drinking. Most of the alcohol is oxidized at the rate of 5 to 10 grams per hour in the body. Not more than about 10 percent is lost through excretions as in urine, breath and sweat

Chemical Evidences of Intoxication

Chemical methods to determine whether the driver of an automobile is under the influence of alcohol are replacing the older physical tests. The technique consists of distilling the alcohol from a known quantity of body fluid - blood or urine - into a standard solution of acidified potassium dichromate. Through subsequent titration, the quantity of unreduced dichromate is determined and the number of milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of body fluid is computed. Reliable methods of analysis, differing in details but not in principle, have been developed by Widmark of Sweden, Nicloux of France, Harger of Indiana, Muehlberger of Illinois, Heise of Wisconsin, and others. Harger has also perfected a breath test, using potassium permanganate as the oxidizing agent. These methods have been endorsed by the National Safety Council and by the American Medical Association, and are widely used both here and abroad

Laboratory Upkeep

Proper care of the laboratory is the phase of the high\u27 school chemistry teacher\u27s task most apt to be neglected. This and later articles will point out some of the little things that make perfection

Chemical Lecture Experiments

Lecture experiments demand more time, require higher technical skill, and afford greater pupil interest than any other phase of chemistry teaching. As a corollary, we may add that they are most neglected, but if you name the teachers who are noted for their interesting, instructive, and skillful classroom demonstrations, you are calling the roll of chemistry teachers of the first rank

We, the Jury

Iowa high schools may justly be proud of their chemistry courses and of their chemistry teachers. The state ranks low in the number of schools offering this science but high in the quality of its teaching staff. One sure criterion of instructional efficiency is growth - a growth based upon the frank recognition of mistakes and intelligent effort to correct them

The Inert Gases

Nitrogen gas is lazy. A chemical revolution may enlist and lead away nearly every other element and compound in the air, but nitrogen will stay at home and refuse to become excited. Less than forty years ago, Lord Rayleigh in England made use of this characteristic by removing the other components of the air and collecting the remaining supposedly pure nitrogen in order to study it

Professional Growth

The first class provides bits of scientific information which can be interspersed in class discussions. Such items will add interest to the class work and may indicate new and modern uses for chemical substances and appliances. They are found in such publications as Popular Science Monthly. The second class of articles are indispensable to good teaching