LET’S TEACH NATIONAL PARKS

G. D. MCGRATH.Boulder Public Schools, Boulder, Colo,

I talked with one of our great American soldiers yesterday.He was a typical specimen of the good effects of army training,and one could always listen eagerly to what he had to say.But one thing he said impressed me more than anything else.

He exclaimed with contagious exhuberance, ^Pve just spent themost wonderful week of my life! I’ve been on furlough and myfolks took me for a week’s relaxation to a national park in myhome state. We had nothing to do but enjoy to the fullest extentthe magnificent beauty and recreational opportunities providedand protected for all of us there. It’s true that just being withmy folks again was responsible for much of my enjoyment, butI don’t want to minimize the part that being in the park played.Actually, I never knew before that such places existed! Whydidn’t we ever learn about these places in school? That makesjust one more thing worth fighting for!!"

I came away feeling almost sad, wondering how many othershad never become acquainted with what our national parks haveto offer. I wondered if the parks had served their purposes fora sufficient number of people and if people really had beenmaking maximum use of them. Perhaps the soldier was right�they really are something else worth fighting for. Thereupon, Idecided to find out a little more about them.

In general, the parks occupy the most scenic spots accessibleand are established and maintained for the enjoyment andpleasure of all of us. There are about thirty of them and severaladditional areas are or have been under consideration. Most ofthem have excellent facilities for their guests.

It might seem a little out of place to stress teaching aboutnational parks at a time when travel facilities are seriouslylimited. Even so, it would be well to provide more knowledgeabout them so that when the first opportunity arises, morepeople can go to such an area to re-establish their mental com-posures after the effects of a war torn nation have been so evi-dent.The problem of placement in the curriculum naturally arises.

Logically, a unit of the national parks should be included ingeology or physical geography. But since so many schools donot offer these subjects, if such a unit is to be offered, it might

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50 SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

easily be incorporated into some other course. Many schoolsare successfully working in a study of the national parks in anAmerica Appreciation unit in the social sciences. A few are in-eluding it in guidance areas. There are also other places in thecurriculum where a place may be found for a study of the na-tional parks, but, in general, it is a part of the science depart-ment, or should be promoted by the science department.A number of educators have asked where materials for a unit

on the parks may be obtained. There are many sources. Bookletsabout many of the national parks have been furnished free uponrequest to the National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Inmany instances, railroads are glad to furnish excellent picturesand booklets about parks which their lines serve. There aredozens of rental films available which show the parks advan-tageously. A number of schools report that they arrange anexchange with pupils of a school near a national park throughwhich they send items of interest from their localities in ex-change for materials or souvenirs from the park area. One schoolreportedly sends samples of minerals and rocks from the parkarea with a brief description of each. The government has a largenumber of rather inexpensive publications having something todo with the parks. It is also possible to collect pictures from theparks via mail at very low cost. Many classes save and mountpictures taken from national parks which occur in rotogravuresections of Sunday newspapers. In addition, quite a sizeablelibrary can be built up of reference books, travel books, and in-teresting nature stories having connection with a park or parks.The author has been able to build up a reference book list ofnearly 200 excellent books for use in a study of the parks.Some of the parks report that many schools have been making

field trips to their areas for many years. Every effort is made tomake their visits profitable and one park reports that entrancefees are not charged the students under these conditions.

In addition to the scenery and facilities for recreation, otherworthwhile knowledge might well be included in a study ofthe parks. Many of them have an interesting history and insome cases have had a part in political developments. Fre-quently, museums can supply further material along these lines.Some of the parks supply strategic or important minerals, ores,or other economic products. A little geology explaining theirorigin and development would be of interest and worthwhileeven for the non-geology student.

A SIMPLE POPULATION FORMULA 51

It may be that our schools feel overburdened as it is. Stresshas been placed on so many vital contributions which theschools must make in these crucial times. Under periods of suchtension, we, as educators, are likely to overlook some of thesmaller but important contributions while faced with some ofthe larger problems. But in spite of the multitude of exigenciescreated by the war, let^s do one more thing�let^s teach nationalparks I

A SIMPLE POPULATION FORMULA OF USEIN TEACHING GENETICS

SAMUEL W. HOWE AND DAVID J. SEVERNWilson Junior College, Chicago, Illinois

In the teaching of elementary genetics only casual reference ismade to hereditary changes in population. These referencesusually take the form of general statements on the eliminationof unfit stock through natural selection in evolution, andthrough artificial selection in eugenics. The student mind is moreimpressed by, and more likely to_retain, information when sup-ported by concrete examples.

It is common usage in biology teaching to present the exampleof the Kallikaks and the Jukes as horrible examples of eugenicbreeding. The statement is generally made that all people whoare hereditarily feeble-minded should be restrained from pro-ducing offspring. The objection then arises that since onlyhomozygous recessives are phenotypically evident, feeble-mindedness cannot be completely eliminated through artificialselection against these recessives. The objection is resolved bypointing out the decrease in proportion of recessive gametes andof heterozygotes and recessive phenotypes as generations passunder artificial selection. If at this time a formula were intro-duced which gave the exact amount of subsidence of the reces-sive, the point would be much stronger.Another situation is often used as an example of natural selec-

tion is that of the homozygous recessive which is lethal, abor-tive, or unable to exist under normal conditions, as, for instance,albino corn. In this case a demonstration of corn showing the3:1 ratio is usually presented to classes. This often uncon-sciously leaves the impression that if such corn were growing