Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

14 MOVING PICTURE AGE February, 1922 jugation by Pizarro and the cruel treatment by the Spaniards. An interesting slide shows what is supposed to be the coffin of Pizarro, with his skeleton showing through the glass sides; and one firm, at least, has a large number of slides on the Aztec civilization, including some of their own picture-writing — one of the earliest examples of visual instruction on record. The Indians who inhabit the country today, of a rather low type of mentality, easily shown in the pictures, the negroes, the mixed types of Spanish and Indian descent, the recent immigrants, and finally the higher types of the larger cities, make a most interesting scale. Later lessons take up a visit to a typical plantation, and the process of gathering, preparing, and shipping cacao, coffee, or rubber is shown. A list of the slides used for this lesson reads as follows : Visit to a South American Plantation Landing at Guayaquil, the great equatorial shipping-port. Canoes and vendors along the water-front. Aboard the canoes. A typical street crowd. Queer boats and rafts before the customs house. Small steamer up the river; plantations along the water's edge. Washing-day along the river-bank. Where the luscious papaya grows. Mangoes, a favorite fruit. Sunset on the river. Poling a boat up the narrow stream. Cacao Close view of cacao pods. Gathering cacao pods. Cacao pod cut open. Raking over cacao pods on the driers. Cacao beans curing. Sorting cacao for shipment. Shipment north. Coffee Picking. Drying. Hauling. Unloading and shipping. Tortilla making. Laborers' homes on the plantation. Rubber Rubber tree, showing cuts where the juice exudes. A ball of crude rubber. Uses of rubber — making into automobile tires. Uses of rubber — making into rubber boots. Other lessons take us to a silver mine in the mountains of Peru ; to the sugar-cane plantations beyond Lima, the sheep-raising district of the mountains, or the nitrate regions of the desert of Atacama. One lesson takes the form of a climb 'n the Andes, a visit to some of the great volcanoes, and a trip to Quito, the city of the equator, 9,350 feet up in the air. "Some Wonders of Railroad Building" makes a striking lesson out of that marvel railroad built by an American, Henry Meiggs : the Oroya railroad, up to a point nearly 16,000 feet above the sea-level, with its awesome trestles, its sinuous curves, its tremendous ascent, its marvelous tunnels, the steady climb up the side of the seemingly insurpassable mountains. The class whose interest and enthusiasm are not aroused at these wonderful scenic beauties and this example of how man conquered nature is lifeless indeed. Other trips take us to the Argentine and the famous cattle of that region ; Cape Horn, the Straits of Magellan, the Patagonian savage tribes, the Antarctic; the busy cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. When completed, the pupils have traveled in mental vision over the greater part of South America, and should have absorbed a wealth of knowledge of that region. The Assistance of Films Wherever possible, correlation with moving picture films, either ■ as review or preview, helps tremendously. A film which covers the points taken up by the slides serves as an excellent finish, clinching and vivifying the half-understood points. Or it may be used as a preview and introduction, and the slides can later be discussed much more intelligently and in greater detail. Good films on South America are not many, but the Chester Outing scenics have several good numbers, and there are two excellent Burton Holmes films that I recall : "Rolling Down to Rio" and "Going Down to Buenos Aires." Then the geographical readers should be consulted freely and fully by the class in this connection. Carpenter's is good, and a new and much rewritten edition of this text has been iut out within the last few months. Other good illustrative texts are Winslow's series, Huntington's South America, and chapters in Keller and Bishop's Commercial Geography. There are of course many other texts, but I mention these off-hand as not too difficult for a seventhgrade class. Some, of the slides may be used several times, for many of them will fall into more 'than one of these groups. You may wish to take up some of the more important countries individually, even repeating the views already seen. You will be surprised how many unnoticed details lurk in every picture. (Continued on page 35) Leaders in Visualization These brief biographical sketches are appearing in order that you may enjoy a more intimate acquaintance with the men who have achieved some degree of national fame for their accomplishments with visual aids. The series will include representatives of all fields within the scope of visual instruction — religious, educational, social, etc. No definite sequence has been followed W. M. Gregory NTEREST in visual instruction was developed early by Professor Gregory — as a matter of fact, while he was natural-history docent for Dean M. S. Shaler's classes in geology and zoology at Harvard University. This well-known visual educator has a working background of preparation and experience that more than qualifies him as a general educator and as a specialist in the use of visual aids. For ten years he was a member of the Michigan Geological Survey, and is author of "Geology of Arenac County." For two years he was with the United States Geological Survey, Division of Hydrography. Aside from more than fifty articles upon geology and geography appearing in scientific and popular magazines, Professor Gregory is the author of "Cleveland's Golden Story" and has also written "The History and Geography of Ohio." This educator has had public-school experience as teacher, principal, and superintendent. For 12 years he has served as professor of geography in the Cleveland School of Education, with a special interest in making the common subjects of greater interest and meaning to pupils by visual methods. In 1909 the Cleveland Educational Museum was established, as the distributing center for the slides, charts, maps, motion pictures, still photographs, raw materials, manufactured products, trade booklets, and other types of visual aids ; and Professor Gregory was chosen as director of the new institution. The Educational Museum is so associated with the Cleveland School of Education that there are constant demonstration and testing of visual material. Special courses for the training of teachers are organized, each department of the School of Education being an advisor of the Educational Museum, and all students of education are required to become familiar with the use of visual aids in the schools. Professor Gregory is well known as a map and block-diagram enthusiast. He has prepared the copy for many outline maps that have been made into plates and published by the Educational Museum, thus providing at slight cost an abundance of maps for the school pupils. He has taught hundreds of teachers to use the block diagram in geography and history. Professor Gregory estimates that the visual material of the Cleveland Educational Museum reaches an optience of 800,000 pupils annually. This visual educator believes that every community should have its local library of slides and educational films, which should be at the disposal of all schools, churches, clubs, and welfare organizations. Another thought of his is that the day is close at hand when the motion-picture film will be cheaper and of more direct educational purpose than at present.