The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

June, I9}9 iiiK tilni>: tlhcal, H'heat Farms, and From ll'hcal lo Hrcad. They also drew pictures and wrote stories oi\ their ex- IKTienco. They collected com and wheat and oats and also arranged col- lections of food products from these Krains, such as corn Hakes and Wheat- ies. The;, planted these different grains in soil and in water to sec how well they would grow. Since September there had been standing in the room an Amaryllis plant with one bud on it. On March 22 it burst forth in bloom. By the 14th of .April there were blossoms and that de- rinitely started the study of flowers. In connection they used these films: Hotv I'ltmis Live and Grotv, The Paris of a Plant. The IVork of a Flower. From flower lo Fruit. Flowers at Work and Plant Growth. They are now in the pro- cess of studying the Relation of Plant Groiiih to Man. Koots have been studied this past week. They dug up a dandelion to see what kind of root it had. They studied roots on a pussywillow that had l)een put in water. They learned something about the names of these different types of roots. The adventitious root of a pussywillow is exhibited here today, with other papers and diagrams related to their study. It is one that is not mentioned in the film this morning. They are also starting the study of minerals and food values, and they have taken a trip to the water works and noticed the way the water is filtered. The reason I mention these things is not to confuse, but to tell you some of the different branches that their think- ing is going on these days. Now. I do not know what the reac- tion of the class will be this morning, for there is little possibility of a stage demonstration of a class being natural. .Miss Rice and class are now going to take over. Miss Rice: Boys and Girls: This is lor the benefit of the children who have come along as guests. My children have seen flowers and plants at work and now we are going to see some pictures n roots. I want you to think about the type of picture that you are seeing as ' you watch the picture this morning. You kiiow that sometimes they make a series of drawings and then they speed up the cariiera and make them seem to be in motion. Do you know the name for ^ that type of picture? You see it often in the movies. Harmon: Fast motion? Miss Rice: Usually it is in connec- I tion with cartoons. .Animated cartoons. They seem to have life. They seem to be moving. Then you will also see some pictures that were taken through a microscope. The little organisms are so small that they have used a microscope first and then photographed through that, and. of course, you must remem- ; ber, too, that the action in growth that you will see take place so quickly in the picture does not happen in nature. You know how slowly the .Amaryllis opened up and how we watched it for days and so remember that the growth IS not as rapid as it seems to be. Listen as carefully as you can and watch for old and new facts about roots. Now I think we are ready to start. (Shounng of film) Miss Rice: .Ml right, now boys and girls, we will turn our chairs around in two rows, please. How did you like that? Come on now, speak up. This isn't the way you act in school. Betty: I liked it a lot. Miss Rice: Why did you like it? (Interru/ttion for microphone adjusl- mcnt). Timmie: Those were short movies. Miss Rice: Did you think it was short? We did not have any time- piece, Jimmie. Now would you like to talk first about why you liked the pic- ture ? Betty ? Betty: Well, it left no question in our minds. Miss Rice: .About what? Betty: .About how the plants grow and how their roots grow. Miss Rice: Marie, did you have something you would like to say? Marie: Because the man spoke very distinctly. Miss Rice: Yes, the sound track was very good. .Arc there any other com- ments about the picture? How about you who are guests today? What did you like abaout it? Margie: 1 thought it was very in- teresting the way they made it go faster so that we could see the growth. It did not take as long as it would have in real life. Miss Rice: Yes, that is a wonderful apparatus that they have, isn't it, be- cause, of course, it would take months to se.- the growth of the plant. Any other comments? Elaine: Well, I think it was nice because our room has not studied roots, but .vet we got a little sort of essay of it right thtn. Miss Rice: Do you suppose vou might write some papers about this picture and send them down to me some day? Would you like to do that? If you have a little spare time, you ask Miss Fitz- gerald if you may not use that spare time to write a little essay, as you called It, about this picture. Harmon: You learn a lot from that little picture. Miss Rice: From one little picture, ^es. I think so. Perhaps we will let you tell us after we discuss a little more thoroughly what you got out of it. Mary: It told me everything about the roots. Miss Rice: Well, when you say "everything" that is pretty broad. Could you give us more details? Mary: Well, it taught me how the root protects itself, how the root helps the plant, and about difiPerent kinds of roots. Miss Rice: You didn't hear very many kinds of roots mentioned. While we are at this point, what roots did you hear named? Just a minute. Let's see if some of these friends of ours cannot tell us. What roots did you hear named? They gave them specific names? Page 201 Scott: Dandelion. Miss Rice: Yes. What kind of root is the dandelion? Scott, did you get the name of the dandelion root? Well, we have one with us. Do you want to unwrap it now, John, and show it to the children? Perhaps this will help you to remember the name. Scott: I hope it isn't soggy. Miss Rice: Well. I think it won't be soggy after being out of the ground two days. Turn it up so that we can see it. will you. Can you pull out some of the little hairs?- We arc interested in the root, not the plant. Does that look very much like the one you saw in the picture? Students: Yes. Marie: I heard the man mention "adventitious root." Miss Rice: Did you all hear him mention "adventitious root'? What root was he talking about then? Marie: The pussywillow. Miss Rice: I didn't hear him talking about that. I am afraid you are a little mixed up, aren't you? He talked about the fibrous root, and what plants did he mention when he talked about fibrous roots? Barbara. Barbara: Rye, wheat. Miss Rice: Betty. Betty: He talked about grass and grains. Miss Rice: Yes. Now. we are a little off my plan here. 1 had a little plan, but 1 guess we will have to change a bit. Now, we have talked about a few old facts. There are other roots that he mentioned that you haven't talked about yet. Carroll: Secondary roots. Miss Rice: Did he mention second- ary roots ? Students: Yes. Miss Rice: When did he mention secondary roots? What ro<its are they? He didn't call them secondary roots, did ho. class? Students: Yes. Miss Rice: Well. I missed that. Barbara: After he talked about the primary root then he referred to the secondary roots. Miss Rice: And they are the roots that do what ? Betty Anne, can vou tell us what secondary roots do? When do they grow, that is what we want you to tell us, or where do they grow? Tommy. Tommy: They grow out from the fibrous roots. Miss Rice: No. Carroll. Carroll: They grow out from the main root. Miss Rice: Yes. In this sound track today they mentioned main roots. They did not say "primary roots," I do not believe. All right, did you hear two new things about fibrous roots, that is, we didn't say them in just that way? Marie. Marie: That they live two years. Miss Rice: Fibrous roots do some- times and there was something else when he first showed us the fibrous roots, that is, he said two things about them that we haven't mentioned. Elaine. Elaine: I think it was the other root I was thinking about.