A Civic Biology Part 43

Sources of nitrogen, the nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Relation of this to man.

Rotation of crops.

Tenth week. HOW GREEN PLANTS MAKE FOOD. Pa.s.sage of liquids up stem.

Demonstration. Structure of a green leaf. Cellular structure demonstrated.

Microscopic demonstration of cells, stoma, air s.p.a.ces, chlorophyll bodies.

Evaporation of water from green leaf, regulation of transpiration.

Eleventh week. _Midterm Examinations._ Sun a source of energy. Effect of light on green plants. Experimental proof. Starch made in green leaf. Light and air necessary for starch making. Proof. Protein making in leaf.

By-products in starch making. Proof. Respiration.

Twelfth week. THE CIRCULATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD IN GREEN PLANTS.

Uses of bark, wood, what part of stem does food pa.s.s down. Willow twig experiment. Summary of functions of living matter in plant. Forestry lecture. Economic uses of green plants. Reports.

Thirteenth week. PLANTS WITHOUT CHLOROPHYLL IN THEIR RELATION TO MAN.

Saprophytic fungi. Molds. Growth on bread or other substances. Conditions most favorable for growth. Favorite foods. Methods of prevention. Economic importance.

Fourteenth week. YEASTS IN THEIR RELATION TO MAN. Experiments to show fermentation is caused by yeasts. Experiments to show conditions necessary for fermentation. The part played by yeasts in bread making, in wine making, in other industries. Structure of yeast demonstrated. Summary.

Fifteenth week. EXPERIMENTS TO SHOW WHERE BACTERIA MAY BE FOUND AND CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO GROWTH BEGUN. Have cultures collected and placed in a warm room during the holidays. Suggested experiments are exposure to air of quiet room and room with persons moving, dust of floor, knife blade, etc.

Sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth weeks. THE MONTH OF JANUARY SHOULD BE DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF BACTERIA IN THEIR GENERAL RELATIONS TO MAN.

Economically, both directly and indirectly. Especial emphasis placed on the nature and necessity of decay. Bacteria in relation to disease should also be emphasized. The experiments to be performed and the topics expected to be covered follow.

CONDITIONS FAVORABLE AND UNFAVORABLE FOR GROWTH OF BACTERIA. (Use bouillon cultures.) Effect of intense heat, sterile bouillon exposed to air, effect of boiling, effect of cold, effect of antiseptics (corrosive sublimate, carbolic acid, boric acid, formalin, etc.), effect of large amounts of sugar and salt and the relation of this to preserving, etc. Bring out practical application of principles demonstrated. Discuss sterilization in medicine and surgery, cold storage, canning, sterilization, _e.g._ laundries, etc., use of antiseptics, preserving by means of salt and sugar.

Microscopic demonstration of bacteria. Methods of reproduction. Importance in causing organic decay, fixation of nitrogen, various useful forms in cheese making, b.u.t.ter ripening, etc. Harmfulness of bacteria as disease producers. Specific diseases discussed: tuberculosis, typhoid, infective colds, blood poisoning, etc. Vaccination. Ant.i.toxins begun--continued after knowledge of human body is gained. Work of Lister and Pasteur.

Nineteenth and twentieth weeks. REVIEW AND EXAMINATIONS.

SECOND TERM

First week. THE BALANCED AQUARIUM. Carbon and nitrogen cycles. Balanced aquarium and hay infusion compared.

Second week. ONE PROTOZOAN, DEMONSTRATION TO SHOW CHANGES IN SHAPE, RESPONSE TO STIMULI, SUMMARY OF VITAL PROCESSES IN CELL. Food getting, digestion, a.s.similation, oxidation, excretion, growth, reproduction.

Internal structure of protozoan. Protozoa as cause of disease.

Third week. GENERAL SURVEY OF ANIMAL KINGDOM. Survey introduced by museum trip if possible. Protozoa, worm, insect, fish, mammal. Distinction between vertebrate and invertebrate. Character of mammalia. Division of labor emphasized. Man's place in nature.

Fourth week. STUDY OF THE FROG. Relation to habitat, adaptations for locomotion, food getting, respiration, comparison of frog and fish on latter point. Osmotic exchange of gases emphasized. Cell respiration.

Fifth week. METAMORPHOSIS OF FROG. Fertilization, cell division, and differentiation emphasized. Touch on plant and animal breeding. Function of chromosomes as bearers of heredity. Comparison of bird's egg and mammal embryo.

Sixth week. FACTORS IN BREEDING. 1. Variation. 2. Selection. 3. Heredity fixes variation. 4. Hybridizing. 5. Control of environment. Eugenics in relation to (_a_) crime, (_b_) disease, (_c_) genius. Continuity of germ plasm. Work of Darwin, Mendel, De Vries, Burbank.

Seventh week. A BRIEF STUDY OF THE GROSS STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. Skin, muscles, bones. Removal of lime from bone by HCl to show other substances and need for lime. Effect of posture, spinal curvature, fractures, sprains.

Eighth week. NEED FOR FOOD. Nutritive value of food. Use of charts to show foods rich in carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, water, refuse. The relation of age, s.e.x, work, and environment to the food requirements. What is a cheap food. Price list of common foods at present time. Efforts of government to secure a cheap food supply for the people. Digestibility of foods.

Ninth week. HOW THE FUEL VALUE OF FOOD HAS BEEN DETERMINED. Meaning of calorie. The 100-caloric portion, its use in determining a daily or weekly dietary. Standard dietary as determined by At.w.a.ter. Comparison of standards of Chittenden and Voit with those of At.w.a.ter.

Tenth week. STUDY OF PUPIL'S DIETARY. Planning ideal meals. Individual dietaries for one day required from each pupil. Discussions and corrections. The family dietary. Relation to cost.

Eleventh week. DIGESTION. The digestive system in the frog and in man compared. Drawings of each. Glands and enzymes. Internal secretions and their importance. Demonstration of glandular tissues. Experiment to show digestion of starch in mouth.

Twelfth week. DIGESTION CONTINUED. Digestion of white of egg by gastric juice. Digestion of starch with pancreatic fluid. Functions of pancreatic juice. Microscopic examination of emulsion. Reasons for digestion. Part played by osmosis. Demonstration of osmosis. Non-osmosis of non-digested foods, comparison between osmosable qualities of starch and grape sugar.

Thirteenth week. ABSORPTION. Where and how foods are absorbed. The structure of a villus explained. Course taken by foods after absorption.

Function of liver. Blood making the result of absorption. Composition of blood, red and colorless corpuscles, plasma, blood plates, antibodies.

Microscopic drawing of corpuscles of frog's and man's blood.

Fourteenth week. CIRCULATION OF BLOOD. The heart and lungs of frog demonstrated. Heart of man a force pump, explain with use of force pump.

Demonstration of beef's heart. Circulation and changes of blood in various parts of body. Work of cells with reference to blood made clear. Capillary circulation (demonstration of circulation in tadpole's tail or web of frog's foot).

Fifteenth week. RESPIRATION AND EXCRETION. Necessity for taking of oxygen to cells and removal of wastes from cells. Part played by blood and lymph.

Mechanics of breathing (use of experiments). Changes of air and blood in lungs (experiments). Best methods of ventilation (experiments). Elimination of wastes from blood by lungs, skin, and kidneys. Cell respiration.

Sixteenth week. HYGIENE OF ORGANS OF EXCRETION, especially care of skin.

The general structure and functions of the central nervous system. Sensory and motor nerves. Reflexes, instincts, habits. Habit formation, importance of right habits. Rules for habit formation. Habit-forming drugs and other agents. Lecture.

Seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth weeks. CIVIC HYGIENE AND SANITATION.

Hygiene of special senses, eye and ear. A well citizen an efficient citizen. Public health is purchasable. Improvement of environment a means of obtaining this. Civic hygiene and sanitation. Cleaning up neighborhood, inquiry into home and street conditions. Fighting the fly. Conditions of milk and water supply. Relation of above to disease. Work of Board of Health, etc. Review and Examinations.

SUGGESTED SYLLABUS FOR COURSE BEGINNING FEBRUARY 1 AND ENDING THE FOLLOWING JANUARY

FIRST TERM

First week. WHY STUDY BIOLOGY? Relation to human health, hygiene. Relations existing between plants and animals. Relation of bacteria to man. Uses of plants and animals. Conservation of plants and animals. Relation to life of citizen in this city. Needs of plants and animals: (1) food, (2) water, (3) air, (4) proper temperature. Study of a single plant or animal in relation to its environment. Problems of city government: (_a_) storage, preservation and distribution of foods, (_b_) water supply, (_c_) overcrowded tenements, (_d_) street cleaning, (_e_) clean schools.

Biological problems in city government.

Second week. INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. Plants furnish food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Animals use food, shelter. Man's use of plants as above. Man's use of animals as above. Plant and animal industries. Use of balanced aquarium as ill.u.s.trative material.

Third week. DESTRUCTION OF FOOD AND OTHER THINGS BY MOLD. Home experiment.

Conditions favorable to growth of mold. Food, moisture, temperature.

Destruction of commodities by mold: food, leather, clothing.

Fourth week, fifth week. DESTRUCTION OF FOODS BY BACTERIA. Experiment. To show where bacteria are found. Soil, dust, water, milk, hands, mouth. Use and harm of decay. Relation to agriculture. Experiment. Conditions favorable and unfavorable to growth of bacteria: boiling, cold, sugar, salt. Bacteria in relation to disease briefly mentioned. Bacteria in industries.

Sixth week. USE OF STORED FOOD BY YOUNG GREEN PLANT: (_a_) for energy, (_b_) for construction of tissue. Experiment. Structure of bean seed. Draw to show outer coat, cotyledon, hypocotyl, and plumule. Test for starch and sugar (grape). Test for oil, protein, water, mineral matter. Use of all nutrients to seedling.

Seventh week. OTHER NEEDS OF YOUNG PLANTS. Home experiments to show (_a_) temperature, (_b_) amount of water most favorable to germination.

Experiment. To show need of oxygen. To show that germinating seeds give off carbon dioxide. Proof of presence of carbon dioxide in breath. The needs of a young plant compared with those of a boy or girl.

Eighth week. DIGESTION IN SEEDLING. Structure of corn grain. Experiment. To show that starch is digested in a growing seedling (corn). Experiment. To show that diastase digests starch. Discussion of experiments.

Ninth week. WHAT PLANTS TAKE FROM THE SOIL AND HOW THEY DO THIS. Use of roots. Proof that it holds plant in position, takes in water and mineral matter, and in some cases stores food. Influence of gravity and water.