A Geography Scheme

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jan 18, 1906

A Geography Scheme

I NOTICE in your department of Methods, Aids, and Devices you ask for devices for teaching geography. I tried one in my grammar room classes a year ago that I considered very successful.

I had a hectograph that was home-made. Perhaps all do not know what a simple process it is to make one. All that is needed is a shallow tin pan, a little larger than a sheet of legal cap paper, a pound of glycerin, and an ounce of sheet gelatin. Break the gelatin into a tin pan and cover with water, and let it soak overnight. Set it on the stove and melt it, then pour the glycerin into it, and let it heat to the boiling-point. Pour the mixture, while hot, into the shallow pan, and skim off any blubbers that rise. Set it away to cool. When it is cool, press a piece of paper smoothly over the surface, and remove it. If any of the jelly adheres to the paper, boil it up again.

The hectograph ink is the greatest part of the expense, but a bottle of it will last a lifetime.

From the printing-office I obtained a quantity of printing paper cut in sheets about the size of legal cap.

The seventh grade was studying the United States. We studied it as a whole. Then with the help of my hectograph I made four outline maps of the United States for each member of the class. On the first I had the students write the name in each State and locate its capital. On the second I had them locate the highlands and lowlands, showing them with different colored crayons. On the third I had them locate the regions where the different forms of vegetation grow. On the fourth they showed the regions from which the different minerals are obtained.

Of course many other facts might be shown on the outline maps, such as density of population, direction of winds, etc.

When we took up the States by sections, I required them to draw the section as a whole. I hectographed the outline of each State separately, and they located all rivers, lakes, mountains, and cities, and the adjoining States. On another sheet, they filled out the following outline: area; population; climate; surface; industries; products—animal, vegetable, mineral; manufactures; imports; exports; largest cities.

When we had taken all the States this way, we fastened the sheets together, first the United States maps, then the map they drew of the northeastern section, and the State maps and outlines of that section, then the maps of the middle section, and so on.

The eighth grade treated the countries of Europe and Asia in the same way, except that in the outline "Government" was the third topic.

To make the maps, I used linen paper, and traced the outlines with a lead-pencil, and then went over it with the ink, as it takes so long to draw a map accurately, and I had so little time.—Selected.