Science Department
The Science Department of Dallastown High School experienced many changes from the 1940's to the 1990's. Such changes included the material presented to the students, the substances permitted to be used and the procedures for lab use. Nevertheless, some other things never changed over time.
"The depth of the material is so vast compared to what it was before." said Mr. Charles Landis, "The material used then was much more fundamental."
An important question that was asked of Mr. Merle Anderson was, "What was science class like when you were in school?"
"When I went to school, most of the work was qualitative and not quantatative. We didn't have electronic balances or anything like that, so measurements were much more time consuming." stated Mr. Anderson.
Another comment made by Mr. Landis was: "the material wasn't anywhere near as involved as it is today. For example, the work was nearly all fundamental, whereas today it has become really sophisticated in the amount of material that they teach. They are teaching you today probably what you would have learned in graduate school in the 1940's."
A comment regarding the presenting of material came from Mr. Duane Stauffer. He proclaimed, "there is a lot less lecturing and more one on one involvment and more group work now, unlike then."
Some substances that were allowed to be used back in the 1940's and 1950's are now banned or are just not used. Also, many labs were done then that are not allowed to be done now.
"We worked with dangerous materials. In High School, we used to do experiments with phosphorus. I wouldn't dream of using phosphorus today. When phosphourus is exposed to air, it will ignite spontaneously," explained Mr. Anderson.
"I remember I did a live dissection of a frog once, and when it was already pinned down it hopped right off the dissecting tray," Mr. Stauffer told me. He also mentioned lab dissection stopped in the late 1970's and early 1980's.
"Were there more precautions when doing experiments then or now?" Mr. Landis was questioned.
"Well, an experiment is something you're doing that you've never done before. Therefore there are always going to be mistakes. Even in the 1940's 50's, 60's, 70's and so on, an experiment has always been something that a student has never done before. So I don't think that has changed a lot," answered Mr. Landis.
In the Science Department of the Dallastown School, there will always be some things that change and others that generally stay the same. From the information gathered in the interviews that covered from the 40's to the 80's, the Science Department started out primarily in a lecture format with all fundamental material being taught. Over the years, this evolved into more group activities, more sophisticated and precise data, and much more of a vast variety of material that is discussed. Mr. Anderson echoes this fact. "Most changes that do happen are very gradual and hard to pinpoint." The Dallastown Science Department, with every minor change over the years, became better and better as the decades passed by.
