Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

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I4 for Mr. Nicholson to build his greenhouses where they are, and the children should be led to see this present day result of the glacier that was here so long ago. Following the same method the formation of Bare Hill and Nobscot Mt., of the eskers in the cemetery, and of the kames and kettleholes, from the tiny one on the side of Bare Hill to Learned's Pond, would be taken up. All of these formations are important as reasons why certain things in this town are as they are. The cemetery was made among the eskers and kames because of their picturesquenessg there are no houses on the east side of Bare Hill, because the glacier made it too steep. A comparison of this hill with lndianhead and the mountain, shows their shapes to be very similar, so we know they were made in the same way. We have the gla- cier largely to thank for the beauty of our townsg the hills all around, the lakes, ponds and undulating cup-and-saucer regions were given us by the glacier, in part or wholly. Our rocky pastures and the big boulder on the Fenton place remind us of the ice-sheet. But there have been other places affected by the glacier. Long ls- land, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were made by it, and the prairies where our wheat grows, were covered with thick rich soil when the glacier passed over them. Somewhere today there are glaciers too, over Green- land, and in the Alps, Himalayas and Rockies. So the glacier not only explains some of the features of our town, but it leads to the study of the great mountain ranges of the world, and of the western prairies. In the same way the Sudbury river may be studied. The children know about it, they have seen its slow winding course, the falls at Saxon- ville, and have watched it overflow its banks each year. To have seen the flood-plain of the Sudbury makes that of the Mississippi or Nile far more real. The land in the flood-plain of the Sudbury is very fertile so it is in all flood-plains, and this makes it easy to raise food in flood-plains: now the children can see why the Nile is a great wheat-growing agent, and why there are so many, many people in the Ganges valley. So throughout the study of the drainage of the town comparison and contrast with other drainage systems may be carriedon. Une interesting place to visit in connection with physical geography is the stone-quarry. The children will see and learn many things, and will get a better idea of this industry than they could from books. Some of the peat and tripoli from the Badger farm would afford a good basis for a lesson in geography. From the peat of Framingham could be taught the story of the formation of coalg and the description of how peat is obtained and used in Ireland and Scotland. There are several maps which can be put on the board, or made by the children. After the study of the glaciation of the continent, make a map showing the hills, eskers, kames and kettleholes. After the study of drainage add the rivers, lakes, brooks and ponds, showing the reservoirs and the falls at Saxonville. Another very good map shows Framingham and the adjoining towns, with the highways and railroads, connecting our town with the rest of the state.

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I 3 Home Geography OF all forms of geography there is, I think, none of more importance than home geography. There are two reasons why this is true. First, in order that the children may grow up citizens of the most useful kind, it is really necessary for them to have a knowledge of the history, de- velopment and economic conditions of the town in which they live. To lead to this understanding, the study of the geography which has so much influence on the life of the town, is very important. But the second great value of home geography is equal to the first. Home geography is the best basis for the study of the geography of the rest of the world. The children need to know about the relations which bind the countries of the earth together, and make each part dependent on the other parts. Perhaps the best way to show the value of home geography, and how its two purposes may be secured, is to study the town of Framingham and see how the geography of this town could be taught to children. The physical geography of the town has many interesting features, and in the several sections varied occupations are carried ong so there are many sub- jects to deal with in connection with Framingham, and its relation to the outside world. These subjects may be classified thus: first, those relating to physical geographyg and second, those relating to industrial geography. In the making of the physical features of the town, the glacier played a very important part. The story of the glacier would be told in the fifth or sixth grade. After the teacher had explained what the physical fea- tures, due to the passage of a glacier, are, they would recognize whatever of these features they had seen. As an example take the story of the forma- tion of sand plains, which the teacher could tell in this way. When the glacier spread all over this part of North America where we live, there were streams of water flowing on the ice. Sometimes these rivers would come to a place where the ice had melted to form hollows, and there they would spread out and form lakes. In their course these streams had collected sand and gravel, and as they spread out in the lakes, they could not flow so rapidly, and could not carry so heavy a load. So when they flowed into the lakes, they dropped some of the gravel, and the nearer they got to the center, the more sand they spread over the lake floor. They kept on doing this until the glacier melted, and when the lakes had disap- peared, the layers of sand they left behind settled onto the ground, and we have named them sand plains. Then the teacher would ask where in this town there is fine white sand and what this place is called. One of these sand plains made it possible

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I5 This leads to industrial geography. Another way to connect physical with industrial geography is through the collection of the soils found in the town. After the children have brought the kinds to school study the uses of each and their distribution in this and other countries. Learn how it is that soils determine occupations, and what occupations the different soils favor. Many interesting geography lessons may be learned from the grocery and dry-goods stores of the town. The children know what they can buy in these stores, and they also know that most of the articles in them did not come from Framingham. But probably they have not known much about the places or people from which these things have come to Framingham: now is the time to show how dependent we are on people away off in strange lands. Where did the tea, the raisins, the Hour and cocoa in a ,grocery store come from? Who sent us the silk and linen and cotton in our dry- goods stores? How did these things get here? The answers to these ques- tions come from the study of countries on the other side of the world or in other parts of our own land. But what is Framingham doing for people in other cities and coun- tries? The study of the great manufacturing plants in South Framingham and Saxonville tells us this. Trains are carrying away every day the things made in these factories to people who live in distant countries. Our stores and factories are the best things in the town to teach the relations of all the parts of our nation, and the relation of all the parts of the world to one another. Framingham is just a very small part of a great whole, but it has its place and its work to do. Try to have the children realize this. I believe that when home geography is taught so that children have the beginning of an understanding of their home town, and the knowledge of the close relationship of the town to all the rest of the world, the time spent in the study of home geography is well worth while. R E T