Morton High School - Top Hat Yearbook (Hammond, IN)

Page 33 text:

Foreign Traditions, Literature, Geography, People SPANISH DANCES El Cumbia and La Bomba are taught by Miss D. Matis to Laura Bjorklund and Mark Powers. Dancing provides an understanding of Mexican cultures. FINDING CURRENT EVENTS more interesting in France than in the United States, junior Jim Harsany reads Match, a popular French magazine similar to Life. GUM CHEWERS caught by Mr. W. Ruff must either stick the gum on their noses until the class ends, as sopho¬ more Emory White, or serve a deten¬ tion befpre or after school.

Page 32 text:

Languages Assist Students Seeking Understanding SCENES OF PARIS inspire students in their studies of French. First year French students improved their pronunci¬ ation of words and pharses by listening to dialogues on the tape recorder. After gaining a sufficient vocabulary, students translated French novels into English, starting with “Sept un Coup.” Second year students completed “Auccassin et Nicolette,” a more advanced novel. Beginning German students not only concentrated on usag e of grammar and vocabulary but also on geography and customs. Bonn, the home of Beethoven, and Cologne, the location of the largest Gothic church in northern Europe, were two of the cities studied. This year the aurol-oral method was introduced in many of the Spanish I classes. This system emphasized the hearing and speaking aspects of the language, while the use of the textbook was limited. First year students took an imaginary car trip to Mexico. All made a diary of the journey which included maps, an expense account and personal observations of the customs and scenery. Students interested in furthering their study of Latin have enrolled in a third year course to be offered next fall. Literature will be stressed, and the students will study the Roman authors Virgil and Cicero. While basic grammar and its usage are learned during the first and second years, figures of speech will be the only grammar introduced in the third year. LISTENING, IMITATING and conversing are the three steps to learning a language. Students Dennis Dawson, Norma Reitz and Warren Griggs pronounce buch, aswischer and platte, which are German vocab¬ ulary words for book, eraser and record. 28

Page 34 text:

DEMONSTRATING A NEW METHOD of choosing chemicals for his ex¬ periment, Po Khamvongsa covers his eyes and selects a bottle of H2CO3, Lab Experiments Prove Theories and Unknowns Juniors and seniors desiring to obtain knowledge of the physical sciences select either chemistry or physics. Through laboratory experiments chemistry students demonstrated the basic principles of ionization, oxida¬ tion and other chemical reactions. Molecular weights, activity of elements and parts of an atom were studied during the first semester. Students also learned to pre¬ pare chemicals and test for results. Occasionally a small amount of the wrong chemical created an unexpected reaction, but all experiments were properly supervised. The second semester of chemistry was primarily con¬ cerned with the use of atomic physics to predict the reactions of chemical combinations. Physics, a more advanced course in the physical sci¬ ences, requires a sound background in mathematics. Heat, light, density and radioactivity comprised the areas covered in the course. Students also worked on projects of their own choice which dealt with polarized light, static electricity and other related subjects. BEFORE PERFORMING o physics experiment, Mike Mestrovich, sneaks a handful of ice to be used for a heat test. The purpose of heat ex¬ periments is to measure the number of calories needed to melt ice.