Science

This film profiles a Homemaker Service that provides assistance to families and individuals in their own homes. The camera follows one homemaker as she cares for the families assigned to her. She is shown as she shops, prepares meals, and does light housework for an elderly couple who would otherwise be unable to live on their own. The homemaker works under the supervision of a public health nurse. When a Puerto Rican mother of six is injured, the homemaker looks after the children and helps with the housework as the mother recuperates.

This film stars a young boy named Michael Thompson, who begins as a healthy baby. As he ages, the narrator explains the many people and places in his life that will be influential. He introduces the parents, and explains that they have two very different dreams for Michael - his mother wants him to stay young and needy forever, and his father wants him to grow up and become a better, more accomplished man than himself. When Michael is a toddler, he wakes up in the night afraid, and the narrator wonders if Michael's mother will baby him or if his father will scold him for being afraid.

This film was created as a professional educational extension of the American Radium Society on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The film stresses the need for multiple disciplines to work together to treat childhood cancer. The three disciplines represented on this panel discussion were: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Three childhood cancer cases were discussed: a 9-month old with a tumor on the right kidney, a 7-month old with a tumor in the left groin, and a 10-year-old boy with a tumor on the arm.

The development of the auditory apparatus in the fetus is illustrated in labeled drawings. Congenital nerve deafness is due to arrested development of the otocyst during the second and third fetal months or to prenatal degeneration of the organ of Corti. Charts show hearing loss and deafness in babies born to mothers who had rubella during the third month of pregnancy. Congenital nerve deafness cannot be corrected medically or surgically.

Dr. Benjamin Spock, noted pediatrician, discusses community water fluoridation--its safety, low cost, and effectiveness in reducing dental caries. Advice to parents and facts about community water fluoridation are presented in Dr. Spock's own warm, inimitable manner.

This film provides descriptive documentation of variations in oral behavior in infants under 24 weeks of age. Infants are shown at different stages, moving their arms and legs, placing fingers, toes, and other objects in their mouths, licking items, grabbing a ring suspended above them, and biting a sterling silver cup. Behavior prior to feeding and after feeding is shown, with variations in infant response.

Designed for adolescent girls, this educational film focuses on the developments that take place as a young girl matures into adulthood. It discusses changes in growth rate, development of body hair, development of acne, and the maturing of the female reproductive system, including menstruation. The changing male reproductive system is also discussed briefly.

This film shows the effect upon infants of prolonged absence of the mother. A number of babies in a foundling home are shown. The film indicates that among infants under a year old, if the mother returns after an interval of fewer than three months, their recovery is rapid. If the absence is prolonged beyond this period, it becomes impossible to achieve contact with them, and they become passive and apathetic and begin to suffer damage to their personalities. The film suggests that it is the emotional climate provided by the mother that allows the child's mind to develop normally.

This is the first installment in a series about the behavioral and emotional interaction between mothers and infants in the first year of life. In a study of these relationships, more than 100 mother-infant pairs were observed clinically, and the feeding of each infant by the mother was filmed at intervals during the year. Seven types of maternal behavior with infants are shown. The narrator observes that a mother's handling of her infant during feeding is linked to the child's later behavior and personality.

A series of episodes typical of those arising in families with small children shows how the fears of a normal five-year-old named Paul are related to feelings about parents. His fears--of the dark, of being alone, of new situations--not only prevent him from enjoying experiences that other boys enjoy, but tend to widen the gap of misunderstanding between him and his parents. The film points out that Paul's feelings are common to children of his age and may be accentuated when parents become either unduly protective or over-severe. Sponsored by the U.S.