258 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:6-Sept., 1916 



Many teachers in Rhode Island have carried out group projects 

 with pronounced success as was shown in the exhibit last fall. The 

 fly problem was worked out skilfully in our Seventh Grade; at 

 Branch Avenue they had a clean-up campaign which not only 

 meant back yards but teeth and hands ; at Glendale a recent grad- 

 uate organized a Camp Fire Group, and so on. We now need 

 teachers who are willing to break away from the lock-step method 

 and teach individual projects. 



I would recommend then in organizing this study that first 

 of all you should include the daily problems of science which are 

 met by your pupils. Secondly, there are many things worth while 

 with which the experience of the pupil may never bring him in con- 

 tact, yet they are things that everyone should know, as — ventila- 

 tion. Thirdly, every neighborhood has its individual needs. To 

 know what these are you must make a survey of the exact condi- 

 tion and materials of nature-study in the community. A study 

 of shellfish would be more appropriate for the sea town of Westerly 

 than in Marieville. The problems of a mill village are not the same 

 as those of a market garden community. The thrift of our low- 

 land farmers as compared with the upland farmers is due to certain 

 differences in their environment. Clean-up week is not so essen- 

 tial on the Blackstone Boulevard as the democracy of a school gar- 

 den. Fourth. Hold conferences. Librarians, doctors, farmers, 

 and others should take part in the discussion. At one meeting the 

 discussion could be opened by those teachers who have worked out 

 problems of science. Have a civic science day on which the health 

 officers, the State Forester, the Water Commissioner, the Park 

 Commissioner, the State Agriculturist, etc., tell you what they 

 consider an essential civic intelligence in regard to their various 

 fields. At another conference invite a plumber to tell you of what 

 the everyday knowledge of plumbing should consist. In the same 

 way invite the gas man, the orchardist, the florist, the market man, 

 etc. Fifth. The problem should be related to the life of the com- 

 munity. This is called socializing. 



Method. — Having decided what we are going to teach the next 

 thing is to determine how to teach it. Time does not allow more 

 than one illustration. Suppose that it is a seventh grade class in 

 Home Science. The class is taught a few simple facts about air 

 and water. Air is a substance and has weight, for instance. This 

 knowledge is brought out by a few experiments. Many practical 

 problems can be based upon this knowledge. 



