THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO ALL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF NATURE 

 IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 



Vol. 6 October, 1910 No. 7 



SHOULD THE NATURE-STUDY COURSE BE ORGANIZED WITH DE- 



FINITENESS? 



By OTIS W. CALDWELL, University of Chicago 



The advocates of nature-study present many plans for work, 

 and these plans have a wide range in content, method and pur- 

 pose. There are those who wish the schools to consider a very 

 few topics in nature and to consider these in a detailed scientific 

 way, and there are those who would have nothing pre-planned, 

 no necessary consecutiveness in the topics, no regular lessons, but 

 who would avail themselves of nature materials and nature in- 

 quisitiveness whenever these things chance to appear. Such dif- 

 ferences are due largely to a very wide range in ideas concerning 

 what nature-study is. One prominent writer says: "Nature-study, 

 then, is not science. It is not knowledge. It is not facts. It is 

 spirit. It is an attitude of mind. It concerns itself with the 

 child's outlook on the world." Those who hold this view say 

 that it matters little what facts or topics in nature we use or in 

 what grade we use them. Regular lessons should be avoided, 

 but we should utilize the chance opportunities to stimulate the 

 nature-study spirit. The spirit is the important thing, the content 

 of no consequence. This spirit, they say, must not be endangered 

 by formality, regularity, lessons- that are required and orderly 

 arrangement of work. No satisfactory statement of what this 

 spirit of nature-study is has been forthcoming, though many have 

 asked for explanation. When we ask, we are told "Oh ! you 

 cannot understand, else you would not have to ask". 



To some of us who try to keep out of the above class, it 

 seems that real nature-study has some things in common with 

 other subjects that are used in school work. It seems to us that 

 the real spirit of history study, arithmetic, or of nature, comes 

 through some well ordered first-hand contact with vital affairs 

 in the particular field of study. The true history teacher says 



