I g 8 THE NA TURE-STUD V RE VIE V/ [5 -.g— nov.. 1909 



Much of the esthetic and ethical vakie of nature-study lies in the 

 study of flowers, birds, etc. The child of the congested districts 

 should be given a chance to enjoy these. But as a general rule, 

 that which lies close at hand is better for nature-study purposes. 



A consideration of the present nature-study syllabus for New 

 York City shows that it is primarily adapted to the suburban and 

 semi-rural parts of the city, and not to the interior, except in such 

 special localities as where schools are situated near large parks. 

 The illustrative material required by the present syllabus is not 

 such as exists in the environment of the great bulk of the 600,000 

 school children of this city. 



The great criticism of most nature-study courses, including our 

 own, is that they are unrelated to the other school studies and are 

 disjointed within themselves. Perhaps the greatest progress 

 made in organizing nature-study is in correlating it with geogra- 

 phy, as illustrated by Fairbanks, McMurry and others. This 

 correlation is most natural, and pedagogically desirable. The two 

 subjects should go hand in hand. The coiirse in New York City 

 could be much improved along this line, by including more indus- 

 trial nature-study and some physical nature-study in the fourth, 

 fifth and sixth grades. The experimental culture of commercial 

 plants in the school-garden would be an excellent thing. There 

 is some such correlation with geography in the present syllabus, 

 but it should be extended. 



Again the present course provides for hardly any correlation 

 of nature-study with domestic science and manual training. 

 Both of these subjects would have their intellectual content en- 

 riched and the nature-study would find in them a logical and 

 practical appUcation. The study of the properties of different 

 kinds of woods, and other construction material, the study of 

 fibres, the use of the school-garden products in cooking — are 

 suggestions for correlations of this sort. 



If any form of nature-study is practical and of daily applica- 

 tion, it is the study of our own bodies and how to take care of 

 them. At present in this city, physiology and hygiene are 

 almost in a state of "innocuous desuetude." If correlation should 

 exist between any subjects, it should between nature-study and 

 physiology and hygiene. The former should be basic to the 

 latter. Many topics, such as respiration, ventilation, etc., 

 should be based upon nature-study. Experiments on plant Hfe 



