SYLVESTER] NAIURE-STUDYINCITYDISTRICTS 20 7 



view. This is excellent, not only from standpoint of pedagogy 

 but also from that of nature-study as well, in that it tends to 

 deepen and broaden the knowledge gained. 



On the other hand, the course introduces too many subjects 

 which have little or no bearing on the life and interests of our 

 children. This is, in a way, a great obstacle; for the work in 

 nature-study often takes our pupils too far away from home, as it 

 were. It treats of many things which are almost entirely without 

 their range of experience and which will probably always remain 

 so. It is true, however, that many of the subjects in the course 

 might be more closely related to our needs by our method of treat- 

 ing them. A study of the more important economic materials, 

 for example, offers a splendid field which deserves special 

 emphasis in our dealing with city children. Moreover, a 

 study of the more important industries of man, beginning right at 

 the child's own door, is full of suggestion and affords abundant 

 material for interesting nature-study lessons. 



There is such a close and vital relation between geography and 

 nature-study that if ever correlation is to be wished for, it is just 

 here. Much of the work in geography remains vague and unin- 

 telligible to our pupils because we do not study carefully enough 

 the very elements. These could be made the basis of nature- 

 study lessons. The subject is introduced under earth study in 

 our course, but it is to be feired that it receives far too little 

 attention. Someone has said that nature-study deals with the 

 child's immediate physical environment and geography with the 

 child's broader physical environment. This is a very suggestive 

 thought. Could it not be carried out more fully, as for example, 

 in series of lessons similar to the following? 



I. Evaporation — The air acting as a sponge. Observations — 

 H^O from teakettle; what becomes of it? Drying clothes of the 

 wash — What becomes of the H.O? Drying sidewalks after rain, 

 etc. 



II. Condensation — Windows on a cold day. The frost flow- 

 ers on the window pane. The "sweat" on the pitcher of ice 

 water. Why is the breath visible in cold weather? 



III. Clouds — The ''cloud'' from the tea kettle. Clouds — Not 

 smoke. Origin of clouds. Rainfall. Evaporation from ocean 

 and land surface. Forms of clouds. 



