BIGELOWl 



RE LA T/Oy OF XA TURE-S TUD Y A XD SCIENCE 3 7 



teaching the science of botany we take up higher plants in some 

 such order as root, stem, leaf, flower and fruit. Why? Because, 

 for the sake of scientific organization, we must compare stem with 

 stems, and leaf with leaves. It is even very probable that 

 for the sake of intense comparative study we will at times ask 

 students to study many roots or many leaves entirely apart 

 from their natural relations and without regard to interest not 

 directly derived from organized knowledge of the science of 

 botany. 



On the other hand, in nature-study the point of approach 

 should be radically different. It must be from the child's 

 center of interest. Imagine the absurdity of studying a rose 

 plant in full bloom by first making a comparative study of roots, 

 perhaps even going back to seeds, then stems and leaves, and 

 finallv get to the one point of intense interest, the flower. Science 

 study from the standpoint of the scientist may (I believe not 

 necessarily) start with the most uninteresting parts; but nature- 

 studv must be true to its claims for interest in daily life and start 

 with the point of greatest interest. Nature-study must study 

 the rose from the standpoint of life as it exists in the child stand- 

 ing before the plant, not from the viewpoint of the man of science 

 who looks through the eyes of the thousands of investigators 

 whose united labors have given the scientist's outlook. No 

 order of comparative botany will suffice for nature-study. The 

 child does not care for the scientific conception of root, stem, 

 leaf, etc. But each plant has a center of interest — the flower in 

 the rose, the root of a radish, the leaf of a lettuce, the fruic of a 

 peach, the stem of an asparagus, — such may be the variations in 

 human interest which decides the point of approach in nature- 

 study. 



So also in animal nature-study. The tail of a fish is interesting 

 because significant ; but not so is a cat's tail which may be 

 "conspicuously absent" without affecting seriously the life of the 

 animal. In all cases the animal nature-study should start with 

 the most striking habits, uses, and adaptations — these are the 

 centers of interest, — and never mind the comparative zoology of 

 "head, thorax, abdomen, appendages, and internal anatomy." 



And the same principles apply to physical nature. It is 

 possible from the nature-study point of view to give a series of 

 ten or twelve interesting: lessons on heat starting; with such a 



