coulter] RELA TION OF NA TURE-STUDY AND SCIENCE 43 



cation are pending, and the friends of nature-study must be ready 

 to take advantage of them. The traditional rule of the three 

 R's cannot last much longer in education. Industrial and house- 

 hold training on the one hand, and nature-study on the other, 

 together with the personal training of the body and the mind in 

 hygiene and possibly in music and art, must soon be made the 

 foundation of our educational system. The R's will not be lost. 

 They will merely cake their rightful places as tools, not as ends in 

 themselves. It is against this time that the believer in nature- 

 study must hold himself prepared. 



VI 



By W. E. PRAEGER 



Professor of Biology in Kalamazoo College 



In the papers we have just listened to there is one very radical 

 difference in the points of view. It has been stated with equal 

 positiveness that nature-study is and is not science. It is evi- 

 dent that the acceptance of one or the other of these statements 

 mav have far-reaching influence on the content and the method 

 of teaching. I hold that nature-study is science and is simply 

 the name applied to such parts of natural science as can ap- 

 propriately be taught in the grades. The method of presenta- 

 tion of these facts will differ widely from that in usi in the high- 

 school or college, but it is science teaching nevertheless. 



There should be no break in the continuity of science teaching 

 from the kindergarten to the college, no more than there should 

 be in the teaching of literature or mathematics. The idea that 

 nature-study is not science leads to serious results, the responsi- 

 bility for accuracy seems to disappear, and much of the nonsense 

 and weak sentimentalism that has brought discredit on the 

 subject is due to this fundamental error. 



VII 



By JOHN G. COULTER 

 Professor of Biology in Illinois State Normal University 



I am glad that the discussion has turned to the adequate 

 preparation of teachers of nature-studv, for surely herein rests 

 any adequate fulfilment whatsoever of the ideals with respect to 

 which there appears to be general agreement. Our own train- 

 ing department has made the fair criticism that our courses in 

 biology do not supply them with eager teachers of nature-study, 



