davis] XATURE-STUDY IN THE PRIMARY GRADES 109 



twelve common birds are regarded as a reasonable number for 

 children to know by the time they have completed the third 

 <?rade Four of the most common ones mav be taken up in the 

 first grade, and four in each of the succeeding grades. In each 

 of the groups of four, at least one winter resident should be 

 included, so that the children 'may have a special interest in 

 seeing that it obtains food during severe weather. 



One exception to having the immediate environment furnish all 

 the material for nature-study is the case of the larger mammals. 

 These are of great interest to children. Whether this interest is 

 due to folk-stories, or the circus with its posters scattered every- 

 where, or something else, the fact remains that it is very real. 

 Perhaps the best evidence of the child's fondness for these ani- 

 mals is found in the juvenile department of the bookstore where 

 there is alwavs a demand for books containing pictures and 

 simple accounts of the lion, tiger, bear, elephant, etc. Such 

 subjects must be studied mainly by means of pictures and stories. 

 In using them two things are desirable: (a) that the child 

 should get a clear visual image of the animal ; (b) that he should 

 also have as definite an idea as possible of the animal in its 

 natural environment, for without this the animal's characteristics 

 will have no meaning. The picture will give the image, and the 

 story will animate the picture. 



If an acquaintance with a number of animals is thus made in 

 the primary grades, the pupils will be well prepared for such 

 studies as suggested by Downing 2 where the cat and dog are com- 

 pared with their wild relatives; or to make the most of visits to 

 zoological gardens by following directions for observation like 

 those prepared by Guyer 3 for the Cincinnati schools. 



It is not possible within the limits of this paper to go further 

 into the details of selection of material except to add that a wide 

 range of subjects should be included: Domestic animals; com- 

 mon local wild animals; animals of the circus; ten to fifteen com- 

 mon birds ; life-histories of several common insects — at least one 

 each year ; seed and their distribution ; seasonal aspect of several 

 trees; development of seedlings from seed; a few common 



2 Elliot R. Downing, "Methods in Xature-Study," this journal, vol. 3, 

 p. 225. 



3 Michael F. Guyer, "How to Study the Animals at the Zoological Gar- 

 den." Published by the Cincinnati Zoological Garden. 



