NATURE-STUDY AND SCIENCE NOTES. 



[Editor's Note. This department is conducted by Chester A. 

 Mathewson, of the High School of Commerce, New York City. Notes 

 and suggestions may be sent to him in care of the editor of The Review. | 



Nature-Study in Connecticut. One of the most interesting pamphlets 

 for the guidance of teachers in this work that has come to our notice in a 

 long time is that written by Professor H. N. Loomis in the Connecticut 

 School Documents series with the title "Lessons on Plants." It consists 

 of sixty-two pages, embracing in a comprehensive way the following 

 topics: Germination, roots and soil, buds and stems, leaves, flowers and 

 fruits. The booklet bears evidence of having been carefully worked out, 

 and the general plan of it seems admirably adapted to the end in view, 

 which is obviously to place before the teacher very definite and concrete 

 materials to work with, together with directions for handling these materials. 



There are sixty-four exercises and experiments in all. In many cases 

 an experiment or exercise is followed or preceded by an elucidation or 

 amplification, and the exercise being in bold type makes it quite easy to 

 distinguish between the two kinds of matter contained in the pamphlet. 

 In order to make it easy for a teacher to do the work the State has pro- 

 vided sixty cabinets of materials. Any Connecticut teacher may secure, 

 gratis, one of these and keep it for three months. Professor Loomis re- 

 1>( »rts that these cabinets are out the greater part of the time. 



As to just how much of the subject matter would measure up to the 

 "established principles" of nature-study, which are fast securing recogni- 

 tion, we are somewhat in doubt. The topics are for the most part taken 

 up in such a vivid manner that it is hard to see how they could fail to arouse 

 interest. This certainly is a most important advantage. On the other 

 hand there are a number of topics whose value must be questioned on 

 the ground of their lack of connection with the every-day life of the child. 

 It seems safe to say that we now recognize the fact that we must eliminate 

 scientific minutae from our nature-study courses, however fascinating 

 they may seem to us. Thus, for example, we find, (page 33) an exercise 

 which includes these questions: "How many buds are there on the shoot 

 or branch? How many last year leaf scars? If they are unequal in num- 

 ber, how can you account for the difference? Assuming that every bud 

 produces a branch which bears the same number of buds that this shoot 

 produced last year, work out [sic] what would be the number of branches 

 borne by the simple twig at the beginning of the sixth year, assuming 

 that no buds were suppressed or killed, or, in other words, ignoring the 

 laws of struggle and survival?" Following this is an exercise on the "nature 

 of the phyton." It is easy to see in all this the mind of the trained scientist 

 working toward abstractions which are important to him. It would seem 

 difficult to find adequate reasons for including such details in nature-study 

 work. So, too, with an experiment on page 5 1 entitled "Effect of Sunlight 

 on Chlorophyll." Here we have the question "What rays does the 

 chlorophyll absorb?" Such a question can hardly be reconciled to the 

 principle that nature-study must approximate the every-day life of the 

 child. 



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