THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



DEVOTED TO ALL PHASES OF NATURE-STUDY IN SCHOOLS 



Vol. 4 MAY, 1908 No. 5 



CALIFORNIA NUMBER 



[Managing Editor's Note. — The material for this number has 

 been collected by Dr. H. W. Fairbanks, of Berkeley, Cal. The 

 articles are all by California teachers, and largely deal with the 

 various aspects of nature-study in that State.] 



THE PLACE OF NATURE-STUDY IN THE NORMAL SCHOOL 



By LOYE HOLMES MILLER 

 State Normal School, Los Angeles, Cal. 



The presence of any course of study in the normal-school curri- 

 culum is dependent ontwo factors : (1) its so-called culture value 

 and (2) its value as professional training. The extent to which 

 the first factor should be considered is dependent upon the pre- 

 paration which the entering student has had. The second point 

 involves the questions of demand for the subject in the course of 

 study for the public schools and of the difficulty of presentation of 

 that subject. 



Whatever the attitude of mind toward nature-study as it is, all 

 must concede that the study of nature has a culture value unsur- 

 passed by any of the branches of learning. The old conception of 

 the plebeian caste of natural science has crumbled in ashes along 

 with those scholars who conceived or who championed it. We 

 can not but agree upon the desirability of an acquaintance with 

 nature on the part of the student. The consideration of the first 

 point then becomes a consideration of the student's preparation 

 for matriculation. 



Students come to this normal school with the same preparation 

 as to the State University. All have had one science course, 

 many have had two, a few offer three, almost none offer four. Of 



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