1 46 THE NA TU RE-STUD V RE VIE W u . S _ M AV| I9o8 



mind and heart of the child his observant power will be culti- 

 vated, his interest in the world increased, his character developed. 



Nature-study, then, is not the study of science as we usualh 

 interpret the word, referring it back for its meaning to courses 

 labeled science which we took in the university. It is rather a 

 study of the concrete things about us, paying more attention to 

 individual examples than to relationships and underlying prin- 

 ciples. The foundation must be laid before the superstructure is 

 erected. The child can not generalize without concrete material 

 with which to generalize. 



Nature-study, then is not science, but is a valuable preparation 

 for the study cf science. It furnishes mental images without 

 which science study would be an abstract, meaningless subject. 

 Not only does the early childish study of flowers and animals pave 

 the way to an intelligent study later of botany and zoology, but 

 nature-study throws a flood of light upon the subject of geography. 



To show the relationship between nature-study and geography 

 it is necessary to free nature-studv from the restricted definition 

 tacitly given it in the minds of most teachers, namely an ele- 

 mentary study of botany and zoology. It includes these, but it 

 c lso includes a study of those fundamental laws of nature which 

 an be easily demonstrated in concrete ways and which we call 

 physics and chemistry or natural philosophy. A knowledge of 

 these laws will make clear many geographical topics such as 

 winds, rainfall, climate, etc. 



Instead of narrowing nature-study down, as has been done so 

 largely, to a study of flowers, there is no reason why it should not 

 include that great mass of facts lying all about us which are the 

 results of human nature acting upon lower nature. This would 

 open the door of the nature-study class upon all those materials 

 and activities of our neighborhood which we designate in geog- 

 raphy as "products" and "occupations." In other words nature- 

 studv would in fact be identical with what we are familiar with as 



J 



home geography. 



That part of nature which affects human life most is of most 

 importance to us. Things in nature with which we come into 

 daily contact are most worth studying. The study of a forest 

 tree as it stands unmolested by man upon the mountain side may 

 be made to stimulate the student's love for the beautiful and thus 

 serve an important ethical purpose. But the further study of 



