2 1 6 THE NA TURE- S TUD Y RE VIE W U- 7-oct. , 1908 



into mere entertainment, lacking point and worthless in results. 

 Neither of these aspects can be altogether profitable without 

 the other, but one is secondary, and the other primary in im- 

 portance. 



We have arranged the material for study in the lower grades 

 in concentric circles, each succeeding one requiring more ability 

 on the part of the children and opening new fields of effort and 

 discovery. While the material is not entirely identical, it is 

 much alike. In successive years the treatment of the same kind 

 of specimen is somewhat different, to preserve the interest and to 

 call into activity the developing power of the children. To 

 illustrate, plant study includes the observation of germination, 

 the study of the growing plant in window boxes, and the keeping 

 of a school-garden. For younger children the apparent thing 

 will be the plant itself. The characteristics of form and color 

 will appeal to them, and the pupils will naturally speak of the 

 striking facts of appearance. Any attempt to force upon them 

 things which the teacher considers valuable, or which the scientific 

 expert claims should be taught will fail. When a little older the 

 children will discover things not at first apparent. To tell 

 children who have acquired some power to observe, that light is 

 valuable for plants makes less of an impression upon them than 

 to plant beans in a box in the dark corner of a room, and let them 

 discover it for themselves. As the plants grow up under their 

 observation and lean away over toward the light, they will say: 

 "The plants need light." Such a fact will then be interesting, 

 and the observation will be valuable. Again, when they have 

 still greater power to observe and to perceive, they will study 

 the more difficult things, such as pollination. 



During the summer of 1907 there were maintained five gardens 

 for the use of the vacation schools, and as many will be equipped 

 in 1908. They were about fifty by one hundred feet, each in 

 charge of a teacher. The gardens were plotted into individual 

 plots varying somewhat in size in the different ones. There were 

 raised beans, corn, lettuce, carrots, beets, each one in the same 

 general order and arrangement. Those having charge reported 

 very favorably upon the experiment and recommended that the 

 school-garden be adopted as a permanent feature of our nature- 

 study work. It is claimed, and rightly so, that in addition to 

 the interest and love of plants it teaches incidentally order, 



