MICHIGAN EXPKRIMENT STATION BULLETINS 343 



ELEMENTARY SCIENCE BULLETIN NO. 



BY PUOF. AV. J. BEAL 



OBSERVING AND COMPARING BEANS AND PEAS BEFORE AND AFTER SPROUTING. 



The habit of obgerving plants, animals and other things in detail will be 

 useful to any peison in any occupation all through life, and it will also 

 frequently be a source of great satisfaction. 



The reason for suggesting the work mentioned below, is to induce pupils 

 of the common schools of Michigan to become better observers. No one 

 can make a person an observer by telling him all about many things. The 

 pupil must learn for himself, if he ever learns at all. 



For over thirty years the author has been teaching Botany to large 

 numbers of young persons from the age of five years and upwards, and he 

 has invariably met with best success by giving each, one or more specimens 

 to be studied without assistance from person or book. After each has had 

 a chance to tell what he has discovered, then perhaps some hints are given 

 for future work, and very likely some qu.estions are asked and some are 

 answered. This mode of teaching stimulates inquiry, originality and inde- 

 pendence, though indolent pupils like to have the teacher explain everything 

 from the start. It is so much easier and saves time and effort of the pupil. 

 If the intention were merely to impart information, short lectures or book- 

 lessons about botany might possibly be the proper way, but the author 

 believes the power of observing accurately and quickly to be of far more 

 lasting benefit to any one than information acquired during a few weeks 

 or a few terms at school. 



For the present, I shall take it for granted that the teacher has never 

 studied botany in the ordinary acceptance of the term. If she possess 

 little knowledge of the subject, let her have no fears on that accoimt, for 

 she will not be expected to tell the pupils much of anything about the work. 

 We hope she may become interested and learn more than any of her pupils. 

 The exercise here described is laboratory work for the children, not neces- 

 sarily for the teacher. My plan was to make it an object lesson, detailing 

 some things to be done, not to serve as is too often the case, a subject for a 

 short lecture to the school. Far better results are attained when the topic 

 is worked out by the scholars, than could be reached by any number of 

 interesting talks with no effort on the part of the classes. 



To some extent we think this exercise will be found to be in the line of 

 recreation, and with the study such as here suggested, the pupils will make 

 just as rapid progress in arithmetic, geography, grammer, epelling and 

 penmanship as they would if this seed- study were omitted. We hope you 



