CORNELL 



R-ural ScKool Leaflet 



[FOR THE TEACHER] 



Published monthly by the New York State College of Asrriculture at Cornell University, from 

 September to Mav, and entered as second-class matter September 30, 1007, at the Post Office 

 at Ithaca. New York, under the Act of Congress of July 16, 1804. L. H. Bailey, Directot 



ALICE G. McCLOSKEY, Editor 



Professors G. F. WARREN, CHARLES H. TUCK, and MILTON PRATT JONES. Advisers 

 Vol. 2 ITHACA, N. Y.. April, 1909 No. 8 



" At noon, within the dusty town, 



Where the wild river rushes down, 

 And thunders hoarsely all day long, 



I think of thee, my hermit stream. 

 Low singing in thy summer dream 

 Thine idle, sweet, old, tranquil song." 



— Anna Boynton Avrill 



T 



NOTES 



HE early spring days suggest many live subjects for 

 Nature-Study. The world is filled with plaiit 

 life and animal life of interest to children an;] 

 teachers. The difficulty is to take up any c-n? 

 subject definitely enough to give a lasting irn- 

 Dression in the minds of the children. While 

 '^ the simplest Nature-Study lesson is a help if 



■ya:^^ ^ taken up in a good out-door spirit, it is always 



well if a teacher can so manage her lessons that 

 the children will have a deep and continued interest in definite 

 subjects. 



It is a good thing each springtime to take up some one natural 

 feature for special study. A brook, if one is near, offers a very full 

 line of interest. Of the study of brooks Dean Bailey speaks as follows: 

 " A brook is the best of subjects for nature-study. It is near and 

 dear to every child. It is a world in itself. It is an epitorne of the 

 nature in which we live. In miniature, it illustrates the forces which 

 have shaped much of the earth's surface. Day by day and century by 

 century, it carries its burden of earth-waste which it lays down in the 

 quiet places. Always beginning and never ceasing, it does its work 

 as slowly and as quietly as the drifting of the years. It is a scene of 

 life and activity. It reflects the sky. It is kissed by the sun. It is 



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