1903] Nature Study — No. 3. 81 



NATURE STUDY— No. III. 



(The followingf is the concludinij summary of Dr. S. B. Sinclair's lecture on 

 " N'ature Study in American Universities," delivered to the Club on February 

 loth, A ///// report is given in the May and June numbers of the Educational 

 Monthly of Toronto.) 



It may be said that experimentation and investig^ation have 

 established the tollovvino- general principles 'regarding- Nature 

 Study. 



1. Nature Study should not be considered the be all and end 

 all'of education. The humanities and mathematics must always 

 be prominent subjects in a rationally constructed school curriculum. 

 It is probable, however, that with wiser selection of subject matter 

 and method in every department, better results will be secured 

 with less expenditure of time and energy than formerly, and that 

 the introduction ot Nature Study will not prove an additional 

 burden to the student. 



2. Nature Study should have a place in the curriculum of 

 every grade in every elementary school. The work in early years 

 should consist of that comparatively spontaneous, non-technical 

 and undifferentiated study of surroundings which develops in later 

 life into a scientific study of Nature with a definite problem and by 

 careful and accurate laboratory methods. 



3. The aim of such study in the elementary school is not so 

 much information as character. The purpose is not at the 

 beginning to furnish a scientific laboratory training or to fill the 

 mind with scientific tacts, but to develope an attitude — a power of 

 interpretation and appreciation of Nature and also a power of self- 

 expression, which will enable the child to gain better control of 

 himself and of his surroundings, to live a fuller life and to be of 

 greater service in society than he otherwise would be. 



4. In the selection of materials and methods, this aim should 

 be kept in view. For example, the study of the various processes 

 by which the wool of the sheep is worked up into cloth, is usually 

 of greater value educationally to the city child than to the country 

 child, who may already be fairly familiar with the facts. Thus, it 

 is impossible to lay down a definite course of study which will be 

 adapted to different school conditions. The material studied 

 should be closely related to the problems ot child life experience 



