1904] Nature Study — No. lo. 



NATURE STUDY— No. X. 



197 



Mineralogy and Geology in Schools. 



LORAN A. DeWolfe, M.Sc, 

 Teacher of Science, North Sydney Academy, N.S. 



All earnest teachers will agree that Mineralogy and Geolog-y 

 should be taught in schools, but many feel their incompetence to 

 teach it. To my fellow-teachers, however, I can say that ignor- 

 ance of the subject need not hinder their attempting it. It you 

 study a few rocks, and then teach what you have learned, the 

 hearty co operation of your pupils will aid you to surmount all 

 difficulties. I hope to give you a few suggestions without giving 

 material that can be found in any common text book. Supply 

 yourself with an elementary text book, learn the general principles 

 of geology, and start your class by giving oral lessons on what 

 you have learned. Do not give them book facts. Take them to 

 the brook or the beach where the bed-rock crops out in ledges or 

 cliffs. Is it stratified or unstratified ? Study its texture, hard- 

 ness, durability, color, position — in fact everything you or your 

 class can notice about it. How did it get into the position in 

 which you now find it ? What is its dip ? When you learn these 

 facts from your text book or from some friend, give them to your 

 children, both by questioning and telling, and then request them to 

 study some other ledge themselves and report their discoveries. 



Besides the outdoor work in geology, study hand specimens 

 of rocks and minerals in the schoolroom. After the first lesson, 

 you will have no difficulty in securing specimens, for every pupil 

 will bring in stones and pebbles to be named. If you cannot 

 name them, you can study them and watch for a chance to learn 

 the name later on. 



I should begin this study with granite, both because it is 

 common nearly everywhere, and because the origin of other rocks 

 can be traced back to it. Give each child pieces of granite of 

 different colors, and pieces of quartz, felspar and mica. On 

 studying the lustre, fracture, cleavage, hardness, etc., of these 

 specimens, the pupils will discover that the granite consists of 

 different minerals, each resembling one of the other pieces given 

 — quartz, felspar and mica. Are all three of these present in 



