i68 The Ottawa Naturalist. [December 



Zoology, Physics and Chemistry, based upon work taken in pre- 

 vious classes and treated by a more purely scientific experimental 

 method 



THE teacher's PREPARATION. 



The courses of study in the High Schools are to be taken up 

 in three main divisions : 



{a.) Lower school, covering from two to three years ; 



{b) Middle school, from one to two years, and 



(c.) Upper school, two years. 



Teachers seeking Junior Non Professional standing are to be 

 examined on the Experimental Science of the Lower school course 

 and the Physics and Chemistry of the Middle school course. 



Physics and Chemistry are to be taken during four years 

 instead of during one or two, as is now the case. These subjects 

 are to be taken only during the winter months, in the Lower 

 school course, Botany and Zoology being taken during the fall 

 and spring months. 



The course in Botany includes a study of representatives, 

 such as flowering plants, ferns, fungi, etc., and deals with struc- 

 ture, life-relations, plant societies, plant physiology, etc. 



The course in Zoology is designed to include representatives 

 of the animal world. Special attention is directed to insects and 

 birds, life-history, habits, adaptation to climate, etc. 



In both courses the work is intended to be practical, and, to 

 ensure this, class text-books are not to be allowed. 



Speaking generally, the proposed course in Natural Science 

 (compulsory for teachers in training before entering the Normal 

 School) will extend over from three to four years and occupy one 

 lesson period per day. 



During the Normal term the teacher in training will review 

 the work done in the High School, and reconstruct it from the 

 standpoint of the learning process. On the psychological side, he 

 will study the subject in its logical sequence and in its relation to 

 the needs and powers of the developing mind, with a view to the 

 proper selection and arrungement of material and to the best 

 methods of presentation. On the historical side, he will familiarize 

 himself with the best of what has been done and is being done 

 elsewhere, in order that he may avoid errors and avail himself of 

 the advantages of past experiment. With such an equipment by 

 way of preparation, the teacher who possesses growing power and 

 enthusiasm, should be able to render efficient service, and this is 

 an important consideration ; for, after all, the success of the 

 movement must rest very largely in the hands of the teacher. 



