AN EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION. 379 



general statement was given, "Plants get food from the soil." 

 Tlieu I asked, " Where does the soil come from ? " Before won- 

 der had given way to opinion, I said, " If you bring luncheons and 

 extra wraps to-morrow, we will go to the country and try to find 

 out where the soil comes from." A poem of Longfellow's was 

 read, and the children were dismissed. 



On the second morning the children came bounding in before 

 nine o'clock, eager to find and read their sentences, which each 

 did without hesitation ; and until nine o'clock they amused them- 

 selves finding and reading one another's sentences, teaching and 

 challenging in charming style. A few minutes later we started 

 on our first field lesson in science. An hour's ride in street cars 

 brought us to the open country. We went into a small field 

 where a ledge of rock presented a bold front. " Children," I said, 

 " an answer to our question is in this field. I wish each of you to 

 find the answer for himself, to speak to no one until he thinks he 

 has found it, and then to whisper it to me." Soberly they turned 

 away, and I seated myself and waited. One child looked up at 

 the sky, another at the ground, one began to pull over some gravel, 

 another to dig in the soil — most to do some aimless thing because 

 they knew not what to do. After a while some began to climb 

 the ledge and to feel of it. Suddenly one of these darted to me 

 and breathlessly whispered, " I think the soil comes from the rock 

 over there." " Well, don't you tell," I whispered back. The sun 

 climbed higher, but I waited until the last child brought me that 

 whisjDered reply. Calling them together, I said : " You have all 

 brought me the same answer. Why do you think soil comes 

 from this rock ? " They turned to the ledge, picked off the loose 

 exterior, and showed me the same in masses at the base. A ham- 

 mer was produced, with which they picked away the rock until it 

 became too hard for them to break. I then said, " We see that a 

 kind of soil comes from this rock, but what kind did we come to 

 learn about ? " " The soil that plants get food from," they replied. 

 " How do you know that any plants can get food from this soil ? " 

 I asked. Instinctively they turned to the cliff ; there were grasses 

 and weeds growing in the talus at the base, and in crevices all up 

 its front and sides; these they pulled, and showed me the roots 

 with the rock soil clinging to them. Referring to the work with 

 the hammer and comparing what they picked off with the hard 

 mass underneath, they were led to . variously describe the process 

 of passing from rock to soil, and finally the statement was obtained, 

 " Rock decays to make soil." After luncheon and a bit of play, 

 the children were led to speak of rocks and soils seen elsewhere. 

 Telling the children to shut their eyes and try to picture what I 

 said, I told them that the earth is round like a ball, and is a mass 

 of rock with a little soil on the outside of it ; that if a giant could 



