8 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [ 13:1— Jan., 1917 



ence is made in the course of study to the different kinds of soils, 

 rock formations or disintegrations, or the work of sand, pebbles, 

 or streams. There are not enough suggestions for teaching given 

 in the little book to enable teachers to get an idea how to approach 

 this subject that is generally acknowledged to be poorly taught; 

 nor is there a reference to show where approved reading matter or 

 methods may be found. 



I believe that some teachers who fail in the teaching of this 

 subject do so because they do not have the object to be studied 

 before the eyes of the child, and they tell or read him the nature 

 story instead of allowing him the pleasure of discovery. I recently 

 asked a Milwaukee child, who was supposed to study the squash 

 in the fifth grade, what she knew about the plant and what the 

 teacher and pupils had done with it. She had seen a squash and 

 its seeds and had eaten squash at her own dinner table, and she 

 told" me with some pride that her teacher illustrated everything 

 beautifully on the blackboard; but the child had never been 

 induced to plant a squash and had never witnessed the wonderful 

 sprouting of its seed which shows so nicely plant differentiation 

 and adaptation. Then, too, a teacher often hesitates about under- 

 taking the teaching of nature because she feels ignorant of the 

 subject matter and imagines one must have a scientific education 

 to do successful work. Though undoubtedly training in science is 

 a distinct advantage, one cannot possibly be a specialist in all the 

 branches she is required to teach in the common schools, and 

 creditable work may be done by any teacher who is willing to make 

 the preparation necessary for each individual lesson. Without 

 this preparation she does not know what possibilities for the child 

 lie iu the subject she is to present. 



A nature lesson should be conducted by the teacher's questions, 

 directions, and suggestions of how to work, the teacher telling as 

 little as possible, the child doing his assigned work with practically 

 no help. He is thus kept alert in his observations of natural 

 phenomena. His ability to eliminate unnecessary details and to 

 abstract from his observations that which will be most useful to 

 him in the interpretation of some new situation or condition in- 

 creases with each lesson until he is often able to surprise his teacher 

 with his thinking power. An interesting instance of this was 

 shown me last week by my fourth grade pupils. I had written some 

 questions on the board about crayfish among which were these : 



