NOTES ON THE TEACHING OF BIOLOGY 

 By H. L. Blomquist 



There is no teacher of biology, I suppose, who has not often rea- 

 lized that, after all, the ideal way to study plants and animals is to 

 search for them in their natural habitats. This is especially true of 

 the introductory courses in which the natural histories are and should 

 be emphasized more than the special phases of morphology and phy- 

 siology. In the teaching of biology as in many other subjects of the 

 curricula of our schools and colleges, the methods have swung from 

 one extreme to another. No one will doubt for an instant that the 

 laboratory of the early students of plant and animal life was mainly 

 the wide out-of-doors, walled in only by the horizon or the limit of 

 vision and roofed by the dome of the deep blue sky. But their aim 

 was different from what it is today. They were primarily concerned 

 Avith the external appearances, the mode of living and classification. 

 As the studies evolved and differentiated, it was soon found that it 

 was not always practical to follow this method. When one was satis- 

 fied to study only those organisms and their structure which were 

 visible to the naked eye, or only slightly magnified, and the only 

 equipment necessary Avas a magnifying glass, this method Avas possible. 



Because of the tremendous development of the subjects of morphol- 

 ogy and physiology and the subdivisions of these since the middle of 

 the last century, it would be ridiculous to consider for a moment tha: 

 living organisms can always be studied where they are at home. Be- 

 cause of this morphological and physiological studies the laboratory 

 has become a necessity. It met the need of a place for the housing 

 of the necessary equipment and the affording of a place where this 

 equipment could be most efficiently used. 



But since the study of biology does not consist merely of acquiring 

 training in the use of laboratory equipment and the knowledge c' 

 plants and animals is not confined to their minute structure and 

 physiology, the laboratory method may be over-done. That the lab- 

 oratory method has probably been over-done is evident from the fact 

 that so many teachers of biology have too scanty a training in where 



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