214 Graphic Methods in Teaching. [22 



in the temperature, the amount of clouds and the direction 

 of the wind much of the child's personal comfort depends 

 and thus the study of these things appears to him to be of 

 immediate interest. As he comes to study plant and 

 animal life he learns that all life, including his own, is 

 dependent in large degree upon these same variations 

 in natural phenomena. These make a good subject for 

 observation and record, and even quite young children 

 quickly learn to become regular observers and reporters. 

 The best hour for such observations is seven o'clock in the 

 morning, because at this hour the daily variation in tem- 

 perature is usually at its lowest point. At precisely seven 

 o'clock, local time, the young observer looks at the ther- 

 mometer and notes the temperature, and at the same time 

 observes the sky whether it be fair, clear, or cloudy. An 

 observation is also made of the direction of the wind. The 

 first two sets of observations should be recorded in the form 

 of a diagram or by the so-called graphic method. With 

 this is given a copy of a graphic record of the temperature 

 and amount of clouds observed every day by Edith S. 

 Higgins, aged fourteen, and a graduate in 1887 of the Chau- 

 tauqua Town and Country Club, this being one of a num- 

 ber of such reports made by the child during her connection 

 with the School. 



The vertical lines stand for the days of the month, the 

 horizontal lines for the degrees of temperature from 30 to 

 90 Fahr. At seven o'clock each morning a dot was put 

 on the diagram at the junction of the vertical line for that 

 day and the horizontal line for the temperature as observed 

 by the thermometer. The diagram of these horizontal 

 lines below serves to record the amount of clouds visible 

 at that hour, dots on one of the lines indicating the 

 observed fact in regard to the clouds. Beneath these two 

 diagrams is a written record of the direction of the wind, 

 the observation being made at the same hour. 



The next diagram was made by Lucy C. Stone, aged 9, 



