252 METHODS IN TEACHING 



thought of the grade is to give the pupil an appreciation of 

 his own country. His own state, which is his unit of com- 

 parison, should now be well known geographically, industri- 

 ally, and commercially; and a map of the state should be 

 drawn readily from memory, with the principal rivers, 

 mountain ranges, and cities located correctly. 



As the development of certain industries in some localities 

 and not in others depends upon physiographic and climatic 

 conditions, the pupils should have a clear understanding of 

 the broad principles that underlie existing conditions in any 

 section of the country that is being studied. Whenever a 

 new section of the United States is taken up it is well to re- 

 call the general laws and see how the particular section 

 under discussion is affected by them. The simpler treat- 

 ment of these subjects in earlier years is the basis for the 

 work in every grade. The habits and habitats of animals 

 and plants found in different sections provide material for 

 short talks and papers. 



The general geographical divisions for the study of the 

 United States are, as in the fifth grade, the different sections 



of the country, but the work is more inten- 

 United . c , A . . . . , . 



States Slve ' Some of the principal topics are: 



New England, its forests, building stone, 

 fishing, manufacturing, and early historical importance; 

 Middle Atlantic states, agriculture, mining, manufacture of 

 articles from mineral products, growth of New York city; 

 Southern States, industrial awakening since the war, mining, 

 manufacturing, growth and nature of New Orleans, includ- 

 ing its sanitary problems, its cosmopolitan population, its 

 streets ; the great region of the Central states, the store house 

 of so much of the nation's wealth, both materially and in 



