NATURE STUDY 



40SS 



NATURE STUDY 



cussed. Tame and wild rabbits may be com- 

 pared. Perhaps there will be a chance to study 

 a muskrat out-of-doors, and also mice and rats. 

 The woodchuck will make an interesting series 

 of lessons, and there is the squirrel, the chip- 

 munk, and the little brown bat. Dogs and 

 cats, goats and sheep, horses and cattle and 

 pigs can be made the subject of endless les- 

 sons. In studying the domestic animals their 

 economic value should be emphasized. 



Insect Study. Insects are the most interest- 

 ing, most numerous and the most available of 

 all living creatures for nature study. The chil- 

 dren will be fascinated by studying insect eggs 

 under a microscope, for they are of widely dif- 

 fering forms and often of beautiful colors. 

 From close observation of eggs they can follow 

 the insect, just as they did the toad, through- 

 out its life cycle. Caterpillars and moths and 

 butterflies, the codling moth which works such 

 havoc to fruit trees, and other parasites on trees 

 furnish material for valuable study. And then 

 there is the grasshopper, the katydid, the 

 crickets, black and white, and the cockroach; 

 there are dragon flies and ants and mosquitoes 

 and house flies, potato beetles, ladybirds, fire- 

 flies and ants; wasps and hornets and bees, and 

 spiders materials for years of study and so 

 fascinating that one hardly knows where to 

 begin. 



Plant Life. All pupils love flowers and enjoy 

 bringing them to school. Flower study may 

 be begun simply by teaching the children to 

 know by name the flowers which they bring in ; 

 it will not be long before the names of all the 

 common flowers, both wild and cultivated, will 

 be familiar. Another thing which may be 

 taught very easily is care of flowers. Children 

 should learn that, once they have picked a 

 flower, they must take care of it never allow- 

 ing it to wilt because they are too tired or too 

 busy to put it in water. It is impossible to 

 outline here all the infinite ways of . teaching 

 flower study, but it is probably the most fa- 

 miliar branch of nature study to the teacher. 

 The list of wild flowers and cultivated and 

 flowerless plants is so long that it cannot be 

 given here. The list of trees is also too long 

 to be given. Lists of flowers and trees for study 

 are given under those headings in these vol- 

 umes. 



In stimulating and encouraging the interest in 

 trees, "leaf prints" of all the trees in the region 

 will be a great help. The materials needed will 

 be a thick plate of glass, large enough to con- 

 tain the largest leaf on its surface, a tube of 



printer's ink, two rubber rollers, the sort that 

 photographers use in mounting prints, and pa- 

 per. To make a print put a few drops of ink 

 on the plate of glass, and spread it with the 

 roller, ink the leaf by putting it on the inky 

 surface of the glass and passing the roller over 

 it. Put the leaf between two sheets of paper 

 and roll once with the clean roller, pressing 

 down on it as hard as possible. Two prints are 

 made at each rolling. 



Earth and Sky. For earth and sky study 

 there is a great variety of subjects, from a 

 brook to a snowflake. The soil of the earth 

 and the different minerals salt and quartz. 

 feldspar, mica and granite furnish numerous 

 topics for study. The story of the magnet can 

 be made into a series of lessons, as also may 

 the study of the air. Rain and hail and snow, 

 winds, stars and sun and moon all these can 

 be studied, for does not "earth and sky" include 

 the whole universe? A.C. 



Helpful Books. The list of books that will be 

 found helpful in the study of this absorbing sub- 

 ject is a lengthy one. In fact, such books consti- 

 tute a library in themselves. The following can 

 be recommended to those who desire books of a 

 general character : Lange's Handbook of Nature 

 Study; Hodge's Nature Study and Life; Gosse's 

 Romance of Natural History; Hall's Open Book 

 of Nature; and Bigelow's Spirit of Nature Study. 



To the teacher the following will make an espe- 

 cial appeal : Jackman's Nature Study for the 

 Grades ; Wilson's Nature Study in the Elementary 

 Schools; Munson's Education through Nature 

 Study; Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study 

 for Teachers and Parents; and McGovern's Na- 

 ture Study and Related Literature and Type Les- 

 sons in Nature Study. 



Then there are numerous books of a special 

 character, wherein are described particular forms 

 of outdoor life. Among the many charming and 

 interesting books of this type are Holland's But- 

 terfly Book; Step's Wayside and Woodland Blos- 

 soms and Insect Artisans and Their Work; Mar- 

 vels of Insect Life, edited by Step ; Hardcastle's 

 Birds of the World for Young People; Wright's 

 Citizen Bird; and Keeler's Our Garden Flowers, 

 Our Northern Shrubs and Our Native Trees. In 

 this connection, too, should be mentioned The 

 Nature Library (seventeen volumes), which pre- 

 sents the whole realm of nature in a very read- 

 able form. 



Related Subject*. No attempt is made here 

 to list all the topics in these volumes which might 

 with profit be referred to in connection with na- 

 ture study, but it is believed that the ones here 

 given will prove specially helpful, as many of 

 them have been prepared from the "nature study" 

 point of view. Under a number of them indexes 

 are included, and the range of reading indicated is 

 thus a wide one : 



Ant 

 Aquarium 



Astronomy 

 Bee 



