30 The Nature-Study Idea 



It is not the teaching of science not the sys- 

 tematic pursuit of a logical body of principles. 

 Its intention is to broaden the child's horizon, 

 not primarily to teach him how to widen the 

 boundaries of human knowledge. It is not the 

 teaching of botany or entomology or geology, 

 but of plants, insects and fields. But many 

 persons who are teaching under the name of 

 nature-study are merely teaching and interpret- 

 ing elementary science. Fundamentally, nature- 

 study is seeing what one looks at and drawing 

 proper conclusions from what one sees; and 



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thereby the learner comes into personal relation 

 with the object. 



It is not reading from nature-books. Nature- 

 study is studying things and the reason of things, 

 not about things. A child was asked if she had 

 ever seen the great dipper. "Oh, yes," she re- 

 plied, "I saw it in my geography." This is 

 better than not to have seen it at all; but the 

 proper place to have seen it is in the heavens. 

 Nature-readers may be of the greatest value if 

 they are made incidental and secondary features 

 of the instruction; but, however good they may 



