THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



DEVOTED TO ALL PHASES OF NATURE-STUDY IN SCHOOLS 



Vol. 3 OCTOBER, 1907 No. 7 



THE NATURE-STUDY COURSE 



ELLIOT ROWLAND DOWNING, Ph.D. 

 Northern State Normal School, Marquette (Mich.) 



"On the whole the existence of these Olympians" the 'grown-ups) "seemed to be 

 entirely devoid of interests. To anything but appearances they were blind. For them 

 the orchard (a place elf haunted, wonderful !) simply produced so many apples and cher- 

 ries: or it 'didn't — when the failures of Nature were not infrequently ascribed to us. 

 They never set foot within fir woodor hazel copse, nor dreamt of the marvels hid therein. 

 The mysterious sources, sources as of old Nile, that fed the duck-pond had no magic for 

 them. It was perennial matter for amazement how these Olympians would talk over our 

 heads — during meals, for instance — of this or the other social inanity, under the delusion 

 that these pale phantasms of reality were among the importances of life. We illuminati, 

 eating silently, our heads full of plans and conspiracies, could have told them what real 

 life was. We had just left it outside and were all on fire to get back to it. Of course we 

 didn't waste the revelation on them; the .futility of imparting our ideas had long been 

 demonstrated.' ' — From The Golden Age, by Kenneth Graham. Chap. I. The Olympians. 



If the conclusions of the preceding article are measurably 

 correct, it follows that nature-study has some very definite and 

 very important aims. The course of study must needs be 

 adapted to their attainment in a precise manner. The haphazard 

 use of whatever material comes most easily to hand is to be de- 

 plored quite as much in nature-study as it would be in any other 

 department. There is such a wealth of material that may be 

 utilized, it is evident we must elaborate certain principles of 

 selection and arrangement of subject-matter. This may be ac- 

 complished if we bear in mind our purposes. 



It would seem, at first thought, that we might accomplish the 

 desired training in observation on almost any group of natural 

 objects, with equal facility, but the intensity of sensory im- 

 pressions is conditioned largely by attention, and this, in turn, 

 is determined primarily by interest. We may safely state our 

 first principle of selection then ; utilize such material only as appeals 

 to the interest of the child. This is a principle which will admit 

 nearly, if not quite, the entire universe to the curriculum; since 



