224 THE NA TURE-SrUDY REVIEW [3 :8-nov , 1907 



Concrete examples may serve our purpose best. Suppose the 

 work is on the trees of the neighborhood and the lesson for the day 

 is on the common oaks. The teacher might go with the pupils to 

 see various kinds of oaks, might point out the distinguishing fea- 

 tures of each while they take notes, make sketches and collect 

 leaves and fruits. This is an excellent method of procedure when 

 the aim is to impart a knowledge of the several species. If, how- 

 ever, we endeavor to train independent observation, the unknown 

 may be advantageously introduced. Let the trees be visited, 

 named, sketched and collections made, as before, but do not give 

 the distinguishing features. Let the pupils work that out for the 

 next day. Here, as in all the w^ork, the students need to be forced 

 into independent observation. 



This much is sufficient in the lower grades. Later, however, 

 in harmony with our changing aims, certain facts need to be 

 retained and utilized in working out conclusions. Imagine, again 

 that we are studying the children's pets, during some winter terms 

 when out-of-door work is largely impracticable. Squirrels, 

 rabbits, cats, dogs, pigeons, canaries or other vertebrates are 

 readily kept for weeks in the schoolroom, or may be brought from 

 home daily as required. The little people will enjoy watching 

 how kitty, for example, eats, drinks, sleeps and plays. They will 

 have much to tell about their own kitties and will make keen 

 observations on the differences in behavior of the several animals 

 that are studied. Simple experiments are easily devised for 

 intermediate grades. Thus a piece of meat may be put in some 

 rather out of the way place, under the teacher's desk perhaps, and 

 a cat be adniitted that has been kept without food for several 

 hours. All must keep still now and see how long she requires to 

 find it and how she behaves. Try the same experiment next day 

 with a dog and ask the children to state the results and significance 

 of their observations. In still later grades comparative structures 

 may be studied. The children have seen, in lower grades, that 

 both cat and dog gnaw a bone with their back teeth, while the 

 rabbit and squirrel gnaw the bark with their front teeth. They 

 will be keen to discover the differences in character and size of the 

 several sorts of teeth, the correlated difTerences in food, and to 

 think out, on the basis of their own observations, some funda- 

 mental notions of animal relationships. 



Recall in the upper grades some additional things the children 



