I5 2 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 5:6— sept. 1909 



balloon would rise. At first they answered that you had to put 

 gas in them to make them light and the gas would carry them up. 

 Their attention was called to the smoke that rises from the stacks 

 and chimneys, and to the dust and little particles of things that 

 they saw moving in the air, and to little bits of light matter that 

 might be dropped from the window, and asked what held these 

 little things up as they did not have any gas in them. The 

 children readily answered that the air held them up. "Why did 

 the air hold them up?" Answer, "They were lighter than the 

 air." Then, "Why did the balloon rise in the air?" The pupils 

 finally reached the conclusion that when the balloon was made 

 lighter than the air the air would hold it up. 



In the conclusion of the lesson the pupils grasped the idea of 

 gravity and by series of questions they were finally led to conclude 

 that as air was matter, gravity tried to pull it to the earth. The 

 cold air was heavier than heated air and that gravity had more 

 effect on heavier matter than on lighter matter. Throughout the 

 whole lesson the children gave marked attention and many of 

 them were constantly ready to give opinions and ask questions. 



One little incident in the second grade is worthy of mention. 

 A little bright-eyed boy seemed to be jubilant over the idea that 

 there was no air in the tumbler when the instructor poured the 

 water into the funnel; and when he discovered air bubbles con- 

 ing up in the jar, he leaned back in his scat and his face changed 

 from its happy expression to an expression of abject disappoint- 

 ment. It showed conclusively that his mind recognized the facts 

 of the experiment. 



AMERICAN NATURE-STUDY SOCIETY 



Annual Meeting. This will be held in Boston during the week 

 of the meetings of the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. The exact date will be announced as soon as it is 

 possible to avoid conflicts with important science meetings. 



It is probable that the main topics for discussion will relate to 

 the organization of courses of nature-study for elementary schools. 



The next issue of The Review will announce the nominations 

 by the Council for officers to be elected for 19 10. It should be 

 noted that the constitution provides for additional nominations 

 by groups of members. 



