NA TURE-STUD Y NEIVS 1 45 



^.f the coinnion schools. Te reduce the holdings of science to 

 lowest terms and yet maintain their integrity, to steer clear of 

 stultifying sentimentality in dealing with nature facts, to meet 

 confidently the open-eyed interrogations of boys and girls and 

 to guide them well in their search for truth until eternal order 

 emerges out of wonder, — surely this is no mean task in the al- 

 ways difficult art of teaching. That is the problem. And to- 

 ward its solution the American Nature-Study Society and the 

 Xature-Study Review intend to contribute in every possible 



way. This, indeed, is our raison d'etre. 



* ^ * 



NATURE STUDY NEWS 



A basket picnic and celebration upon the completion of new 



buildings on the University Farm, Davis, Calif. (University of 

 California), held May 3, attracted 2400 persons. 160 automobiles 

 were "among those present". Addresses were delivered by 

 Pres. Benj. Ide Wheeler and David Starr Jordan, and other ad- 

 dresses were given in connection with the dedication of five new 

 buildings. The University Farm School, of which Dr. Leroy 

 Anderson is superintendent, is for boys of fifteen years or older 

 who have finished the grammar school. The full course is for 

 three years of about eight months each. In addition, many of 

 the elective courses offered to students of the College of Agri- 

 culture (Berkeley) are given at the University Farm. 



The Biology Section of the Central Association of Science 

 and Mathematics Teachers, which meets next November at 

 Cleveland, Ohio, desires to include in its program the report of 

 experimental investigations in the teaching of Biology. The 

 method of parallel classes is recommended. A start should be 

 made this spring. Any teacher interested to undertake such 

 experimentation is requested to communicate with the chair- 

 man of the section, Mr. W. L. Eikenberry, Univ. H. S., Chicago. 

 In working out a method, the article by Prin. C. M. McConn in 

 the Xature-Study Review^ for March w^ill be found helpful. A 

 more detailed report of this experiment will appear in the Jour- 

 nal of Educational Psychology. 



Experimentation in the Teaching of Nature-Study, 

 similar to that in biology referred to in the preceding para- 

 graph, is a present day necessity. The Central Association has 

 a committee on The Relation of Elementarv School Xature- 



