caldwell] ORGANIZATION OF COURSE IN NATURE-STUDY 89 



of stones. They called them by name and classified them first 

 with reference to form, then with reference to hardness, etc. 

 On the beach the fact of rolling and wearing interested all, but 

 explanations about general processes of wearing rocks were fu- 

 tile. In this first group interests are as wide as the environment 

 and are based upon desire for acquaintance with the different 

 things in the environment. Consequently, in so far as interest 

 may be used in developing intellectual activity it would suggest 

 the selection of a wide range of materials, and an acquaintance- 

 ship use of all of them. 



In the second group there is still interest in extending ac- 

 quaintance with nature, but "What?" is now supplemented by 

 "How?" The processes of wearing of stones in ripples and along 

 beaches becomes a topic of intensive study, as well as does rela- 

 tive hardness of rocks as determined by simple experiments. The 

 name of toad and cabbage butterfly is the starting point for in- 

 terest and investigation of the almost miraculous life-round. Ac- 

 quaintance with garden plants leads logically into interesting ex- 

 perimentation and study of how they live, rate of growth, method 

 of seeding, relation to soil and water, etc. This is a period of 

 more intensive and prolonged study of a smaller number of 

 topics. 



In the third group, what things are and how processes are 

 carried on are still important, indeed are never lost, but there is 

 the added interest relating to utility in its broadest sense. The 

 subjective focus of attention makes the sixth grade or there- 

 abouts the proper place for definite considerations of hygiene — 

 individual, group, school and community. Previous experiences 

 with plants and animals and some of the conditions under which 

 they may thrive, previous observation of physical facts are now 

 most appropiately turned upon the study of proper efficiency of 

 the human body. The study is built upon previously acquired na- 

 ture knowledge and is made in the beginning of the adolescent 

 period, thus coming at a time when it should be most potent. It 

 is, of course, understood that admonition relative to personal 

 habits will have followed through all preceding school work, but 

 this year of hygiene is outlined to rationalize present practices 

 and form the basis for new ones, and comes at the proper period 

 for definite study of these matters. 



In the upper grades, usually the seventh and eighth, interest 

 centers in a still more intensive study and in a smaller number of 

 topics as related to the elementary principles of science and to 

 utilization of nature in the home and community. The accumula- 



