HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT 121 



things should be great. Few of us can travel. We must 

 know the things at home. ' ' 



Study these common plants of the garden and 

 of the field, in the schoolroom as well as in their 

 natural habitat. Then do not look down so 

 often that you fail to note the glorious things 

 above and the grand plants in the forest. Note 

 the struggle for existence in the shrubs and 

 tangled undergrowth on the borders of the mead- 

 ows and in the swamps. In the forest you may 

 see the victors that have fought successfully with 

 their rivals of long ago, and now have the field 

 pretty completely to themselves. Thus viewed, 

 the plants become sentient things. We discover 

 life in them, and love them. 



"The nature study that is true to child life 

 must first of all afford free scope to the passion 

 for activity and guide this toward wholesome 

 channels. It should at the same time infuse life 

 and spontaneity into school work, and so lighten 

 rather than increase the task of the teacher." 



Prof. Clifton F. Hodge. 



