Baking Buns as Nature-Study 



John Dearness 



Looking through the so-called nature-study articles in the 

 educational magazines one cannot fail to notice the wide differences 

 in the aim, matter and methods of different writers. Here a 

 contributor thinks that children following directions for skeletoniz- 

 ing a leaf and "blue-printing" its veins are doing nature-study; 

 while there another would occupy the nature-study period with 

 making labeled sketches of the larger organs of some pickled grass- 

 hoppers; and a third shows what an almost unlimited amount of 

 nature-study knowledge can be concentred around a currant 

 bun by going into the history of the flour and fruit, the yeast and 

 salt, the fuel and utensils concerned in its production. Now I 

 beg to submit that if any of these can properly be called nature- 

 study then there should be another term invented to apply to the 

 child's heuristic treatment of the problems arising out of his 

 environment and experience. Lessons on leaves, insects and 

 buns or any other classes of objects, either natural or artificial, 

 may be wholly wanting in the quality of observing and doing to 

 find out. Has the mere communication of information about 

 objects or phenomena in nature, illustrated by pictures or even 

 by the objects themselves, any quality of the genuine nature- 

 study lesson? The question is asked for the sake of argument 

 that may help to define the aim and consequently the method. 

 If, as is often alleged, nature-study is method rather than matter 

 then why is not the investigational study of the building of a 

 child's home as real nature-study as the study of the building of a 

 robin's nest, — ^the study of a child's clothing as that of a robin's 

 feathers ? 



I try to get my students to regard nature-study as a means 

 and the chief means of training the child to investigate efficiently 

 his environment and experience with the definite purpose of 

 increasing his usefulness or happiness or both. The knowledg. 

 that may be gained and the skill that may be acquired are merely 

 incidental; the power to get knowledge at first hand and the 

 strengthening of wholesome interests are the main objects. The 

 child becomes an interested investigator who, stimulated by 

 intelligent questioning and directing, not by telling, observes the 



