Editorial 



Nature-study has been in vogue now in many of the schools 

 throughout the country for some considerable time. Its aims, 

 methods and materials have been discussed in this magazine, in 

 other magazines devoted to various phases of the teaching prob- 

 lem, and in book form. It takes a considerable time for any new 

 view point to influence the whole body of teachers, especially when 

 the teachers of the country are so constantly-changing a quantity. 

 Nature study is given under a good many different captions. 

 Sometimes it is known simply as "elementary science", sometimes 

 it is called "school garden work", again it is designated "elementary 

 agriculture". I do not mean to say that elementary agriculture 

 and school gardening are always nature-study, nor even that 

 nature-study itself is always nature-study. Yet it is coming to 

 be fairly well understood that nature-study is a study of the 

 object itself, and is such a study as will lead to an appreciation of 

 what the commonplace environment signifies, to a love for out-door 

 things and a keener sense of their beauty and perhaps above all 

 it will develop ability to reason to correct conclusions on the basis 

 of ones own observations. Various teachers will evaluate these 

 several aims differently, and include others. 



It would seem opportune to turn the attention of thoughtful 

 teachers from a discussion of the aims and methods in nature-study 

 which are now reasonably well defined to an attempt to determine 

 in how far we are accomplishing what we set out to do. Grant 

 that nature study should make pupils more appreciative of the 

 beauty around them, more capable of correct inductive reasoning, 

 does it do this? We have agreed for instance, that a study of 

 English literature and composition should make pupils in the 

 grades capable of using better English, both in oral and written 

 expression. English teachers are attempting to formulate appro- 

 priate tests to measure the success of their work. Teachers of 

 writing are trying to attain certain standards for judging their 

 results. In arithmetic we have graded tests — an attempt to meas- 

 ure the children's accomplishments. Is it not time that the nature 

 study teachers, especially those who are looking at the pedagogical 

 values of the subject, the normal school and university instructors, 

 is it not time that these began to devise ways and means of getting 

 at soine correct data regarding the actual things that nature-study 



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