Editorial 



The Report of the United States Commissioner of Education 

 which appeared this last summer does not throw any light directly 

 upon the situation in Nature-Study. Indirectly, however, there 

 are some interesting inferences to be drawn. There is no tabula- 

 tion of the distribution of students in the various subjects in the 

 grades, and the distribution of students in the high school is no 

 longer shown in the various subjects as it was in 1909-10. In this 

 last year 91.99% of the high school students were enrolled in 

 science. That undoubtedly means that many students were tak- 

 ing two or more sciences, so that not only 8% graduated without 

 any science, but probably a larger percentage. It is practically 

 impossible to make a comparison of this last report with preceding 

 years because many of the sciences like zoology, botany, and 

 agriculture are not reported until 1909-10. There is a decided 

 increase in the number of students in the courses in agriculture in 

 the high school, rising from 22,230 in 1910-11 to 29,825 in 1912-13. 

 The enrollment in scientific courses during the same two years has 

 risen from 35,370 to 41,614. This seems to indicate continued 

 interest in science, and when we recognize that a larger number of 

 pupils in the high school are taking the agricultural courses, the 

 domestic science courses, we recognize that in the high school at 

 least there is a decided drift toward the use of useful materials in 

 nature work. What is true of the high schools seems equally true 

 in the grades so far as can be judged by observations in the schools 

 with which the editor is familiar. The multiplication of text 

 books in agriculture avowedly for the work in the grades, and the 

 increasing interest in school gardens and domestic science shows 

 the continued interest of pupils and teachers in scientific materials, 

 and at the same time a tendency to deal with subject matter that is 

 useful. The wise teacher of Nature- Study will try to incorporate 

 into her nature work as much material as possible that is related 

 to the practical projects of the community. On the other hand, we 

 must see to it that we are not misled by the use of such commercial 

 materials. It is very easy to become so engrossed with the com- 

 mercial aspects that we neglect emphasis on the training in the 

 scientific method of thinking, which, after all, is the most important 

 thing commercially as well as educationally. There is no reason 



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