traftonI outline OF NATURE-STUDY 



99 



The following diagram will suggest the relative importance of 

 the various aims of nature-study in the different grades. The dis- 

 tance of any curve above the base line represents the relative stress 

 laid on that aim. 



Relative emphasis on aims of Nature-study in different grades. 



Materials Available for Nature-Study 



One of the features that characterizes nature-study and makes it 

 worth while is the fact that it deals largely with the concrete living 

 things in the child's environment. In order that the child may 

 derive the most benefit from his study, it is necessary that he should 

 have actual concrete material to observe in his lessons. So that 

 the procuring of some kind of material for nature-study lessons is 

 something for which the teacher should make definite plans. Fre- 

 quently the assistance of the children may be sought in securing 

 this material, and this forms a valuable lesson for the children. 



The great mass of materials available may be classified into the 

 following groups : i , living ^things in their natural environment ; 

 2, hving things in the school room; 3, preserved material; 4, pic- 

 tures; 5, apparatus for demonstration and experiments. In 

 general the first four are arranged in the order of their value, but 

 there are some exceptions to this. Number five deals with a 

 different kind of material so that it is difficult to indicate its rela- 

 tive value. 



Living Material in Natural Environment — The. best kind of 

 material is the living object in its natural environment, because 

 this is as it is actually seen in the life of the child. This study of 

 material outdoors may be carried on in two ways; by means of 

 field trips in which the teacher accompanies a group of children, 

 and by means of individual studies by the children under the charge 

 of the teacher in the school room. Both these methods arc desir- 

 able. The conditions in our schools arc usually such that it is 

 not practicable to take many field trips. But plans can often be 

 made to take at least one trip a term, and by means of this the 



