100 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW ]11:3— Mar., 1915 



children may be given suggestions as to how they may make 

 observations when by themselves. If a class is too large to be 

 taken altogether, frequently arrangements can be made to take 

 half of the class at a time, and leave the other half in charge of the 

 principal. 



The second method of studying life in its natural environment, 

 by encouraging and expecting the children to make studies by 

 themselves, is one of the most valuable lines of work that can be 

 done. One of the applications that it is desired the child shall 

 make thru life is observation of the life around him, and the more 

 closely we can approximate in school the application desired in 

 life, the more probability is there that this application will be 

 made. In connection with each lesson the teacher may suggest 

 some questions that the child may answer from outdoor observa- 

 tions on the topic of the lesson, and these answers should be called 

 for by the teacher at the next lesson. At first there will be many 

 children who will not make these observations, but the nimiber 

 who do make them can be greatly increased by expecting the chil- 

 dren to do this the same as any home work and by giving frequent 

 opportunities for the children to report on their observations. 

 This work will be greatly stimulated by keeping spring calendars 

 of birds and flowers in which a record is kept of the name of the 

 bird or flower seen, the date when first seen, and the name of the 

 child first reporting it. This record may be kept either on the 

 board or on a large piece of cardboard. Similar calendars may be 

 kept of the leafing and flowering of trees in the spring and of the 

 coloring and fall of leaves in autumn. 



Living Material in the Schoolroom — In many ways the most 

 practical kind of material is the living material kept in the school 

 room. Here we have missing the environment, but we still have 

 Hfe. There is a great abundance of material available here. 

 Various kinds of pets, including canaries may be kept in the school- 

 room for a short time. A great many insects such as crickets, 

 grasshoppers, caterpillars, and many others may be kept in glass 

 jars covered with mosquito netting; mosquito wigglers may be 

 kept in tumblers; fishes, tadpoles, snails, toad's eggs, and many 

 kinds of water insects may be kept in glass jars filled with water. 

 Nearly all kinds of plant life may be kept in the school room, such 

 as flowers, leaves of trees, ferns, and mushrooms. Experiments 

 may be performed with seeds and seedlings, and house plants such 



