64 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:2— Feb., 1918 



highest inspiration comes from seeing the actual place or object. 

 Pictures necessarily take the foreground when speaking of the 

 Big Trees of California and the scenes of the Yosemite Valley. 

 Such important lessons as the Enemies of the Forest, and Uses of 

 the Forest, are made effective by pictures. The Forest Service has 

 a traveling photograph exhibit to be loaned to schools. Pictures 

 of beautiful yards and country homes, taken from such magazines 

 as Country Life in America, form an important part in the lesson 

 on landscape gardening. The pupils are given a list of things that 

 show good taste in ornamenting a front yard. They are then 

 asked to pick out the desirable effects and arrangements that are 

 illustrated in the pictures. These pictures are classified and placed 

 in drawers or filed vertically in cabinets. 



o. Plasticine. This material plays an important part in 

 nature-study. Not many years ago I felt that a drawing wa$ the 

 only sure test that a pupil had seen what he had been studying. 

 In many cases the plasticine has supplanted the drawing. I find 

 that the pupils get a clearer notion of the bean embryo when 

 they make an enlarged model. Plasticine also has the advantage 

 of being in different colors and it can be used several times. The 

 colors are of especial value in showing the annual rings in a tree and 

 how they would look in quartered sections and in other cuts. 



Permanent models for the school room may be made out of 

 papier mache. Soak small bits of newspaper in water for two or 

 three days. Stir this mixture until it becomes a thick mass. 

 Varnish or shellac the model after it has dried. The salt and flour 

 model may be made by mixing two parts of common salt to one of 

 flour and then add water slowly until it resembles wet sand. Work 

 this mixture on a smooth board. Varnish or shellac after it has 

 thoroughly dried. Under the present war conditions it is better 

 not to make the salt and flour model. Cement flower pots and 

 bird houses furnish interesting lessons in construction. 



6. Maps. I find that maps of regions over which we go on 

 certain field trips are most serviceable. On bird trips, for example, 

 the class marks out the swamps, fields, scrub land, etc. Others 

 mark the location in which we observe the red-winged blackbird, 

 the meadow-lark, the towhee, etc. After a few trips they are able 

 to draw certain conclusions and make predictions as to the places 

 where they would expect to find certain species. The best map for 

 this purpose is the enlarged contour map. It can be made from 



