Some Considerations in Teaching a Bird Course 



J. M. Shaver 

 Department of Biolog>', George Peabody Collie for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn. 



There is an awakening interest in nature-study throughout our 

 country. Many teachers are seeing for the first time the value of 

 teaching children about their immediate environment and conse- 

 quently are introducing Home Geography and Nattire-Study into 

 their schools. Superintendents and Boards of Eiducation are 

 adding nature-study to their curriculvrai and even high school 

 science is partaking of this great out-door spirit. The resulting 

 demand for teachers of these subjects has caused many teachers' 

 colleges and normals to offer nature-study courses. To the public 

 these appear to be easy, pleasant courses with little disciplinary- 

 value. 



This criticism of nature-study coiu"ses in general is likewise 

 directed against bird courses, and we must admit that there is some 

 basis for this criticism. But should there be? Cannot a course 

 like bird study be pleasurable and at the same time intellectually 

 profitable ? 



It is in answer to these questions, that I wish to give my own 

 experiences in teaching bird study, to compare the courses as given 

 by me with courses given elsewhere, and to offer suggestions as to 

 how these cotuses might be improved. 



In the spring of 191 7, I offered a two hour credit coiu-se in Pea- 

 body College, which met two mornings a week from 6 to 7 '.30 a. m. 

 for laboratory and field work, and one hour extra every two weeks 

 for lectures, recitations and class discussions. No laboratory work 

 was done, the entire morning period being given to field work. 

 Students provided themselves with Reed's Bird Guide, notebook 

 and pencil. Quite a ntunber of the students also had field glasses. 



At first the field work consisted of identification of the birds as 

 we met them on otu" trips and a record made of the species identified 

 and the number seen, together with data in regard to weather. It 

 was seen at once that most of the field work must be spent in 

 identification. Data gathered previously in my nature-study class 

 showed that the average student in this class knew only 1 1 kinds 

 of birds. This was a class of twenty-three girls. These figures are 

 comparable to those obtained by Prof. Rice of the Ohio Wesleyan 

 University from his bird classes of 1902, 3, and 4. From statistics 



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