120 - NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



He takes keen interest in modeling the various physical regions 

 that are determining features in man's progress; in filling the 

 valleys with water and peopling his mimic world. 



Show him the infinite possibilities of the aquarium. Few teach- 

 ers realize the immense amount of material for nature-study found 

 therein. It has all the fascinations of lake and stream. The sand 

 and pebbles unlock the door to the history of minerals; the clams 

 and snails, not only aie typical of the lower forms of animal life, 

 but, teach the great lesson that Nature has a purpose for all things, 

 whether high or low in the stage of development. 



When a child remarks, after watching a clam at work, "Why, 

 he is a live vacuum-cleaner, and the snail is a scrub-woman," 

 you know that child has a knowledge more precious than gold. 

 He will spend hours watching the mother snail deposit her 

 coral-colored eggs in a pear-shaped cluster just above the water 

 level, or in observing the tadpole's legs puncture the skin. And 

 his questions will be vital and of the greatest importance to him 

 at that period of his life. 



If he asks, "What is that green stuff on the side of the glass?" 

 introduce him to a new kind of fairyland. Place some on a 

 slide and let him see the algae through a microscope. With him. 

 trace the different stages of plant life in a baby world. 



Such a world may be constructed with a glass confectioner's 

 bowl having a glass cover. On the bottom, place some soil, and 

 some common moss. Plant in this moss, dwarf ferns, club m-oss, 

 partridge berries, rattle-snake plantain, vines, or any woodland 

 plants; then add a tiny newt or toad, cover and set in a partially 

 shaded spot. The child soon sees for himself how vapor, rain and 

 frost are formed, how plants reproduce and why insects are neces- 

 sary. 



As the spores drop to the ground and new growths begin, or the 

 tiny partridge blossoms gradually lose their petals and assume the 

 form of berries red as the blood of life, he will learn the same lessons 

 the child at camp learns. 



Then encourage him to bring in any natural object that chal- 

 lenges his observation. With him learn its secrets and from the 

 specimen pass to the world of which it is a part. Introduce him 

 to the naturalists of America. Through the stories and pictures 

 of such men as Thoreau, Enos Mills, Audubon, Agassiz and 



