HOW SCHOOL CHILDREN STUDY TREES 



BY SUSAN S. ALBURTIS 



NATURE STUDY DEPARTMENT, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



WITH children, interest in trees and their conserva- 

 tion is slow of growth. The American child is 

 always ready to meet a patriotic appeal. There- 

 fore, a teacher can, through such appeal, give an impetus 

 to a cause that would otherwise take years of ordinary 

 school methods to accomplish. Voting for a national 

 tree offers much opportunity for patriotic expression. It 

 furnishes material for teaching civics. Whether voting 

 for officers of a club, the President of the United States 

 or a national tree the voter should know the qualifications 

 of the candidates. Such qualifications should be weighed 

 carefully, a balance struck in favor of the one who will 

 best serve the office. To be a good voter one must be 

 intelligent. He must educate himself by reading, obser- 

 vation, exchange of opinion and argument. 



The foregoing is the clue to the successful outcome of 

 the campaign for a National Tree recently held in the 

 Washington, D. C, schools. Washington schools are 

 fortunate that they have a nature study staff. Its work 

 is limited to the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and its 

 number is so small that each school receives but a forty 



minute lesson once in two weeks. However, such a lesson 

 given by an enthusiastic teacher, a specialist who has 

 time and opportunity to provide an abundance of material, 

 who knows her subject and how to teach it, is worth 

 hours of talking about things not seen. 



Tree study is the assigned unit for the eighth grades. 

 In outlining the campaign it was decided to make an 

 intensive study in that grade of a fewer number of trees 

 than the regular course called for; to study those most 

 frequently planted within the city limits or found native 

 around the District of Columbia or had a wide range 

 through the States. The candidates selected were the 

 American elm, tulip, sycamore, dogwood, sugar maple, 

 pines, oaks, apple and hickory. The eighth grade pupils 

 were used in small committees to educate the children of 

 the other grades. This is a sound educational method 

 and at the same time a sure means to secure interest. 



A visiting nature study teacher with but forty minutes 

 once in two weeks would find it difficult to take classes 

 out-doors for the study of the complete list. The larger 

 part of the teaching, therefore, had to be done indoors. 



VALUABLE RESULT OF THE STUDY OF TREES 



One feature of the interest shown by the pupils of the Washington, D. C. schools in trees was their campaign against bagworms. In one 

 locality they gathered 17,000 bagworms in 1919 but the following year could find no more than 450 on the same trees. 



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