VI PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER 



purpose of teaching; and good teaching results in 

 quickened perception rather than in accumulation of 

 facts. 



The pupil should come at first to the study of plants 

 and animals with little more than his natural and native 

 powers. Study with the compound microscope is a 

 specialization to be made when the pupil has had 

 experience, and when his judgment and sense of 

 relationships are trained. 



One of the first essential conceptions to the study 

 of natural history is the fact that no two things are 

 alike. This leads to the understanding that every 

 animal and plant contends for an opportunity to live; 

 and this is the central fact in the study of living things. 

 The world has a new meaning when this fact is 

 understood. 



The ninety and nine cannot and should not be 

 botanists, but everyone can love plants and nature. 

 Every person is interested in the evident things, few 

 in the abstruse and recondite. Education should train 

 persons to live, rather than to be scientists. 



Now and then a pupil develops a love of science 

 for science's sake. He would be an investigator. He 

 would add to the sum of human knowledge. He should 

 be encouraged. There are colleges and universities in 

 which he may continue his studies. 



In the secondary schools, botany should be taught 

 for the purpose of bringing the pupil closer to the 

 things with which he lives, of widening his horizon, 

 of intensifying his hold on life. It should begin with 

 familiar plant forms and phenomena. It should be 

 related to the experiences of the daily life. It should 

 not be taught for the purpose of making the pupil 



