THE AIM OF NATURE STUDY. 103 



the aim or purpose of the work. The methods of work 

 will depend very largely on the aim or purpose. Con- 

 sciously or unconsciously every teacher will be in- 

 fluenced in her methods more by the final aim she 

 keeps in view than by any other one factor. 



This has been illustrated in the introductory chapters. 

 If our aim is to study and describe the form of the 

 dandelion, or if, back of this immediate aim, we think 

 only of training our pupils to see and describe, we shall 

 be satisfied with a mere pulling to pieces of the parts of 

 the plant, and a description or drawing of what is ob- 

 served. If we want our pupils to make the dandelion 

 a type, or wish to train them to discriminate and com- 

 pare and classify, we shall have them compare the 

 structure of the dandelion with that of other plants. 

 If we feel that our boys and girls should understand 

 something of the life of the dandelion, should, through 

 its study, be brought into more sympathetic, loving rela- 

 tions with nature, should better appreciate the beauty 

 and symbolism of nature, should, through their dande- 

 lion study or nature study, have the higher side of their 

 nature cultivated and developed, then we shall empha- 

 size life and function and adaptation, and select from 

 literature all the beautiful thoughts that we can find. 

 Our aim will determine our method. 



Method is simply the determination of aim, and the 

 application of aim to conditions in accordance with the 

 laws of the child mind. Teachers who so thoroughly 

 appreciate the aims, and particularly the highest aims, 

 of nature study, or of education in general, that these 



