110 NATURE STUDY. 



If science is considered necessary for the few students 

 in these institutions, why is it not necessary for the 

 many who never get beyond the elementary school? 



Of inestimable value in life is the power, and the 

 habit which results from the constant exercise of power, 

 of investigating for ourselves, of separating the true 

 from the false, of distinguishing between essentials and 

 non-essentials. Under no other condition is this so im- 

 portant as in a republic. Nothing gives this power to 

 children as does genuine science work, simply because 

 in science work, or nature study, more than in any other 

 work, children can study things with their own eyes, 

 really investigate and distinguish for themselves. 



The question now arises, " Is the development of in- 

 tellectual power the ultimate aim, the highest object, of 

 nature study, or of education in general? " 



The mother and the teacher very soon realize that 

 the acquisition of knowledge and the development of 

 power in any study are largely dependent on the in- 

 terest aroused. With intense interest there is scarcely 

 a limit to what the child can learn and do. Without 

 interest, comparatively little can be accomplished. The 

 more carefully we study children, and their fathers 

 and mothers, the more we shall be impressed with 

 the fact that the knowledge acquired and the power 

 developed under any conditions are, in general, directly 

 proportional to the interest aroused. 



Nature study is no exception to this rule. The first 

 essential is to gain the interest of the child. His senses 



