THE HIGHEST AIM OF NATURE STUDY. 119 



CHAPTER V. 



THE HIGHEST AIM OF NATURE STUDY : TO ADAPT 

 THE CHILD TO HIS ENVIRONMENT. 



IN the previous chapter we have considered as the 

 great aim of nature study or education in general the 

 development of the individual child. If we stopped 

 with the individual our outlook would be narrow. It 

 is not until we think of the child in his relations to 

 his environment that we get the broadest and highest 

 views. 



Even in discussing the development of the individual 

 child, we have found that those aims are low which 

 relate merely to the individual, and the aims become 

 higher just in proportion as they bring the individual 

 into closer relation with that outside himself. The 

 acquisition of knowledge and development of power are 

 comparatively low aims, because they relate to the indi- 

 vidual. The cultivation of the sympathies, and of the 

 aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual nature, is a higher aim, 

 because it tends to bring the child into closer relations 



with his environment. 



. ' ' % ' . 



Now we want to consider the higher aim of nature 

 study, to perfect the relations between the child and 



