178 . NATURE STUDY. 



this unifying process. The mind strives to continue 

 indefinitely this process of unifying, or relating its 

 knowledge or the phenomena about it, as when it refers 

 many effects to one cause, or groups in one order or 

 class, because of similarity in plan, great numbers of 

 plants or animals. 



The child is educated in proportion as he can and 

 does relate the ideas gained ; that is, in proportion as he 

 recognizes in his environment, and realizes in himself, 

 unity. The study of physical phenomena is of very lit- 

 tle value, comparatively, unless the child can, to some ex- 

 tent, explain them and refer them to their causes. What 

 he learns about plants and animals is almost useless 

 unless he recognizes, and in some degree realizes, their 

 relations and their unity. The facts of history amount 

 to very little unless the child relates them, understands 

 more or less of their causes, and appreciates to some 

 extent the working out of principles or laws. 



In the ultimate analysis all the aims of nature study 

 which have been enumerated are, from a psychological 

 standpoint, manifestations or resultants of this unifying 

 tendency of the mind. The awakening of interest and 

 sympathy, the cultivation of the aesthetic, ethical, and 

 spiritual nature, the development of power, and the 

 acquisition of knowledge, are all means or processes of 

 establishing unity in the mind. 



We have agreed in Chapter IV that the final aim of 

 nature study or of education in general is to perfect 

 the relations between the child and his environment, 

 physical, intellectual, and spiritual. We want our child 



