PRINCIPLES DETERMINING METHOD. 185 



institutions, and particularly in the study of botany 

 and zoology in secondary schools, all emphasis has been 

 placed on the relations of similarity and difference ; and, 

 as a result, great prominence has been given to com- 

 parison of form and structure, and to classification. 

 It has apparently been assumed, oftentimes or usually, 

 that comparison of form and structure, and classification 

 based on these, were almost the only method or means 

 of unifying or reducing to unity this part of our phys-. 

 ical environment. On the contrary, it is the func- 

 tional relations which show the most complete unity. 

 The structural relations are but the preparation for or 

 result of functional relations. The similarity in plan, 

 form, color, etc., depends on similarity in function or 

 work. 



If it is true, as has been asserted in previous pages, 

 that the study of life and function is of greater edu- 

 cational value, at least in elementary schools, than the 

 study of structure, then the functional relations, those 

 of dependence, are more important than relations of 

 similarity and difference in structure. While great 

 emphasis must be placed on these functional relations 

 in work with young children, as they grow older, more 

 and more attention can and should be given to form 

 and structure, and to structural relations. 



The recognition of this principle will greatly influence 

 the method in nature study in elementary schools. In 

 accordance with this principle, children should begin 

 their plant study with whole plants, and study these 

 first in their functional relations. They can begin in 



