494 NATURE STUDY, 



SNOW. 



Aim and order of study. In the snow study more, per- 

 haps, than in any other work with the forms of water, the 

 main aim is esthetic, the appreciation of beauty. The 

 snow has always appealed to the poets and nature lovers, 

 and there is much excellent literature which should be 

 used to impress the best thoughts in the study of snow. 



Begin with what children can see, the observation of 

 snow, its beauty and purity in masses, the beauty it 

 gives to nature, its falling, and the forms of the snow 

 crystals. Leave until the last the story of the formation 

 of snow, because it must be largely told to the children, 

 only based indirectly on sense-perception. 



ORDER OF LESSONS. 



Lesson I. Field Lesson. Out-door Observation of Snow. 

 Lesson II. Review and Summary of Field Lesson. 

 Lessons III. and IV. Uses of Snow. 

 Lesson Y. Formation or Story of Snow. 



LESSON I. FIELD LESSON. 



Note. A few moments of well-directed observation out- 

 doors will impress more deeply the beauty and work of 

 snow than a much longer time in the schoolroom. The 

 essentials in a successful field lesson are : the right spirit, 

 a sympathetic, appreciative observation of what cannot be 

 so well seen indoors ; definite work for each pupil, adapted 

 to their capacities ; a careful review indoors, to fix the 

 important facts discovered, and to impress the right atti- 

 tude toward the outdoor world. 



If it seems impossible to take the children outdoors, 

 much can be seen from the school windows. Snow-flakes 

 collected on. a black cloth wrapped closely around a tin 



