26 TEEES IN WINTER 



of wide familiarity. If, in our general course, we should teach 

 our plant forms more from the standpoint of the human interest 

 they arouse, and less from that of their evolutionary relationshipb. 

 we need not thereby suffer in either of our ideals of training for 

 power or of acquiring a stock of useful information. Even the 

 much-maligned analysis work, the identification of plants by an 

 artificial key, has certain peculiar educational advantages too often 

 neglected. The use of a key demands accurate observation and 

 careful judgment. If these are not given, the student discovers 

 his mistake by failure to find the correct species and is automatically 

 led to repeat his observations. 



Field Worl' — Field work to be successful must be fully 

 as carefully planned as indoor laboratory work. In order to pre- 

 vent the exercise from degenerating into a mere picnic, the purpose 

 of the trip should be definite and the objects to be observed or the 

 problems to be studied not too numerous. It is as important to 

 decide what to leave out as what to include. The ground to be 

 visited should be gone over by the teacher before each excursion 

 for the same reason that demonstration experiments in physics or 

 chemistry must be tried in private in order to insure their successful 

 performance before a class. 



Experience has shown that some form of report, though but 

 brief, is as necessary with students out of doors as their records 

 made within the laboratory. Further, the number of students 

 that can be successfully handled on a field trip is a matter to be 

 considered. It will differ with the character of the work and the 

 skill of the teacher. Lack of proper regard for some of the re- 

 quirements of outdoor work with students has often foreordained 

 well-meaning efforts to failure, but such failures do not detract 

 from the education value of the work when properly planned and 

 executed. 



The writer has conducted his identificational tree study in the 

 following manner. A squad of students provided with writing ma- 

 terial is brought to the first tree to be investigated and without 

 being told its name they are asked to write down independently, 

 each for himself, what they think the tree is. After they have 

 made their guess, its correct name is given and they are led to 

 work out the distinguishing characteristics of the tree taking with 

 them for later comparison specimens of leaves, twigs or fruit ac- 



