CHAPTER V 



THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURE STUDY 



Introductory. — The title of this chapter may be mis- 

 leading, but it is a convenient one to cover certain general 

 suggestions which deal with principles as contrasted with 

 details, and are applicable to any detail of location and 

 material. Such principles are of course more clearly 

 developed in connection with details, and these general 

 statements lack something of force until they are applied 

 in the series of suggestive studies in Part Two. 



In the preceding chapter the reader was left with a series 

 of things forbidden, which to some may have seemed to 

 include everything done in nature study. Unless something 

 can be substituted only damage has been done; criticism 

 is of no avail unless it includes constructive suggestion. 

 Of course things forbidden imply that the converse is 

 desirable, and what is said in the following pages has been 

 implied in the preceding ones. However, there is advan- 

 tage in a series of positive statements. It must be kept in 

 mind that these are only suggestions, but they are derived 

 from long experience in teaching observational subjects, 

 and effective methods for securing independent observa- 

 tion find general application at every educational level. 



Objects of Common Experience. — Often the greatest 

 puzzle to the inexperienced teacher is the selection of 

 material. Since this must be done for each neighborhood, 



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