48 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



is apt to be in a state of great ignorance in reference to 

 such things. To give to both of these experiences the same 

 work would result either in commonplaces to the country- 

 child or mysteries to the city child. The average city child 

 labors under a great handicap in reference to nature study, 

 and is in peculiar need of it in its most elementary form. 



All this means an adaptable teacher, one who is very 

 sensitive to differences of experience among pupils, who 

 can lay hold of any material, and who can vary the presenta- 

 tion according to the need. This last point is often lost 

 sight of and is very important. Truth is many-sided, and 

 it is always a question as to which side will make the most 

 effective first impression. This is a very real problem 

 which is to be solved only by the teacher. For example, is 

 it the individual tree that has interest, or trees massed in 

 a forest ? Is it the general habit of a tree that impresses 

 or the wonderful work it is doing? Or do trees impress 

 some children at all ? Quick shifts must often be made in 

 points of view when an effective one is stumbled upon. 



Activity Rather than Structure. — Children seem to be 

 most interested in observing things that are doing some- 

 thing, and fortunately this activity represents the most 

 important fact in reference to any organism, for structure 

 finds its most important significance in the work it does. 

 For this reason children watch with more interest the 

 behavior of animals than that of plants; their activity is so 

 much more in evidence. However, it is not difficult to 

 show that plants also are very active. It is fundamental 

 that all studies with plants and animals should rest upon 

 the idea that organisms are at work; that life compels work. 

 This does not mean that the studv of structure is to be 



