STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 31 



self the point referred to. "Is the heron's bill short?" 

 "Does this animal have thick fur to keep it warm?" are 

 questions that require little if any original thought. Often, 

 however, direct questions are permissible when emplo3'ed 

 simply to call attention to some obvious fact of which further 

 use is then made in the development. "Can the dog climb 

 a tree?" "Why not?" (Referring to the nature of the 

 claws.) To avoid the direct question here would be pedantic 

 and beating about the bush. 



4. Do NOT ASK ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS THAT ADMIT OF 



BUT TWO ANSWERS. " Is this bird's bill long or short?" 

 "Has this plant entire or serrate leaves?" Such questions 

 are easy to answer correctly perhaps the first time, certainly 

 the second. 



5. Do NOT ASK QUESTIONS THAT ENCOURAGE GUESSING 



MERELY. Children are apt to theorize about things in nature- 

 study. Hold them to the facts. 



6. An ELLIPSIS at the end of a sentence to be filled out by 

 the pupils is a form of question sometimes used to save time, 

 to drill, or to make the work easy. It is legitimate to use 

 this occasionally for the first two reasons, but the ellipsis 

 should be carefully treated. It should still require effort 

 from the pupil. "The motion of the earth on its axis causes 



day and " and "Molecules are held together by the 



force of CO " are bad ellipses and simply prompt the 



pupil. 



7. Nature-study teachers frequently fail in attempting 

 to bring out comparisons by using direct and suggestive 

 questions. " Are the hoofs of the cow like those of the horse ? " 

 "Does the hen have webbed feet like the duck?" are wrong 

 forms of questions to bring out correspondence and differ- 



