ANIMAL STUDY 77 



forehand with this purpose in view. Select the best types 

 and the most important mammals under those types. These 

 should be such as are found in the child's environment, or 

 such as are frequently mentioned in literature and in geog- 

 raphy. In teaching about mammals with classification in 

 mind, be sure to bring out the distinctive characteristics by 

 which the animal is classified. Be sure the children grasp 

 the idea of the type or the meaning of the classification. That 

 is, the children should know what a ruminant is when rumi- 

 nants are studied, and just why the dog, the fox, and the wolf 

 belong to the same group. 



In the first lesson in the course the definition of mammal 

 may be derived from a study of the first type. Call attention 

 to the chief differences between mammals and birds and other 

 classes. The other mammals studied afterwards should be 

 considered in the light of this definition. Another way of 

 arriving at a definition or the idea of mammal is to wait till 

 various groups of mammals have been studied, and then to 

 note the common characteristics of the different animals, and 

 also the different respects in which the mammals differ from 

 birds, reptiles, etc. In this way the children reason out the 

 definition for themselves. 



The following list of mammals is probably too compre- 

 hensive for most schools, but it is suggestive of what is 

 meant by a course in comparative mammal study. Sev- 

 eral mammals are mentioned under each type, but all of 

 them need not be studied if time will not permit! But the 

 greater the number of animals of a class the better the op- 

 portunity for detailed comparison. This course is intended 

 even to give a general idea of the mammal kingdom as a 

 whole. 



