484 NATURE-STUDY 



may be emphasized toward some special science, which may 

 encourage him to further study in the high school. 



A laboratory is a great advantage in the grammar grades. 

 It would be well if the pupils could do considerable individual 

 experimentation. At any rate they should be required to 

 assist the teacher in the experiments and devise and perform 

 many of them themselves. 



In some schools it is the practice to put an elementary 

 text-book in the hands of the pupils. This can be done with 

 physics, physiology, and geology, and possibly with other 

 sciences. In that case the lesson should be conducted upon 

 the usual nature-study plan of personal observation and 

 inference, and should not be allowed to degenerate into mere 

 repetition of the book. Considerable reference work may 

 be assigned in these grades, and home reading on the partic- 

 ular lessons or, in general, upon invention, discovery, hunting, 

 animal stories, biography, etc., should be encouraged. The 

 written work in nature-study may consist of recording obser- 

 vations in the field or the laboratory, keeping them in neat 

 and accurate order, writing them up in home tasks and essays, 

 or may be kept in descriptive book form. For example, the 

 pupils should illustrate and write up in a simple way their 

 experiments in physics. 



Care should be given to the attainment of some degree of 

 accuracy in observation, reasoning, construction, and expres- 

 sion. Yet do not make the mistake to apply high-school 

 methods. The experiments should be almost wholly of the 

 qualitative sort, and no accurate or difficult measurement 

 should be required. Avoid teaching definitions and laws ex- 

 cept through usage. Do not use technical language. Do none 

 but the clearest and simplest experiments. Avoid theoriz- 



