Handbook of N ature-Sttidy 



THE CORRELATION OJ' NATURE-STUDY WITH GEOGRAPHY 



IFE depends upon its environment. Geographical 

 conditions and limitations have shaped the mold 

 into which plastic life has been poured and by 

 which its form has been modified. It may be 

 easy for the untrained mind to see how the des- 

 erts and oceans affect life. Cattle may not roam 

 in the former because there is nothing there for 

 them to eat, nor may they occupy the latter be- 

 cause they are not fitted for breathing air in the 

 water. And yet the camel can endure thirst and 

 live on the scant food of the desert; and the 

 whale is a mammal fitted to live in the sea. The question is, how are we 

 to impress the child with the "have to " which lies behind all these geo- 

 graphical facts. If animals live in the desert they have to subsist on 

 scant and peculiar food which grows there; they have to get along with 

 little water; they have to endure heat and sand storms; they have to 

 have eyes that will not become blinded by the vivid reflection of the sun- 

 light on the sand ; they have to be of sand color so that they may escape 

 the eyes of their enemies or creep upon their prey unperceived. 



All these have to's are not mere chance, but they have existed so long 

 that the animal, by constantly coming in contact with them, has attained 

 its present form and habits. 



There are just as many have to's in the stream or the pond back of the 

 school-house, on the dry hillside behind it or in the woods beyond the creek 

 as there are in desert or ocean ; and when the child gets an inkling of this 

 fact, he has made a great step into the realm of geography. When he 

 realizes why water lilies can grow only in still water that is not too deep 

 and which has a silt bottom, and why the cat-tails grow in swamps where 

 there is not too much water, and why the muUen grows in the dry pasture, 

 and why the hepatica thrives in the rich, damp woods, and why the daisies 

 grow in the meadows, he will understand that this partnership of nature 

 and geography illustrates the laws which govern life. Many phases of 

 physical geography belong to the realm of nature-study; the brook, its 

 course, its work or erosion and sedimentation; the rocks of many kinds, 

 the soil, the climate, the weather, are all legitimate subjects for nature- 

 study lessons. 



THE CORRELATION OF NATURE-STUDY WITH HISTORY 



'HERE are many points where nature-study impinges 

 upon history in a way that may prove the basis for an 

 inspiring lesson. Many of our weeds, cultivated plants 

 and domestic animals have been introduced from Eu- 

 rope and are a part of our colonial history; while there 

 are many of the most commonly seen creatures which 

 have played their part in the history of ancient times. 

 For instance, the bees which gave to man the only 

 means available to him for sweetening his food until the 17th century, 

 were closely allied to the home life of ancient peoples. The buffalo 

 which ranged our western plains had much to do with the life of the red 

 man. The study of the grasshopper brings to the child's attention stories 



