88 NATURE-STUDY REVIEY [7:4— Apr., 1911 



pillars, the butterfly eggs and chrysalis, and of means of elimina- 

 tion or preventing the growth of caterpillars, there might have 

 been more currants. Thousands of other illustrations attest the 

 increased ease and efficiency of living that comes to people 

 through reliable nature knowledge. Much of this knowledge is 

 of the extremely elementary kind which our forefathers got in 

 daily life in course of their struggle for existence amid a super- 

 abundance of natural obstacles. There are in our modern civiliza- 

 ation critical periods when such knowledge is quite as useful as 

 ever, but our more complex environments are less likely to de- 

 velop such knowledge unless definite attention is directed to its 

 use. Enjoyment of nature is likely to accompany and follow any 

 interesting, stimulating and useful study. We cannot secure gen- 

 uine enjoyment unless we seek a more fundamental purpose than 

 mere enjoyment. It accompanies and is enlarged through a pur- 

 poseful and dignified consideration of the facts and processes of 

 nature. Real enjoyment, even to youngest children, comes through 

 doing something which according to the age and advancement of 

 the learners seems dignified. Study of appropriate difficulty and 

 usefulness is essential to enjoyment. 



In organizing a course, the native interest of children should 

 be considered, not that interest is an all-determining factor, but it 

 is important and should be utilized. From experience and the 

 data now at hand it seems safe so say that children of the grades, 

 with reference to interest in nature, may be classified into three 

 groups. These groups are not definitely determined and it is not 

 easy to establish a dividing line 'between them. In a general way, 

 however, the kindergarten, first and second grades constitute one 

 group ; the third, fourth and fifth grades, the second group ; and 

 the sixth, seventh and eighth, the third group. The first group is 

 characterized by that which I have termed the "What?" attitude 

 of mind. It is a period of identification of natural objects. Young 

 children want to know the names of things, to have a speaking 

 acquaintance with their environment. It is a period of orienta- 

 tion, not of interpretation. The common trees, the hills, valleys, 

 streams, the kinds of common rocks, both in form and qualities, 

 the common animals, including birds, the nature materials of the 

 market and home, are some of the things with which young chil- 

 dren like to become better acquainted. Children's interests and 

 their ability to make interpretations limit us to acquaintanceship 

 work in this period. As illustration, one group of second grade 

 children learned with great avidity and searched diligently for sev- 

 eral days in enlarging their acquaintance with kinds and forms 



