WHERE WE SHOULD STUDY BIOLOGY 5 



for as one biologist once said, " The place where a plant or animal 

 lives is just as important as the plant or the animal itself." One of 

 the most interesting lessons I ever saw taught was given in a vacant 

 lot near a high school in the city of Chicago — a place that seemed to 

 have little in it except weeds and piles of refuse. But the teacher 

 knew the possibilities of that lot, and the pupils were having a 

 wonderful time studying the living things which they found there. 



Photo by Shipp — U. S. Forest Service 

 These surroundings make an ideal outdoor laboratory. Why ? 



Some were watching the activities of an ant colony, while others 

 were watching to see how a spider built a geometrical web. Every 

 boy and girl in the group had a problem that was most interesting 

 to him or her. But how much more interesting might be a trip 

 to a canyon or a meadow brook or a sea beach ! For some of us 

 this might be possible at almost any time. 



But if we cannot go to the field for study, then we can bring the 

 field to the laboratory or schoolroom. If each member of the class 

 would bring in some small living things and would arrange to care 



H. BIO — 2 



