THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Vol. 3, No. I WHOLE NO. i6 January, J 907 ^/4 DEVOTED TO ALL PHASES OF NATURE-STUDY IN SCHOOLS CONTENTS PAGB Established Principles of Nature-Study. M. A. Bigelow i Established Principles: Discussion. C. F. Hodge 7 Field Work in Botany. C. E. Bessey 9 CANADIAN DEPARTMENT. Edited by W. Lochhead 17 Nature-Study with Insects. J. Deafness 17 The Foundations of Chemistry in Nature-Study. J. Brittain 19 Two Questions of Method. D. Soloan ... 22 Discussion: The Weakness of Nature-Study. A. T. Hadley, H. R. Linville, C. E. Bessey, F. L. Charles, E. F. Bigelow, V. L. Kellogg 24 Book Reviews : Beebe's "The Bird" • 32 Published Monthly except June, July and August by M. A. BIGELOW, Managing Editor $1.00 a Volume (9 Nos.) 30 Linden Street, - Geneva, N. Y. AND Teachers College, - New York City 15 Cents a Copy Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office at Geneva, N. ¥., March 27, 1906, under the act of Congress of March 3, '879. THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW DEVOTED TO AI^I, PHASES OF NATURE-STUDY IN SCHOOI.S Published Monthly, except June, July, August Subscription price, one dollar per volume (year), in advance, 15 cents per copy. Foreign postage 20 cents per year extra. Sample copy (a back number showing general appearance of all issues) for 6 cents in stamps. Remittances may be made by express or post-office order or banit paper pay- able at par in New York to the order of The Nature-Study Review. The New York banks charge for collecting checks on banks outside the city, except those in Boston, Philadelphia, and a few other places near New York; and the publisher is forced to ask that 5 cents (average of bank charges) be added to checks not payable at par in New York. Discontinuances. All subscriptions are discontinued at expiration unless orders to continue are received. A post-card order will keep your name on the printed mail- ing list ; and remittance for renewal may be made at your convenience within 60 days. Change of Address. Copies lost in the mail because of failure to order change of address at least three weeks in advance of removal will not be replaced free of charge. Give both old and new addresses. Address. The office of publication is at 30 Linden St., Geneva, N. Y. the office of the Managing Editor is at Teachers College, 525 West I20th St., New York City. Subscriptions may be sent to either office, but all manuscripts, books and papers for notices or review, and other comrnunications of editorial interest, should be addressed to the New York office only. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE LIBERTY H. BAILEY, Agriculture CLIFTON F. HODGE, Biology CORNELL UNIVERSITY CLARK UNIVERSITY HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Geography JOHN F. WOODHULL, Physical Science BERKELEY, CAL. TRACKERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WILLIAM LOCHHEAD, Biology MAURICE A. BIGELOW, Biology MACDONALD COLLEGE, QUEBEC TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY EDITOR CANADIAN DEPT. MANAGING EDITOR THE NA TURK- S TUD V RK VIE W YOUR PAID SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES THE MONTH SHOWN ON ADDRESS-LABEL ON WRAPPER If you have not already ordered renewal, kindly send a postal card today with your name, address, and the words "N. S. R. wanted 1907." This will keep your name on the printed mailing list and make sure that you will miss no copies. WANTED JAN., FEB. AND SEPT. 1906 ISSUES In order to complete sets ordered by new subscribers the publisher needs at once copies of Jan., Feb., and Sept., 1906, For each copy returned unfolded in good condition, 20 cents will be paid, or any other two past or future numbers will be sent in exchange. Mail in envelopes, flat, to Secretary of N. S. Review, 525 W. 120 St., New York. SPECIAL OFFERS The complete sets advertised in the October and and November issues can no longer be supplied at prices stated. We have many sets of Vol. I, 1905. January, February and September, 1906, can no longer be supplied except at 25 cents per copy, which is less than cost of purchasing and mailing second-hand copies. Special offers are now as follows : (i) Sets of all issues for iQO^, printed " Sample Copy " on cover, otherwise perfect and valuable as regular copies, />-2i, 228 Owls, 210 Pigeon, disappearance, 276 Poetry, in science, 274 Pollination, 277 Primrose, 277 Protection birds and game, 93, 124, 188, 210, 212 INDEX 281 Radium, on plants, 274 Rat, 243 RoBisoN, C. H., books for agri- culture, 180 Rubber, 186 School-gardens, 37, 38, 76, 86, 117, 120, 126, 186, 196, 207, 209, 274 Schoolhouse, Cornell, 113 Science, and n.-s., 4, 174 Seals, 123 Seeds, 62, 64, 125; germination, 200 Sex instruction, 215 Seymour, B., barn-swallows, 266 SiLCOX, S., n.-s. in Ontario, 95 Singer, G. P., physical n.-s., 174 Snakes, 62, 93; myths, 126, 187 Society for n.-s., see under Ameri- can Soils, 211 SoLOAN, D., methods in n.-s., 22 Starlings, 246 Stebbins, F. a., discussion, 58 Swallows, 211 Taylor, J. S., organization of n.-s. facts, 168 Teachers of n.-s., preparation, 250, 277 Texas, n.-s. in, 74 Thayer, E. R., referred to, 33 Thompson, J., "Water Wonders," 209 Trafton, G. H., gardens, 37; dis- cussion, 56 Trees, see forestry; dwarf, 244 Turner, E. A., scope of n.-s., 262 Turpentine cup, 275 Window-garden, 244 Wright, M. O., "Gray Lady and •Birds," 273 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW DEVOTED TO ALL PHASES OF NATURE-STUDY IN SCHOOLS Vol. 3 JANUARY, 1907 No. i THE ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF NATURE STUDY BY MAURICE A. BIGELOW Teachers College, Columbia University [Read before the Section of Biology, of the New York State Science Teach- ers' Association, December 27, 1906.] Some months ago one of the best known experts in the general field of elementary education asked me essentially these questions: "What principles of nature-study may be considered firmly estab- lished .'* When will the leaders in the nature-study movement begin to reach agreement so that we may have some definite guidance in our elementary schools and thus cease the apparently aimless groping in the dark?" These questions, coming as they did from such an authority on elementary education, deserve a most serious answer. And the seriousness of the problem is still greater to one who knows from the extensive correspondence connected with the editorial work of The Nature- Study Review that just such questions are being asked wherever educators have had their attention attracted to nature- study. Everywhere there seems to be strong popular impression that each advocate of nature- study is a law unto himself and that in each region nature-study is quite distinct from all other places in the world because the local leader appears to have views which are op- posed to those held by leaders elsewhere. Is all this widespread impression really well founded ? Is it true that nature-study as an educational movement is entirely disorganized and that after all the years of work we have made no decided prog- ress ? I feel certain that to these questions we can give an emphatic negative answer, and so I invite your attention to some facts which point to the conclusion that on some most important principles — in fact the very foundations of nature-study — there is agreement on the part 2 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE W [3: i-jan., 1907 of all educators and men of science who are now giving close atten- tion to the progress of the nature-study movement. It will help our discussion if in advance we recognize that principles of nature-study may be agreed upon before they are in universal practice. Very much of the pioneer practice in nature- study has been without any suggestion of principles, and helpless teachers have been turned adrift with only the admonition to * 'teach nature." The result is that there is still a deplorable amount of unorganized practice in nature-study. It was to this that I referred in a recent editorial note in The Nature- Study Review in which I wrote that "nature-study is still far from being firmly established in our school system." Let me here emphasize the explanation that practice and not principles was meant, for I believe that so far as nature -study appears to be firmly established locally it rests upon foundation principles concerning which there is no longer any serious dispute. To some consideration of these established principles we now turn. First, because most important, we have reached agreement in answer to the question, '''What is nature- s tudy V For years and years this has been the center of all disagreements; but in carefully reviewing all the literature, and especially the best practice of the past two or three years, I fail to find even the shadow of disagree- ment concerning the working definition of nature-study. Interpret- ing in my own words what I see in all the present tendencies of nature-study as an educational movement, I must define nature- study as follows: Nature -study is primarily the simple observational study of common natural objects and processes for the sake of per- sonal acquaintance with the things which appeal to human interest directly. Now before I have completed reading this sentence I am sure that some of my hearers are preparing to object that Professor Hodge does not so define nature-study and that Professor Bailey has said something different, — and so on through a list of contributors to the nature-study discussions of the past. But reserve decision and let us analyze. Professor Hodge has defined nature-study as: "Learning the things in nature that are best worth knowing, to the end of doing those things which make life most worth living." Read his "Nature Study and Life" and talk with Professor Hodge and you will find (i) that by "things best worth knowing" he means the common things BiGELow] ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OE NATURE-STUDY 3 which touch our every-day life and (2) that simple observational study is his one approved method of learning these best things. Wherein does the author of "Nature Study and Life" not agree with any essential of the summarizing definition above ? Professor Bailey has not attempted to write a one-sentence definition of nature-study; but we can make one for him by placing together phrases selected from his "Nature- Study Idea." Here are his words placed together from two or three paragraphs: Nature- study is the direct observational study of common things in the child's environment for the purpose of training the eye and the mind to see and to comprehend and thus to gain a sympathetic attitude towards nature for the purpose of increasing the joy of living. Notice that Professors Bailey and Hodge agree on the essential points, namely, observational study of common things, and for the sake of influencing our every-day attitude toward nature. If time permitted, I would quote from many other writers on nature-study whose views I have carefully considered in this compar- ative study. Putting together all direct statements and suggestions for practice, I find among the writers now prominently identified with nature-study as an educational movement no one whose idea of nature-study does not involve the following points as essentials: (i) direct observational study (2) common things of nature (3) from the standpoint of our human interests in nature as it touches our daily life directly. This is what we now mean in theory by nature-study, and practice is tending rapidly towards complete conformity with the definition. The second established principle is that nature-study should be differentiated from science. The strong tendency of recent years is to reserve the word science for strictly organized knowledge. We no longer properly say that a student is studying the science of botany because we have seen him picking flowers by the wayside, or engaged in pressing and mounting fifty specimens. All this is a valuable preliminary to real botany; but botany study should be strictly science study — a study of the morphological, physiological, embryological, paleontological and ecological principles or general- izations, around which the facts concerning plants are grouped into a unified and classified mass of knowledge. Likewise in all the other sciences we have come to regard science as dealing primarily with principles. Now nothing could be more beyond possible dis- pute than that children need facts and not principles drawn from THE NA TU RE-STUD Y RE VIE W f 3 : -JAN., 1907 grouped facts. Hence we have at last united in recognizing that true science even stated in words of one syllable is not for children, because for them we have something better in nature-study. I may summarize the distinction between nature-study and science as now held by the most active workers in nature-study as follows: "Nature- study is primarily the simple observational study of common natural objects and processes for the sake of personal acquaintance with the things which appeal to human interest directly and independently of relations to organized science. Natural-science study is the close analytical and synthetical study of natural objects and processes primarily for the sake of obtaining knowledge of the general princi- ples which constitute the foundations of modern science."' Along this line nature-study for the elementary schools is being rapidly differentiated from the true science of high schools and colleges. Parenthetically let me remark that we must not forget that some nature- study is still necessary in most high schools and even in col- leges, because the students have not had it in the lower school. However, nature-study in high school or college is not science in the strict sense. It is simply nature-study supplementary to and pre- paratory to the real science which deserves much attention in high schools and colleges. Another point which we must not overlook is that there can be no sharply defined line between nature-study and science so far as prac- tice in our school system in its entirety is concerned. In the upper grades and first year of the high school the nature-study will gradu- ally lead the way into more and more advanced study approaching the real science lessons designed to point directly to the great gener- alizations of science. However, the line can be drawn sharply enough for all practical purposes and there is no longer any sufficient excuse for duplicating the work already well done as science. For example, what advantage can we possibly claim for the books on "physical science for grammar grades" and certain books of botany and zoology which are said to be "adapted to grammar grades." All these are complete duplications of existing high-school work. There are plenty of things to be done m the elementary school without attempting to anticipate directly the proper work of the secondary school; and the modern teacher of nature-study who hopes for suc- cess in the future must study to keep her nature-study as far as pos- 'From this journal Vol. I, p. 17, Jan., 1905. BiGELow] ESTABLISHED PRIA'CIPLES OF NATURE-STUDY 5 sible from the somewhat formal laboratory method of the upper school and more in direct touch with the great nature out-of-doors. We want our pupils to get from nature-study something of that natu- ralist's outlook which Gilbert White found in the fields of Selborne, which Thoreau found at Walden Pond, and which John Burroughs stills finds at Riverby. To this end we need to study the possible differentiation between nature-study and science. If we can get the mass of teachers to see the difference, there will be an end to science reduced to words of one syllable, and teachers will not close the first lesson in physical nature-study with these words quoted from a book for grammar schools: "We have now learned that matter is that which occupies space, that it is made up of atoms and molecules, and that there are spaces between the molecules." The atomic theory, laws of conservation of energy and indestructibility of mat- ter, theories of ether motion, Newton's laws, the periodic law of the elements, chemical equations, and on the biological side the great central theory of organic evolution — these are examples of the great ideas of modern science at which we aim directly in the higher schools, but certainly they are not the proper educational food for children of the elementary school. Real nature-study must be more sharply differentiated from true science, and attempt to pave the way rather than imitate and duplicate the science of the higher schools. The third principle on which I see general agreement is the state- ment of aims and values of nature- study . As to values, we recognize that they are in discipline and information; discipline in habits of thoughtful observing, and information which has aesthetic, moral, practical and intellectual influence in the every-day life of the average individual. To develop these values we are guiding our teaching by certain definite aims; and interpreting in my own words the pre- dominating tendency of the present time, I must say that we have agreed that in essentials the great aims are as follows: (a) To give general acquaintance with and interest in common objects and pro- cesses in nature, (b) To give the first training in accurate observing as means of gaining knowledge direct from nature, and also in the simplest comparing, classifying and judging values of facts; in other words, to give the first training in the simplest processes of the scien- tific method, (c) To give pupils useful knowledge concerning natural objects and processes as they directly affect human life and interests. The fourth principle of nature- study: There is quite general agree- 6 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [3 : ,-jan., 1907 ment that there is o?ie fundamental method oittdiching nature-study and that consists in getting the pupil to see and think for himself. Upon this depend two of the three aims above stated, the aim for sym- pathetic acquaintance and the aim for training in thoughtful observ- ing. Books and lectures can not suffice for these, as possibly they might for giving useful information. There will, I think, be found little dissent from the proposition that true fiature-study can not be pri- marily book study. Rather should nature-study aim to make the pupil learn to study nature in the absence of books, thus preparing for the usual condition in our every-day life. The fifth principle refers to selection of materials for study. On this I see general agreement for the proposition that we should first of all select the most common and the most i?ite resting from the viewpoint of every-day life. The general application of this principle is re- sponsible for much of the apparent lack of uniformity in courses of nature-study. The geographical distribution of natural things is highly variable and hence the selection of common things for nature- study must vary. However, this is of no great significance, for if nature-study be guided by the principles already discussed the educa- tional result will be the same whether the materials selected be the common ones available in a Maine forest or those in a Dakota wheat field. There is one other fundamental principle which is so important that it deserves statement more emphatic than that incidentally suggested in a preceding paragraph. I refer to nature-study for the child as contrasted with nature-study for adult minds. We must recognize the established principles of child-study in all our nature- study for elementary education. To the general recognition of this great principle we owe the comparatively recent decided advance in differentiating between nature-study for elementary schools and science study for higher schools. Summarizing, I have pointed out that there is now great agreement on the following fundamental points:- (i)the working definition of nature-study (2) differentiation from science in the strict sense (3) aims of nature-study for elementary education (4) the observational method is fundamental (5) principle governing selection of materials for study (6) dependence of nature-study on child-study. (The order of statement is quite unimportant, for these are principles which must stand or fall together). These, I believe, are the established guide-posts which definitely HODGE] ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF NATURE-STUDY 7 mark the pathway of educational nature-study. Progress or retro- gression in the future will depend upon our application in practice of these established principles in theory. We have now reached agreement upon the working theory of nature-study, the way is clearly defined, and the time has come for concerted action in practice. It is a serious question whether nature-study is ever to be firmly estab- lished and generally recognized as a integral part of the elementary- school course of study in all schools; but the final answer will depend directly upon future application of the principles now agreed upon. And in turn the success in practice will depend upon the training of the teachers. It is a very significant and hopeful fact that wherever nature-study guided by the established principles is being presented by well-trained teachers it is now recognized as an all-essential part of a rational and liberal elementary education. THE ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF NATURE-STUDY^ BY C. F. HODGE Clark University 'Tis a wise saw: ''Where opinions differ, there lies a problem to be solved." In line with this idea I have always found encourage- ment rather than dismay in the multitude of opinions which cover the field of nature-study. They all bear testimony to the largeness and vitality of interests in this "problem of problems." In the presence of such vital and momentous interests as those rela- tions to nature which condition the life and welfare our eighty millions personal motives of every sort disappear completely; and I have al- ways felt, and often said that I felt, most strongly attracted towards those who differed from me most violently. As long as divergent views are honestly expressed, we may hope to learn and progress toward the solution of our problem. Ideas, like species, must struggle in order to live and the fittest shall survive in the end. I have been asked the questions that head our leading paper scores of times. I have always replied by saying: "The more views, the better. Choose the one that appears to you best supported by reason and common sense, and then put more common sense and reason of your own into it, and so help the good work along." ^Professor Hodge was unable to be present at the meeting when the preceding paper was read; but sent the following with which he had planned to open the discussion. 8 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [3 : i-jan., 1907 Those who cannot do this ask the questions because they are men- tally too indolent to think for themselves and so do not count on either side. They might as well say in matters religious: *'We won't do anything until God and the devil agree." After all, as Carlyle says: "Doubt of whatever kind can be ended by action alone." General agreement will gradually take form out of the actual experience of all the teachers who are doing the work. If we can secure and print in The Nature- Study Review during the year brief articles, possibly not more than a page or even a single paragraph, from actual teachers giving some first class bit of nature- study as they have done it themselves, such a symposium could not fail to give us data from which to derive principles by the inductive method. Let us hear from you, fellow teachers, by the scores and hundreds; and to you who settle our doubts by your works we shall all accord our highest appreciation and respect. It is certainly not hard for me to say that I agree with all the principles advanced by Professor Bigelow. He has represented my own views with perfect fairness and I only hope Professor Bailey can say as much for his. FIELD WORK IN BOTANY IN GRAMMAR AND HIGH SCHOOLS' BY CHARLES E. BBSSET Professor of Botany in the University of Nebraska [Editorial Note. — It has been pointed out several times in The Review (especially in Vol. i, No. 2, p. 77) that nature-study may have a place in high schools, and even in colleges, when the elementary-school work has not been sufficient to give general familiarity with the very common things in nature; and so much of the field work in botany and zoology which has come into vogue in recent years is really nature-study rather than organized science study. The fol- lowing paper will be especially helpful to high-school teachers who must ( [) give their own pupils the essentials of plant nature-study and (2) direct the elementary school nature-study so that the coming botany classes in high school will bring from their nature-study the best kind of a foundation. And this without in the least aiming to make the elementary-school work directly preparatory to the high school, for that nature-study which is best for liberal elementary education con- sidered as an end in itself will be perfectly satisfactory as a preparation for high- school sciences.] Within the last few years there has been a .strong tendency among teachers of botany to recommend a very considerable increase in the amount of field work to be undertaken by the pupils in this subject. This is a natural reaction from the unusual emphasis which had been placed upon laboratory work, especially that form of laboratory work which included the use of the compound microscope. Today there are those who would banish the compound microscope from the grade schools and some even who would greatly restrict its use in the high school. Some of these reactionists would go back to something very like the old-time teaching in which the pupil prepared to ''analyze and classify" the flowering plants by first studying some special text-book for a few weeks, and then spending as much time as possi- ble in collecting plants for the practical work of so-called "analysis and classification." It must be said for this old-time method that whatever were its deficiencies, it did make pupils acquainted with some of the wild plants of the region. It is true that the more diffi- cult species were judiciously ignored, the pupil giving them no atten- tion since they were said to be "too difficult for the beginner." On this point I can speak with authority, since I was taught my first 4. R A^l • ^x CONT^<3^S PAGE Types of the Best Nature-Study : I. Practical Work with Mosquitoes. C. F. Hodge t^t^ II. Children's Gardens. G. H. Trafton 37 III. Home Gardens in Cleveland. Lucy C. Bueli ... 38 Nature-Study and a Social Need. H. N. Loomis 39 Agriculture in Public Schools. W. C. Latta 43 Discussion: Grout's "Teaching Nature-Study." A. J. Grout, F. L. Charles "The Weakness of Nature-Study." C. W. Eliot, W. Lochhead.G.H.Hudson, G. H. Trafton, F. A. Stebbins 50 Book-Reviews : "The Frog Book," "Familiar Wild Animals," "Renewal of Life," "Among Country Schools," '^Tables of Lepidoptera." 59 Nature-Study Notes 62 Published Monthly except June, July and August by M. A. BIGELOW, Managing Editor 30 Linden Street, - Geneva, N. Y. $1.00 a Volume (9 Nos.) AND Teachers G)llegfe, - New York City 15 Cents a Copy Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office at Geneva, N. Y., March 27, 1906, under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879. NO OTHER CHRISTMAS GIFT will so often be a reminder of the giver. Useful, Practical, Attractive, Lasting, Reliable, Popular, Complete, Scientific, Up To Date and Authoritative. 25,000 New Words, 2380 Pages, 5000 Illustrations. Ed. in Chief W.T. Harris, Ph.D., LLO., U.S. Comr, of Edn. 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THE JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests of Teachers of Geography in Eleinefttary ^ Secondary and in Normal Schools GDITBD AND PUBI^ISH]^D BY RICHARD ELWOOD DODGE Professor of Geogra.phy, Teachers College, 9^