Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1876-02-17
Educational.
The Study of Geography, No. 9.

The Study of Geography, No. 2.
NY last article touched upon the nature
aud Importance Of the study of geography,
giving n few Illustrations OF failures 10
| teach the subject properly. The child
should study iirsi. the earth as lac can see
| il. II Is "A pleasant day Ia June aud the
/ teacher of n country school takes his little
| class out doors in their first lesson in geo.-
| raphv. Childr ~. upon what are YOU stand
| ing? Reply, upon the ground. the earth.
! What is the shape Of the ground Of the
school yard? Reply, Hat, level. We win
! call this level land. or "a the books say a
/ plain. Children will lind other plains larg-
/ or or smaller. Back Of the school house
we ind and'that i not level, it rises alb
| ruptly 10 considerable he gilt What is that
/ land calleds Reply. 4 hill. We walk TO
! the top where we find n level place, like
! our plain but higher What in your room
! At home l. level Ike the floor hut higher !:
] AM. II table. We will call this table land
A little way from this hill is another
between this one and thpt, notice the
( ground. it is low aud uneven. We will
/ call it a valley. Hills thar are higher are
/ called mountains. II YOU have not seen one
! you can Imagine this hill 50 high "a almost
TO reach the clouds. You have now
seen all the forms OF, lanu that make the
surface OF the earth The plains are larry
er, the hills higher, the valleys deeper,
Dut all alike In form to what you have
seen.
Children have vivid imaginations, they
have the material, from "A few lessons Of
/ this kind. fron which to construct the
I land surface of the globe. How long will
( it take 10 acquire such definite knowledge
/ from text books? Tho surface Of the whole
globe Is either land or water
/ II you live near broos river. ltk- or
ocean-well. study them, II not, this shall
be your lesson AFTER the first rain taAe
your class 10 the roadside, down the in
/ clination runs a little stream. We follow
4 its course To study lis character
Some walk on one side some on the 9TH
cr; these sides are the banks ofthe stream
/ Which is the right bank, which the lcn, on
the right side gong down or coming up:
! We must state the fact and the children
will reRember-it, for they will associate
( the idea with their lesson OF this little
stream. See how rapidly the water runs
| in places. Why? Then how slowly, Why
We come 10 crooks In our little stream let
Us see what makes them and the effect
upon the water. We examine, aud lind
that a stone, or stick, or piece OF hard
earth has INSTRUCTED the water and turned
/ II from its course causing II, as II moves
around the obstruction TO strike the other
bank. wearing it away making another
crook Thus crooks or bends are formed
all the way down the LITTLE stream. We
know the reason now, let us study the eff
, feet. Every bend makes the water run
slower or deeper As a result. We can float
little chip boats in this deeper water and
| in the curves where II Is so still we can
/ build wharves and on the bank a city.
I Where the water il quick We put down a
piece OF board across the channel aud have
a dam and can build a lii,le mill. Thus we
! see that our crooked. slow stream is good
forinavigation and We build wharves aud a
commercial city, while the quick part of
the stream, with its dam, gives Us a tall OF
water where we build mill and have a
manufacturing town. Here we have studied
1 most Pleasantly, phenomena. cause and re-
suit. We see how Nature aud men work
and why. DO your book pupils learn such
lessons: viii they become such practical
men and women As these pupils will make !.
We follow the stream down the hill. and
observe and .hink as we 90. Near the bot
tom Of the hill the stream becomes broad,
deep, slow, we see the head OF navigation
for large vessels. This stream Is long and
narrow, rapid or slow. shallow or deep, it
is atype OF all the brooks and rivers in
the world. these are worthy OF careful
/ study. Al the bottom of the hill our little
river wldens into puddle" We will
walk, talk aud think about this puddle. Ii
is broad. not long and narrow like the riv-
ers. Ii has land projecting into it and it
{
bays.
In the middle OF the little pond the mud
stands out above the water. this is all is
land, and the elevation of mud extends, by
a narrow strip to the shore, this is PENN
sula with its isthmus. This broad sheet OF
water with its capes, bays, island and Pc
ninsular is a type Of all lakes. seas and
oceans. We call upon our pupils to en-
large il, in Imagination until it extends be-
yond the range of vision, and they have in
mind picture Of the ocean.
! Many Interesting lessons may be learned
near the stream by the roadside.
studied geography from the book for
| years. and when for the first time saw q
cape, an Island, or peninusular, did not
recognize them. FELLOW teachers which is
the better wayI In my next article will
| speak of the method and Use of map-draw-
| ing and how to use the text books.
TEACHER.
- II. Il