Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1904-03-24
Nature STUDY.

meaning of the term is rather vague in the
minds of many people. To them 1t means some.
thing in the nature of a fad which some one has
taken up and exploited simply to get himself
talked about. but they have very indisincb ideas
of its limitations For these, if there be any
present, we define these limitations. What is
included in Nature? You say the hills, the fields,
the woods, the rivers, the plants of all kinds
these belong to nature That is true. In nature
study must necessarily include the study of
plant life from the lowest forms to the highest
from the toadstool and the fern to the lofty
oak and elm. And we must include the study as
| well of animal life from the microscopic germ 10
| the Lord of Creation hmself-bird and beast and
fish and reptile. But this is not all. We must
not leave ont the structure of this old earth of
ours, with its "hills rock-ridded and ancient as
the sun, the venerable wood, rivers that move in
majesty and the complaining brooks which make
the meadows green and poured round all old
oceans gray and melancholy waste" These are
conspicuous part of nature we see it. And
then we must not forget the structure of these
bodies Of ours-the temples of the Holy Ghost
the care of which we need so much to know. Is
this all? No. We are not limited in our study of
nature to this earth alone. The heavens above
US attract our attention, sun, moon and stars are
know more of them is strong within us. Then
there are the phenomena of the weather, the
variations of sunshine and tempest, the rain and
itsbow of promise, the lashing hail, the f1eecy
snow, the changing seasons that como and 60.
What have we then? Botany the study of plants,
Zoology the study of animals, Physiology the
study of our own bodies, Geology the study of
I the structure of the earth, Astronomy the study
q heavenly hucic fha ef,,d, of
natural laws, and Meteorology the study of the
phenomena of the weather. These are high
sounding terms and you may ask what place have
they in the public schoolsP Are they, you say,
not rather subjects for higher institutions of
learning. We answer by saying that while these
subjects involve the most abstruse problems of
scientific thought the simple, natural phenomena
on which they based lie all about u.s. are
daily manifesting themselves before our ewes
! Shall we pass them blindly and unquestioningly
by? Shall we wait for maturar years to gain q
fund of knowledge which could be easily grasped
and understood in childhood when impres sions
| are most lasting?
But you may say why crowd these things into
school life? There is already enough to occupy
the time there. We send our children to school
to learn to read, spell, write and calculate pro-
blems in Arithmetic. This work is none too well
done. Why take time which should be placed
on something more practical? We answer that
the cause of failure in these practical matters is
not so much for want of time as for want of act
i've minds. Nature study awakens the mind to
activity. How? BY quclsening the powers of
| observation.
There are dozens of things going on about us
that we never see. Let two persons go over the
| same journey through field and forest and note
the difference in what they see. Nature study
| trains to active and accurate observation The
| nesting birds, the creeping insect the habit of
wild creatures, the differences and simarites of
plants and animals-all these call for n watchful
| obServant eye, and ear. The senses are the
avenues to the mind No new idea gets into the
mind except through these channels. If then
we render these effective it mnst result in the
better acquisition of knowledge And other sub
jects need not be neglected. Nature study can
| be made the basis of work along these lines. The
most interesting reading lessons are those about
plants, animals trees, birds, rivers, lakes and
the mutitudinous objects in Nature Counting
and calculating lessons are never so attractive
as when based upon objects they see-living
moving creatures. Language lessons find their
best material along the same lines Children
talk and write best about things that have life
and motion. Drawing objects from Nature is
the most effective way of teaching this art.
| This is All age of wonderful scientific develop
ment, which is only saying that we are learning
more and more of natures secrets and applying
them in our daily lives. The century Just begun
is destined to see still greater advancement, and
largely because the fundamental principles will
be learned early in school life. Medical science
has made wonderful strides in the past twenty
five years. The germ theory of disease has revo-
lutionized medical practice. The basis of it all
a thorough knowledge of the human body is
laid in school life 1t is of immense practical
value that the child should learn the rules of
health. Life will be prolonged still further be-
yond the average of 35 ears by such knowledge
Physiology is nature stuIy whose value none will
deny. Electricity is changing the order of things
on this old earth of ours. The telephone, tele-
graph, wireless otherwise, the electric car
What wonders they have wrought. And vet
| electric science is only in its infancy. 1t be-
hooves every boy and girl to know something
of this wonderful power.
Life on the farm also is being affected by scien-
tine thought. Scientific farming is now the
forward word of progress and must become
more generally so. Witness our Farmers Insti-
tutes, our agricultural schools and the skilful
men who make up the agricultural department at
affected by this. Methods of farming have not
changed much in the last fifty years, not much
in fifty centuries for that matter except in the
application of machinery to farm work. But
scientific thought is bringing about a change in
the methods of growing grain and fruit, etc. A
careful study is made of soils that needed ele-
ments may be supplied with fertilizers and at the
same time only such grasses and grains sown
that will grow best. One instance alone will
show what 1 mean. The nitrogen producing
microbe that causes the clover-crop to flourish
But there are reasons for studying nature
none the less weghty because they are not prac-
teal. mean the culture of the mind-the in
fuence on character.
The ancients regarded nature with supersti.
tious awe. They ready to bow down and
worship the forces whose manifestations thew
did not understand.
We have not entirely freed ourselves from
these supersttions. There are natural explana-
tions for many so-called tokens and omens.
Superstition is caused by ignorance Let our