Carried on in
an environment educationally controlled, they are means for
making a study of the facts of growth, the chemistry of soil, the
role of light, air, and moisture, injurious and helpful animal
life, etc. There is nothing in the elementary study of botany
which cannot be introduced in a vital way in connection with
caring for the growth of seeds. Instead of the subject matter
belonging to a peculiar study called botany, it will then belong
to life, and will find, moreover, its natural correlations with
the facts of soil, animal life, and human relations. As students
grow mature, they will perceive problems of interest which may be
pursued for the sake of discovery, independent of the original
direct interest in gardening -- problems connected with the
germination and nutrition of plants, the reproduction of fruits,
etc., thus making a transition to deliberate intellectual
investigations.
The illustration is intended to apply, of course, to other school
occupations, -- wood-working, cooking, and on through the list.
It is pertinent to note that in the history of the race the
sciences grew gradually out from useful social occupations.
Physics developed slowly out of the use of tools and machines;
the important branch of physics known as mechanics testifies in
its name to its original associations. The lever, wheel,
inclined plane, etc., were among the first great intellectual
discoveries of mankind, and they are none the less intellectual
because they occurred in the course of seeking for means of
accomplishing practical ends.
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