Nature Study means getting acquainted with the multitude of creatures, great and small, which inhabit the land, the water, and the air, and with the objects which surround them. Mother Nature has many, many secrets which she will reveal to sharp eyes and alert minds. It is, of course, impossible for any one to learn all these secrets, but the mastering of a few makes it easier to learn others, until finally it becomes clear that all life is related and that the humblest creature may be of the greatest importance to the welfare of the highest.
It is for these reasons that the Girl Scout should learn as much as possible of the Wonders of Nature. This study may begin wherever you are, but rapid progress will be made by rambles afield and by visits to the great Natural History Museums. For example, a visit to the exhibition halls of the American Museum of Natural History in New York will answer many of your questions about animals you have seen and will enable you to answer many others for yourself, when you go out into the country.
Nature Study in its broadest application includes all of the natural sciences, such as zoology, botany, geology, meteorology, and astronomy. So, there are many fascinating fields for study and enjoyment, and it does not matter much where we begin, whether it be Wild Flowers, Trees, Birds, Butterflies, or Stars.
THE BULLFROG IN ITS NATURAL SURROUNDINGS
See Snake, Turtle and Dragonfly and notice the tongue of the frog. Habitat Group in Museum of Natural History
Of the more practical subjects especially suited to the activities of the Girl Scout are those civic problems which can only be solved by team-play; that is, by working together. Among these may be mentioned: The preservation of birds, wild flowers, and forests; control of mosquitoes, house-flies, rats, weeds; diseases of plants and animals, including man.
The civic nature of these problems is appreciated when we realize that it would do little good, for example, for one person to destroy the breeding-places of mosquitoes on his premises, if his neighbors did not do likewise about their homes; or for one orchardist to cut out the blight from his pear-trees or the black-knot from his plum-trees, if his neighbors did not co-operate with him by ridding their orchards of these diseases.
These practical questions are so well presented, together with plans for their solution, in Civic Biology, by Clifton F. Hodge and Jean Dawson (Ginn & Co.), that instead of going into details here, both the Girl Scouts and their Leaders are referred to this most useful work.
All objects of Nature are either living (organic) or non-living (inorganic). The non-living bodies include the minerals and rocks. The living bodies are either plants or animals. Plants may be divided into two great groups, the flowerless plants and flowering plants. In general the flowerless plants reproduce by means of spores, like the mushroom and the ferns, while the flowering plants reproduce by means of seeds.