The importance of ideas rather than information is perhaps more critical in science than any other subject. And the path is made straight and prepared by the study of nature. The specifics of nature study were discussed earlier, but the key element is that first students learn to observe, examine, and delight in living and real things without letting scientific “tidbits” destroy their enthusiasm. All this observation is “incidental, easy, and things are noticed as they occur.”63 Once introduced in this manner to living things, primarily on nature walks and field trips, the student is taken to
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