Nature Study - Definitions

Definitions

Nature study can be described as "conceiving of the movement as a loose coalition of communities composed of individuals, societies, and institutions able to find some common ground in the study and appreciation of the natural world." In "Leaflet I: What Is Nature-Study?" from a 1904 collection nature study lessons, Liberty Hyde Bailey presented the following description of nature study:

NATURE-STUDY, as a process, is seeing the things that one looks at, and the drawing of proper conclusions from what one sees. Its purpose is to educate the child in terms of his environment, to the end that his life may be fuller and richer. Nature-study is not the study of a science, as of botany, entomology, geology, and the like. That is, it takes the things at hand and endeavors to understand them, without reference primarily to the systematic order or relationships of objects. It is informal, as are the objects which one sees. It is entirely divorced from mere definitions, or from formal explanations in books. It is therefore supremely natural. It trains the eye and the mind to see and to comprehend the common things of life; and the result is not directly the acquiring of science but the establishing of a living sympathy with everything that is.

Anna Comstock defined the idea extensively in her book, Handbook of Nature Study: "Nature Study is for the comprehension of the Individual life of the bird, insect or plant that is nearest at hand." Comstock continued that nature study aided "both discernment and in expression of things as they are". The movement came at a time when society was concerned with the future of the next generation and with nature conservation itself, and because of this was met with high regard and high expectations. Though many efforts had come before 1890 by some naturalist and scientists to teach and expand the movement, the nature-study movement really did not gain momentum with the public until the late 19th century, early 20th century. The Nature Study changed the curriculum for children in many of areas of the country, and it also affected the way young and teenage girls were able to learn and find job placement. The movement was often related to creating a less extensive or formal science training for females.