This is the age of great enthusiasm for trying things out, sharing discoveries, and for asking how and why things happen.

IN 1955 the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, in response to public demand, initiated its School Program in Natural Sciences and Conservation. This program involves making a teacher-specialist trained in science and conservation available to schools on a contract basis for bi-weekly classes throughout the school year.

These classes serve two important functions. First, they introduce the students to science through the study of the things about which they are already curious. The course answers many of the questions the youngsters have about the animals, plants, and minerals they find in their own wanderings and reading and at the same time stimulates new questions about these fields of knowledge. Information is presented in such a way that it leads the child toward the fuller understanding of the basic biological and physical principles which govern existence on Earth. In this way it is nearly ideal preparation for science courses which will be taken later in school, especially since a wide variety of natural sciences come under discussion.

The second function of this course is to demonstrate to parents, teachers, and school administrators that this is a significant and vital phase of education often omitted from the curriculum for lack of trained teachers to do the work. The response in the classroom and the enthusiastic approval received from parents and professional educators alike indicate that the aims of this course are being accomplished with outstanding success.

While the basic objective of the course is to provide some understanding of the interrelationships among plants and animals and their environment, another very definite result of these lessons is the development of an awareness of what these natural objects are, how they may be found, and why they are important in the life of the individual, the community, State and Nation.

THE objectives of this course are accomplished by using a variety of teaching techniques. Live animals are brought into the classroom whenever it is appropriate to the discussion and safe to do so. Films and colored slides are used to illustrate or demonstrate things too large, too distant, or too extreme in some other form to bring directly to the children. Field trips are taken by most classes in the late spring and form one of the most important and valuable experiences of the course. Worksheets containing appropriate forms for recording information and suggestions for further activities are provided with each lesson. Natural objects which youngsters wonder about are used to illustrate the lessons: rocks, bones, shells, galls, and many others are brought in by the Audubon teacher and often by the youngsters themselves as they are encouraged to ask questions of their own.

The main part of each lesson is presented in the form of a guided discussion in which the Audubon teacher asks leading questions, draws a response from the youngsters, and then expands the topic or fills in the gaps in their knowledge. Every child is encouraged to participate in these discussions.