Jan. 21.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 281

41. The following shall be the course in geography :—

STANDARD II.

In Standard II., geography is one of the additional subjects (see clause 29).

Elementary geographical notions are to be taught as far as possible from actual observation—e.g., the nature of hills, plains, valleys, rivers; also of lakes, bays and gulfs, straits, islands, peninsulas, if examples of these are found in the neighbourhood of the school; the position of the sun at noon and at other times of the day; the position and length of the shadow cast, say, by a post in the playground at different times of the day; the rough determination of the north and south line and of the east and west points; the position of the school and class-room, and of buildings and other objects visible from the playground, with reference to the cardinal points; the direction of the wind on different days, and whether a given wind brings rain, is hot or cold; the snow upon the mountains and lower hills, whether always seen or not; the distinction between clay, sand, and other very common rocks.

First lessons might be given in the playground, or the roadside near the school, upon the action of water running down a gentle slope to form streamlets, streams, and rivers. Models of damp sand or clay should be made by the teacher in the playground, or on a large wooden tray or a blackboard placed upon the floor, to illustrate the geographical features seen within a short distance of the school, and the children should make smaller models of sand or clay or plasticine.

The children should be taught to make plans, first full-size, of wooden blocks or bricks, books, ink-pots, &c.; then plans to suitable scales from their own measurements of desks, tables, the class-room, the school, the playground; and the drawing of plans might be extended to such portions of the district within, say, three or four miles of the school as come within the common knowledge of the children. The direction of one or two of the nearest towns should be known, and a plan or simple map should be drawn upon the blackboard to show the relative positions of these towns with reference to the school. All plans should be drawn in the first instance with the blackboard, slate, or paper in a horizontal position. (The drawing of plans may be very conveniently co-ordinated with the lessons in “brick-building” if this is taken as part of the course in “handwork.”)

STANDARDS III.—VI.

The geography of Standards III.—VI. is divided into three courses—A, B, C—of which A and B are compulsory in all schools, and C forms one of the additional subjects.

COURSE A.

This division of the subject is to be taught continuously through the four classes S3–6, as prescribed below.

Standard III.

The elementary geographical notions should be taught, or, if geography has been taken in Standard II., be extended as far as possible from actual observation (or, where this means cannot be used, from pictures), models, and plans being constructed by the teacher and the children. The children should also be taught to observe the length of the shadow of a post at noon at different times of the year, noon being the time on any given day at which the shadow is shortest, and at which, therefore, the sun is highest in the sky (with indoor illustration of the same principle by the shadow of any object cast by a lamp or candle held at different heights); the more exact position of the north and south line, being the direction of the shadow at noon (the north and south line when found should be marked by two wooden pegs in the playground and by two brass nails in the class-room); the directions N.E., S.W., N.W., S.E., &c.; the compass, the fact being observed that the north and south ends of the needle point to the east and west respectively of the north and south line; the phases of the moon, and the number of days from new moon to new moon, from new moon to full moon, and from full moon to full moon; if the children live near the sea, they should know, further, the time of high tide and low tide, and the interval between high tide and high tide, or low tide and low tide, or high tide and low tide; the chief forms of clouds—the “feather-cloud” (cirrhus), the “heap-cloud” (cumulus), the “sheet-cloud” (stratus), the “rain-cloud” (nimbus); the most common birds, plants, and insects found near the school; the fact that water sinks very quickly through sand but not through clay.