32
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 1

2. Direction and character of winds in the school district, and their effect on man and his work. The number of times the wind blows in the course of the month from each direction, its general nature, and whether or not it was accompanied by rain, should be noted. Suitable pictorial weather calendars should be kept.

3. The formation of the clouds and rain to be taught experimentally. The following clouds should be known to the pupils: “Heap” (cumulus), “feather” (cirrus), and “rain” (nimbus) clouds.

4. Phenomena connected with rain—namely, water seeking the lowest level, and hence gathering in gutters or channels; the power of water to suspend particles of soil; the power of running water to move stones; the effect of this on the land over which the water runs. Inconvenience and sometimes danger of land-slides to travellers by road and by rail.

5. Land and water shapes to be taught by showing actual examples or by making models in the playground or in the sand-tray. Mountain, hill, valley, plain, island, lake, ocean. Simple map (not to scale) of streams, of model or real lake and island, of schoolroom, of playground, to be drawn by pupils. Influence of land shapes on man and his work—for example, sheep-farming on hilly country, crop-growing on plains. Man’s work on seas and lakes. The scenic beauty of lakes, rivers, and mountains, with special reference to places in New Zealand.

6. Simple lessons on peoples of our own and other lands—e.g., Maoris and Europeans; Australian blacks; Negroes; Red Indians; Eskimos and Laplanders; Chinese and Japanese. Interesting animals of other countries. The lessons might include stories of a more or less historical character, showing, for example, the relation of negroes to slavery, Red Indians to the spread of American civilization, Maoris to other South-Sea-Island peoples.

7. Talks on some of the things brought into the home from far-off lands. In country schools the pupils should note the occupations of the people of the district and the products that are sent away. In the case of town and city children some of the goods sent away by train or by ship should be noted.

8. The globe and the map of the world used in connection with 6 and 7 above, and also to show (a) the position of New Zealand relatively to the great land-masses, and (b) the oceans and continents and important places mentioned in the School Journal and other readers.

STANDARD III.

1. Weather study as prescribed for Standard II, but leading more definitely to the acquisition of such knowledge as is necessary for a proper understanding of climate. Low and high daily altitude of the sun to be connected with differences in heat in the course of the day and with seasonal differences; hence effect of the altitude of the sun on plant-growth—for example, in the tropics. Temperature, or “feel” of the wind from different points of the compass associated with altitude of sun in relation to originating direction of wind. Use of shadow-stick in fixing points of the compass.

2. The shapes of the new moon and the full moon; the part of the sky where they are first seen at night: both to be shown on a chart by the pupils themselves.

3. Knowledge of land-shapes, with the associated water-shapes, to be taught from actual examples or from models. How land and water shapes affect man and his work—e.g., coast features and shipping, surface features and farming. Volcanoes, geysers.

4. Elementary knowledge of the constructive and destructive action of running water. Formation of plains and use of these to man. Formation of valleys and gullies. Formation of “rough” country; industry or industries possible in rough country. Actual observation of (a) the swing of the stream, (b) the sides on which excessive erosion or marked deposition takes place, (c) the relative order in which different kinds of detritus are deposited. Rough map of stream and elevation of cutting to be drawn by the pupils.

5. Map of school property to be drawn by the pupils themselves, but not to scale. Rough map of a suitable part of the district to be drawn from a convenient eminence. This work must be done outside the school-room, even if only a section of the class can be taken at one time.

6. The geography of the home district, including prominent physical features, the occupations of the people, the exports and the imports; the towns, railways, and roads to be treated in such a way as to give the pupils first ideas of elementary geographical principles, which may afterwards be applied to New Zealand as a whole, and in the senior classes to other parts of the world.