Nature Study

The study of nature or Nature study was very popular throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. This type of ideology was focused on a stripped down version of learning. Coined by Anna and John Comstock, nature study became a movement. Nature Study, is the informal study of plants and animals, usually in their natural surroundings, and of other natural objects and events. Nature study is a kind of scientific investigation that takes place in the field rather than in the laboratory. At one time nature study was a course or subject in elementary and high schools. It has been replaced in elementary school by a course of study called science, and in high school by such subjects as biology, botany, zoology, and chemistry. Many things have been learned by observing and studying nature. For example, from observing the moon and studying how it orbits the earth, scientists got the idea for making artificial satellites and putting them in orbit. Most people enjoy nature and are curious about it. They find beauty in flowers, trees, and landscapes, and like to watch the activities of animals. They usually want to find out all they can about these things. They want to know what certain animals eat, how birds build their nests, which flowers grow in forests and which in meadows, and why clouds take the forms they do.

In a time when science was flourishing and it seemed like no attention was being paid to the environment, the nature study movement began. For a while after many institutions throughout the world took it into account and jumped on the ban wagon. For many years people lost sight of the nature study concept and got wrapped up in science and technology. In a growing world that is booming with new ideas, and issues people began to push nature aside an focus on the advancement of the human race. When humans think of nature they typically think of cavemen, Pilgrims, Indians, and a time before civilized nations existed. To most, reverting back to nature is taking a step backwards. The advanced technology and methods that people use today compared to the nineteenth century vary greatly. Computer, cars and other transportation, new research, industries and more.

People have a new way of life that is still advancing. Skeptics find nature study to be pointless in a world like this. Why do people need to value animals, trees, the ozone, or the water supply? If people took a second think of how important nature is to the survival of humans, they might see that nature study is needed more than every.
In the nineteenth century humans were not nearly advanced as they are today, and their way of life wasn’t either. The new way of life the earth has adopted is advancing us yes, but it is also ruining the natural surroundings that humans rely on to survive. Many animals are near extinction, the ozone is depleting, waste is polluting the world, people are dying more and more each day, poverty is increasing, and much more. Animals are near extinction because their habitat in nature is non existent. The main cause of this climate change is human advancement that people are so concerned with. Polar bears specifically are losing their cold climate, and having to either die or adapt to the new climate. This is happening because the ozone is depleting and allowing sun to come through in these habitats. The ozone depletion is due to the human need for cars, airplanes, gas, and electricity, oil, and more. The need to be so detached from nature is creating nature to detach from us in a way that is detrimental to us as a whole. People forget that we are animals as well and that we depend on certain things. Trees are scarce because humans have found ways to use them to make paper and other things. Did we forget that they produce oxygen that is needed for us to survive? The water that the earth so depends on is polluted thanks to the oil tankers that humans have created, leaving sea life to deplete. Natural resources are almost non existent due to human dependency on them. Pollution in the atmosphere is at an all time high thanks to gas emissions given off from an array of different things, and the waste procedures adopted by humans. Humans are dieing do to unknown causes and many from poverty. Poverty could be solved if industrialized countries would focus less on advancement and more on people. Nature study suggest a step back to the basics, when the bare necessities were capable of helping people survive.

Lately, a new kind of nature study movement as brewed called the green movement. This movement focuses on going green and cutting out harmful habits out of the daily lives. Going green incorporates practices such as hybrid car use, recycling, reusing, proper waste disposal, the lowering of gas emissions, environmentally safe products, naturals and organics, stopping the use of chemicals and much more. Anything that has to be created in a lab is not healthy for people or the environment. Perhaps people apart of the green movement are channeling nature and reverting back to when the earth was green and abundant rather than gray and scarce. Too many problems are linked to the climate and they all could have been prevented. At first nature study was not accepted, and then it was followed for a while.

However, ultimately it was replaced with advancement because of the need to have quick fixes, no matter how harmful. Ironically, a shift back toward nature study is being made. The only issue now is that it might be to late to restore something that people have already begun to destroy. Nature at its best has been long gone, and is now hanging on by a thread. Most people see that adopting green procedures is a necessity this time and reverting back to nature study can save the only nature humans have left.