Is nature study a science?

Yes and no.

Yes, nature study is a science in the sense that it follows the first steps of the scientific method. What are the first steps in this method? My 8th grade natural science teacher would be pleased to find that I still remember at least some of her lectures. The first steps in the scientific process are observation and description - the building blocks of nature study! In the 1939 foreword to Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study, the publishers offer the following additional support for nature study's place as a real science:

"But it should not be thought that nature-study is not a science. The promising science of ecology is merely formalized nature study; indeed it might be said that nature study is natural science from an ecological rather than an anatomical point of view. The truth is that nature study is a science, and is more than a science; it is not merely a study of life, but an experience of life..."

The above quote brings me to the point that while nature study can certainly be identified as a science, yet, it is not only a science. It is an ever-growing, increasingly complex, and at the same time immensely enjoyable, relationship with nature. More from the foreward:

"But the nature study approach has been preserved. The kernel of that method of treatment is the study of the organism in its environment, its relation to the world about it, and the features which enable it to function in its surroundings. This study takes the individual organism, rather than an abstract phylum or genus, as the point of departure. Mrs. Comstock believed that the student found in such a study a fresh, spontaneous interest which was lacking in formal textbook science..."

Nature study is indeed a science in its own right. From it spring all of the other "higher" sciences as we know them. We study the sky and stars that lead into advanced astronomy. We observe and delight in the pond life that opens into the greater discipline of biology. We note the formation of ice crystals and the friction encountered by a rock sliding down a hillside that transition the learner into physics. At the same time, nature does not let us know right away that she is teaching us "science". She is busy showing us the splendor of the Almighty Creator and fostering a true sense of wonder in her pupils. Only later do we realize that "science" was actually going on all about us. Then, we can look back fondly on the experiences that preceeded our bookish knowledge and realize our debt to Mrs. Comstock's wise approach:

"In the early years, we are not to teach nature as science, we are not to teach it primarily for method or for drill: we are to teach it for loving."

May the next generation find itself well educated in the grassy classroom of Mother Nature.