This booklet (34.1 MB), compiled by the Syllabus Notes Committee of the South Coast Inspectoral District of the Education Department, Brisbane, Queensland and published in 1932, was compiled as a curriculum resource for teachers of the era.
Its Introduction commences:
“Nature Study should be a very popular subject, and by its aid it is intended that children should be trained to see intelligently, to compare and contrast, to record observations, to express themselves precisely and to develop within themselves a love for all that is beautiful.
But the subject has its difficulties, and not least of these is the want of confidence felt by the teachers. These cannot be experts in all branches and it is not easy for them to get from the text-books available just the information needed. Most of the works published deal with the various branches in a world-wide or continent-wide fashion, and the difficulty of selecting from the multiplicity of objects offered just those which may be treated observationally is so great that many become disheartened, cease to be Nature-students, and finally give up the task, or treat it in a half-hearted and disinterested way.
The teachers of the South Coast Inspectoral District, eager to carry out their duties in an efficient manner, have decided to combine for the purpose of pooling the facts available, concerning the birds, plants, and industry insects of their District. To supply the necessary information for this volume each school sent in a list of the birds found in its neighbourhood, and from these the hundred commonest birds was selected, special drawings are made, and descriptions were written up in simple language. It is felt that now every teacher will have sufficient data to enable him or her to deal effectively with this part of Nature Study.”
The curriculum may be very different these days but these sentiments have a modern resonance.