Corn 
 
 mewU>orfe 
 
 ell Wntve 
 
 Agriculture 
 
 )3.J.I}.h. 
 
 Biol 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State College of! 
 
Cornell University Library 
 QH 48.B2 
 
 Lessons in nature study. 
 
 3 1924 001 125 792 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001125792 
 
UESSONS IN 
 
 NATURE STUDY 
 
 BY 
 
 Miss Nellie Barton 
 
 NATURE STUDY TEACHER AT THE IOWA INSTITUTION 
 FOR FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN 
 
 GLE2TWOOD, IOWA 
 
 OLENWOOD, IOWA 
 
 STATU INSTITUTION PRESS 
 
 lOO 2 
 
 U L. 
 
LESSONS IN NATURE STUDY 
 
 CHE advocates of Nature Study believe that nothing so readily 
 appeals to a child as the living world, and that nothing 
 ^^^ can exert a more wholesome and refining influence 
 jj»5^ upou him than an intimate acquaintance with all na- 
 v _ ture. 
 
 Therefore, it is the purpose of Nature Study to turn 
 t the child's thoughts to the natural phenomena about 
 
 1\ him; train his eyes to become keen to see, and arouse 
 
 his thoughts to center upon what he sees, and through 
 this intimate acquaintance there will grow a great love 
 for, and a feeling of kinship with all life. 
 
 Even the small child will soon begin to feel the close relation- 
 ship binding all things together. He will see the grass that 
 covers the earth receiving from, it nourishment, and in return 
 making the ground firm and stable, and furnishing homes and 
 protection and food to countless insects and animals. He will 
 see the trees, growing from the ground, giving homes to birds and 
 squirrels and. insects, refreshing shade to boys and girls, and 
 animals, and purifying the air, and sometimes giving its own self 
 to be burned, or to be made into houses, barns, and furniture. 
 Over all he will see the blue sky from which shines the sun 
 giving not only lis, but all life, heat and light. Or he will see it 
 over-cast with clouds which water the thirsty ground, and then 
 for a time hide the sun that the rain may complete its work of 
 softening the earth. And he will thus come to realize that all 
 things are dependent upon others, and yet that each one, even a 
 drop of water, is important in itself, and has its own work to do. 
 JDuring the two years in which special attention has been given 
 to branch of nature study at this place, this has been its object. 
 At first finding but little interest taken in natural phe- 
 nomena, it is now a pleasure to note the keen interest manifested 
 
in whatever we can "see," the growing love and sympathy for all 
 things, to know how accurate the observations are, and to listen 
 to the intelligent questions asked by eager children. 
 
 The following pages are in a measure a report of the principal 
 features of the work that has been done, with some short lessons 
 reported quite fully. Following this report is an outline of 
 subjects that furnished single lessons, or that were suggested by 
 the lessons which were given. Sometimes the children ask to 
 have a lesson about something with which they are familiar but 
 about which they have no knowledge. Perhaps something is 
 brought to class by a child, which can be used as the basis of a 
 profitable lesson. Or sometimes current events will suggest a 
 lesson. One little girl asked to be in the Nature Study Class 
 because, she said, "she liked to be in the class where, we talked 
 about things." This, We believe, is one of t*he best ways to "study 
 nature." 
 
 SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 
 
 The months of September and October furnished us an abun- 
 dance of material for our study, from the living world. Some 
 was most beautiful, and all most wonderful and interesting. The 
 children watched with a feeling of awe, the preparation for 
 winter when all nature lay down to sleep. The trees put on their 
 gayest dresses and from day to day we watched the coloring 
 process until at last, one day, late in October, we looked out upon 
 a world of such beauty that we exclaimed in delight: "Never in 
 all the world was anything so beautiful!" . 
 
 During all this time we had been walking among the trees, 
 had passed the walnuts, and noted that very early in the fall they' 
 were left with scarcely a leaf on the branches, that soon the 
 hackberry, iron-wood, and box elder began to quietly loosen their 
 hold and flutter to the ground. Leaves were collected from the 
 trees, pressed, mounted, and hung in the school-room, to brighten 
 the walls during the winter months, and incidentally to familiarize 
 the pupil with the different leaf forms, and the printed or written 
 name of the tree. 
 
 Branches were brought in and examined, little brown buds 
 were discovered in which were hidden the. tiny green leaves for 
 next year; this year's growth was determined, the use of sap 
 
explained, and we found that in the branches of some trees there 
 was much less sap than in those of others. Then it was explained 
 that the sap was leaving the branches, and the tree was preparing 
 for its winter rest. A, cross-section of a tree trunk was brought in 
 to discover the age of the tree from which it was taken. And 
 when finally the leaves had all fallen from the tree and spread a 
 coverlid over the ground and its sleeping children we realized that 
 winter was near at hand. 
 
 We had been out among the apple trees, too. And what a 
 delight the children experienced upon finding apples lying on 
 the ground. The novelty of picking up and eating apples soon 
 wore off sufficiently for all to be willing to sit down under a tree 
 and cut open the apples to see what was inside. As apple after 
 apple was opened and a fat, well-fed worm found in the majority 
 of them, the children became indignant that anything should 
 injure the otherwise perfect fruit, and they appreciated the diffi- 
 culty which is facing the apple-growers. They were interested to 
 know that last spring when the apples were just beginning to 
 grow, when they were scarcely as large as the end of the children's 
 thumbs, a little moth, almost too small to be seen, visited the 
 apple trees, deposited in the apples many eggs too small to be 
 seen, and by and by the eggs hatched into tiny worms which 
 worked their way into the center of the apple, and there they had 
 lived ever since, eating and growing fat. Some of the worms 
 were put in a box that we might watch the changing of the worm 
 into a moth. 
 
 "A cross-section was cut through the center of a perfect apple. 
 It was a surprise to find that the core is in the form of a beautiful 
 star. Then we saw how precious a thing the seed must be to be 
 protected so carefully; first by the hard, tough core, then the flesh, 
 and lastly the skin. Some of the older children became familiar 
 with a few different varieties of apples, and their characteristics, 
 also with methods of growing apple trees, from seeds, from budding, 
 and from grafting. 
 
 "We visited the nut trees, and by this time the children's love for 
 trees was so strong that we knew the subject could be intro- 
 duced at any time during the winter, and receive their 
 hearty response. We observed the trees in winter to see how 
 different they look without leaves; learned to know a few common 
 
ones by their outline and their bark; learned about the lumber 
 made from these trees, and understood to what an extent we are 
 dependent upon what the lumber provides us. Learned of forests 
 and their effect upon the atmosphere, the function of leaves, and 
 so forth. In our winter walks we saw how extensively the trees 
 were used by birds; and with ever fresh delight the children 
 pointed out oriole nests swinging in the topmost branches of elm 
 trees; blue-jays' nests placed loosely on some branch, a catbird's 
 or brown thrasher's nest in some bush, a little house in which the 
 wrens had nested, and a hole in a fence post or telephone pole 
 which was known to hold a blue-bird's nest. Some one discovered 
 a queer looking ball on oak leaves. By examining it closely we 
 learned about the oak ball. We saw that it might have been some- 
 body's home for there was the little door by which the tenant 
 escaped, and we were glad to know that early in the summer when 
 the leaf was tender and small, a tiny egg was deposited upon it. 
 This was hatched into a very small worm. Now the leaf, instead 
 of growing into a large, well-shaped oak-leaf, began to form a ball 
 around the worm; and it was soon encased in a large house which 
 furnished it plenty to eat without a bit of jeffort. Most of them 
 had left their home in July or August. 
 
 But all of this time trees had not claimed our entire thought. 
 Far from it. The birds were bidding us good bye and we watched 
 for them to see what ones were first to leave, and what ones were 
 bravest and stayed with us longest. Tried to distinguish young 
 birds from the old ones; to learn if any were building nests then; 
 looked to see if the dresses were as bright and fine as last spring; 
 asked why they were leaving, where were they going, and would 
 they build nests in their new homes? what ones would stay all 
 winter with us. 
 
 Then there were the butterflies, the insects, and the cater- 
 pillars, that interested us. The butterflies flying through the air 
 always proved attractive. The coloring and the entire make-up 
 is so delicate and exquisite that the children delighted to examine 
 them closely. Yet there are many things to. learn without possess- 
 ing the little creatures. What is their food? How do they 
 secure it? What becomes of the proboscis when not in use? 
 When it alights are the wings spread or folded? 
 
 Our terrarium proved an object of great interest to the class. 
 
A large glass box was provided with a cover of wire netting. 
 In the box was three inches of soil. In one corner a mass of 
 clover and thistles to tempt the butterflies and bees. In another 
 a grassy nook to console the cricket, the grasshopper, and other 
 insects which should be brought in. Then there was a milkweed 
 stalk with milkweed caterpillars, and their chrysalides, cabbage 
 leaves and their caterpillars, and we did want a tree toad; perhaps 
 we will find one next year. These little companions were able to 
 give us many lessons in nature study during our hours in-door s. 
 The grasshopper and the cricket sang for us, and it was worth 
 much patient watching to discover where they kept their musical 
 instruments and how they played them, and it seemed so funny 
 that the cricket could hear with its legs. How jolly the grass- 
 hopper looked rubbing his leg like a fiddle-bow up and down 
 along the edge of his wing. Another grasshopper's music was 
 produced by rubbing the fore-wings together, and a third one's by 
 rubbing together the upper surface of the front edge of the hind 
 wings and the under surface of the fore wings. 
 
 What fine jumpers they were too. But when we looked at the 
 long hind legs and the large muscular thighs we understood how 
 that could be. Then at the end of the thigh were two strong 
 hooks with which he pushed against the support on which he was 
 resting, and away he went over our heads just as we thought we 
 surely had him. And when he jumps away he is not easy to find 
 for he looks so much like his surroundings. If he lives in the 
 dusty roads he is dust colored, if in the grass, green. By the way, 
 with how many insects and little creatures can we notice this 
 protective coloring? Then too those big round eyes are on the 
 look-out, and 'twould be hard to surprise him. We notice that 
 he has four wings, two for covers and two for flying. The flying 
 wings are folded up like fans. Then by watching him eat we see 
 what a greedy little eater the grasshopper is and what peculiar 
 mouth-parts he has. We find a story about grasshoppers and 
 learn that they like to lay their eggs in dry, hot places, in the fall. 
 The eggs stay in the ground all winter, but in the warm spring 
 days, tiny grasshoppers, comical little fellows, come out of the 
 eggs and soon work their way out of the ground and begin to eat 
 the first green things they find. They eat and eat until they are 
 so big that their coats are too small for them. They are lucky 
 
fellows and do not need to buy or make new ones, because new 
 coats grow on them 'while the old one gets too small. The old 
 one splits down the back and the young grasshopper steps out of 
 it. He may have five new coats before he is a grown grasshopper. 
 The first and second coats have no wings, but the third and fourth 
 ones have small wings, and the fifth coat .makes him look just like 
 his parents. The truth of this was nicely verified by the children 
 themselves. One found the empty, deserted skin and brought it 
 to class, while another brought a queer looking object which 
 proved to be a grasshopper just throwing off his old garment. 
 There was the split in the back and he had partly escaped with 
 his fine new coat but for some reason did not live to enjoy it. 
 "W-e found a tomato worm, so near the color of the plant upon 
 which it was feeding, it took sharp eyes to discover it. This we 
 kept in a can and fed tomato leaves until 'one day when the can 
 was opened we saw no green worm but only a round brown object 
 with a queer little handle and we called it our little brown jug, 
 until we learned the name chrysalis for it. 
 
 The Monarch larva is very satisfactory for study. It deposits 
 -tiny eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves from first of June 
 until last of September, which hatch in four or five days; as a 
 caterpillar it moults four times; as chrysalis, sleeps in green and. 
 gold castle for week or ten days, then emerges, a Monarch among 
 butterflies, all in the space of three weeks. 
 
 For the Promethea, Cecropia, and Luna moths the cocoons 
 may be gathered in the fall and early winter to be kept for spring 
 and summer resurrection. Or better still gather the caterpillar in 
 September and October, and watch them as they spin the cocoon. 
 
 We found that some very beautiful flowers had been waiting 
 until fall to bloom for us. Every one learned to appreciate and 
 love the thistle, goldenrod, and aster. Bouquets were brought 
 into the school Joom and on all of our excursions "treasures" 
 were eagerly sought and brought in: All* kinds of seeds — from 
 flowers, weeds, vegetables, and trees; all kinds .of ,nuts and -fruits, 
 vacated birds' nests, etc. , for.everything assumes a value to the child 
 eyes. By the beginning .of November we had found that almost 
 everything ready was not only ior winter, but ready for spring, as 
 well, and only needed a resting time to begin its work anew. 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 "By November we had noticed frequent frosts and even snow, 
 the cold north wind blew, most of the summer birds had left us, 
 the trees were nearly bare, insects and caterpillars were seldom 
 seen, the squirrels had stored away their winter supply of nuts, 
 the bees their honey, and should we be less provident than all 
 these? The garden which was planted and cared for in the spring 
 had been visited many times since school began and all had looked 
 forward to the "gathering in." So, early in the month a harvest 
 day was appointed. We went out with peck measures and bushel 
 baskets and boxes. Onions, potatoes, turnips and beets were 
 stored away in the cellar. Corn was husked and fodder cut, 
 wheat, lettuce, radish and flower seeds gathered and put away for 
 next year's planting. Then in the following lessons we came to 
 realize that all of these plants had been busy storing up food by 
 which they might preserve life, some in the roots others in the 
 seeds. Some below ground, some above. By the use of iodine 
 we found what ones contain most starch; and because we need the 
 same kind of food that some of these plants have stored away we 
 use them during the winter to preserve our own life. We visited 
 the farmer and saw the preparation he was making 'for winter. 
 Not only himself and family must be cared for but his cattle and 
 horses, pigs and poultry. So- while apples and potatoes and 
 vegetables were being stored in the cellar, corn and wheat and 
 oats were being stored in the barn, where the hay had already 
 been stored. 
 
 The many seeds which were collected during our rambles in 
 the fall were taken down, and >made the basis of many interesting 
 lessons. We would never have believed that seeds could assume 
 so varied and curious forms. Some like to live alone and we find 
 only one in such seed vessels — others have two, others three, and 
 others four, while still others have very many. These seed vessels 
 appear in many different forms, as chaff, husk, pod, shell, flesh, 
 rind or burrs. Many seeds are furnished with wings which help 
 the wind to take them on long journeys. Many have sails which 
 help them to take long rides on the water. Others with hooks, 
 steal rides — on our clothing, on the dog's coat or the sheep's wool. 
 While many have such a delicious covering hungry boys and girls 
 
eat the flesh and not caring for the hard, tasteless seed, throw it 
 to the ground where it finds a resting place, and in time may 
 waken into life. And right here is a good time for emphasizing 
 the interdependence of all things; the plant upon seed for 
 continuance of life, man upon seed for food, and seed upon man, 
 wind, water and animals for distribution, birds upon ceeds for 
 food and man upon birds for destruction of undesirable weeds 
 and insects. Fowls upon seed and man upon fowls. Animals 
 upon seed and man upon animals. Some seeds are used by man 
 for food; as nuts, grains etc., and these are mostly of a dull 
 color with hard or tough covering. Many seed coverings are 
 used for food as, pumpkins and fruits, and these are usually con- 
 spicuous by bright coloring, delicious taste or fragrant odor. 
 The weeds also bear many seeds. What eats them? Do all 
 plants die when the seeds have been formed, and how do 
 others prepare for winter? In some cases entire plant dies — corn, 
 beans, etc. In others the top dies — grass, asparagus. In others 
 plant lives through season to die the second, after bearing seed — 
 burdock. With others the entire plant lives — tree. 
 
 The children planted wheat, saw it grow and we had heads of 
 the grain, and brought in the wheat flour, pictures of the threshing 
 machine and mill, and from these the children constructed the 
 history of the wheat from the time it was | 'lanted until it was 
 made into bread. 
 
 The stalk of the wheat is very tall and -slender, yet it- does not 
 break as the wind bends it over, because there is a flinty earth in 
 it which makes it so strong. 
 
 It is this flint in different kinds of straw that fits them to be 
 used in making hats and bonnets. The straw would not be firm 
 enough if there was no flint, yet we can neither see nor feel the 
 flint. It also makes the ashes of the straw useful in polishing 
 marble. 
 
 And now we were ready to prepare our Thanksgiving dinner. 
 The children were eager to have it consist largely of roots, stems, 
 seeds and fruits, and, although we could not dispense with the 
 turkey, we were reminded that it had had to have an extra' supply 
 of corn and grain. But we wanted to know about the first Thanks- 
 giving, and so during the month we learned of the queer little coun- 
 try of Holland with its dikes and windmills, and of the life of the 
 
13 
 
 brave people in Holland; of the people in England who went 
 there to find a home and then came to America where they built 
 them homes from the forest. What their food was during the 
 first winter and spring and then of their first harvest and Thanks- 
 giving djiy. 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 The month of December has less school days, and is so filled with 
 Christmas preparation and excitement that we naturally choose 
 only those subjects which are related to Christmas. 
 
 In the study of sheep the children come to love the little ani- 
 mals with the mild eyes and the docile ways, that give us wool for 
 our warm winter clothing. The lonely life of the shepherd, who 
 stays upon the mountain for months, with no other companions 
 than his dogs and sheep, and the tender care he takes of his 
 charges, often going over rough and steep places, his shepherd's 
 crook in his hand; the story of the shepherd boy who lived long, 
 long ago, spending so much time in the grassy meadows and by 
 the still waters, and making music upon the harp, all of this in- 
 terests the child and helps him to appreciate at Christmas time the 
 fact that it was the shepherds who heard the wonderful song at that 
 first Christmas time. 
 
 Then, if we want to use the story of the three wise men, as given 
 so beautifully in Ben Hur, we will have a lesson about that curious 
 animal, the camel, and the -desert across which he travels and for 
 which he is fitted by his specially constructed stomach and feet. 
 
 When the holly and mistletoe come for the Christmas decora- 
 tions, we want to know something about them, and so we learn 
 that the holly is an evergreen shrub, and that this was sent us 
 from Maryland or Delaware, where the shrub grows to be a tree. 
 The wood is fine-grained and white. The leaves and fruit are 
 used by man as medicine. The fruit furnishes food for birds. 
 When we use the holly and mistletoe for decoration we are follow- 
 ing custom of Romans and ancient Druids. Hundreds of years 
 ago, during the feast of Saturnalia, the-old Romans hung>boughs 
 upon the walls of their homes. . Hundreds of years ago, too, the 
 heathen priests over in England, who were called Druids and" 
 lived alone in the sacred groves of oak, offered their sacrificesin 
 these groves, and somehow, we don't know just how, the mistletoe 
 
i-4* 
 
 was used. Now all 1 that is left of the old I)Vuid' rites is the custom' 
 of trimming with Christmas- greens: The mistletoe- is' a parasitic 
 plant, striking its roots into- the- baric of apple of other trees^ to» 
 which the seed> has? been carried. This is sent us- fron* Cfe©i?g*ia> 
 and other southern states. • 
 
 We wished to study "Christmas trees," and the children listened 
 with eager interest to the story- of the woman who, long ago, ran 
 with her tiwo children to aa. evergreen thicket and" hid fromi the: In- 
 dians wh©' had come ta the settlement, and were: setting fire to, the 
 homes. From her place of hiding she saw the Indians, pass scr 
 near that she could hear their voices, but they passed cm, and she 
 was safe among the" evergreens. And then the children explored 
 our own fields, in search of evergreens in which other mothers may 
 now hide in time of danger.,, in which many a bird and timid ra/bbit 
 does' hide, from, its enemies*. And they were interested, too? ire 
 finding that all evergreen trees do not grow alike, nor are their 
 leaves and bark alike. They became so- much interested in ever- 
 green trees, an excursion to at forest of evergreens was begun with 
 great delight. As we rode along nothing escaped the notice of 
 the keen eyes; all evergreen trees were eagerly pointed out, with: 
 the exclamations:: "Oh, there's an evergreen tree!" "Look! I 
 see an evergreen!" Sometimes wepassed more closely, and other 
 exelamatioas-: "Look! are those cedar trees!" "Oh, see! there 
 are tall evergreens-, but they are mot arlikes The little branches 
 are drooping on- this one. And, oh! look at all; those cones on it!" 
 "Yes, this is a Norway Spruce,. the other a Balsam Fir." "Why;!' 
 there's: a grave-yard, and there are a 1 lot of evergeeen trees in it!" 
 "People are very fond of planting evergreens to mark the place- 
 where their friend's lie buried." As we came near the forest of 
 evergreens-, one little fellow^ exclaimed: "Oh!, what a fiiie place to 
 play hide and seek!" Another shouted, "Isn't that a funny trunk! 
 So straight and tall and such a funny color. " Then as we entered 
 the forest and passed along, the winding driveway their excitement 
 knew no bounds. Never before were the little learners so eager 
 to know the name of this tree and that tree, nor had they ever 
 before so much admired the beauty of the somber trees, nor noted 
 the difference in form,, size and color. It was indeed a happy, 
 thoughtful company of children who began their wanderings, among 
 the trees. 
 
i5 
 
 Matty a little notebook-' was placed against the trunk of a tree 
 while some note- of? discovery was written* t»heuein. 
 
 And* what fun- it was- to gather- the- cones, for all the world as if' 
 tfee* children* were squirrel's laying 1 ; in their winter store of* seeds. 
 Many times" was heard- the exclamation:- "Oh, I wonder if our 
 Christmas tree is growing here!" The tall, straight trees with 
 high- arrd pointed' tops; like a church steeplfe, were the white pine. 
 They were of such a delicate green color and their long, silky nee- 
 dles growing in bunches of five, hung so gracefully that we dfe* 
 dared the white pine to be the most beautiful' of all the trees. Its 
 cones, lying utrdter-the trees- in- such large numbers; were large and' 
 coarse. They were already open, and we could find only a few 
 seed's whose wings had not carried thein- arway to a good resting 
 place, or had- not been found! by little red squirrel in search of 
 dainty meals. 
 
 If we were to go to some of. the northern states we would see 
 large forests, of" this white, pine. Its wood is white, and as. it is 
 easily cut it is said to be soft wood. Furniture, shingles, lath 
 and boards are made of it. 
 
 The other pine trees have coarser needles, and the ; dwarf moun- 
 tain pine has short needles, growing in pairs, as on most kinds of 
 pine.; but if we could, find a pitch pine we should see them grow- 
 ing in threes. Although the pinq trees are always green,, cjd leaves 
 or needles fall ofi while new ones are growing out, The new Leaves 
 never grow where the old ones have been, and wherever old nee- 
 dles have fallen away we can see a scar. 
 
 In pines and kindred trees the needles are two. or three years 
 old when they fall; on the Norway spruce we sometimes find, leaves 
 six or seven years, old. 
 
 The. different seasons' growth is not; indicated by distinct 
 "rings," as in case of deciduous trees,, but by the branching, Each 
 whorl of branches about a limb represents the end of a, season's, 
 growth. 
 
 Some pines have much resin and so make good fuel, for .burning. 
 
 The sap of others makes turpentine. The pines also give us 
 tar and pitch, that is used &n ropes an<} iron, and on ships and 
 roofs. 
 
 Fishemsnen make ropes of the inner bark and Laplanders- dry 
 and! grind; the baisk to make into bread. 
 
i6 
 
 The Spruce is a cousin of the Pines. The large tree with 
 drooping branches was the Norway Spruce. Its leaves are short, 
 sharp and four-sided needles, growing all around the branches. 
 The cones which we found under them are heavier and finer than 
 the pine cones. The tall, straight trunks of the Spruce are made 
 into masts of ships. 
 
 Somewhat like the Spruce tree is the Hemlock. The Hem- 
 lock trees with their fine and delicate needles and tiny cones, were 
 quite small. 
 
 From the leaves and fruit of the Hemlock medicine is made. 
 The bark is ground and from it is made tannin, with which skins 
 are made into leather. 
 
 Another cousin of the pine is the Fir tree, whose short needles 
 are flat and blunt, growing on opposite sides of the branches. 
 When Hiawatha made his canoe, he went to the Fir tree for bal- 
 sam and resin to close the seams together. He went to the Cedar 
 tree for branches with which to make the frame of the canoe. We 
 found two kinds of Cedar trees: the red and the white, or arbor 
 vitae. Their leaves are not needles, but are branched, and very 
 beautiful. On the red cedars we found many dark berries. Will 
 some one And them and make hearty meals from them in the cold 
 days? 
 
 The Larch trees were bare, save for the many little cones 
 still clinging to the branches, for the Larch loses its needles in the 
 winter. The wasps must have found the Larch a hospitable tree, 
 for we saw many of their curious homes fastened to the branches. 
 We secured a few of them to take home with us for a time when 
 we should have a lesson about the "first paper-makers." The 
 Larch's wood is hard and strong, and is used in making ships, 
 posts, railroad ties, telephone poles, etc. Some time we will learn 
 about what the straight, tall masts of ships see in their travels; 
 of the stories which the props can tell of mining affairs, and of the 
 sweet sounds of musical instruments made from these trees ; but 
 now we have no more time to spend with the evergreen trees be- 
 fore Chri'stmas. 
 
 JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 
 During the months of January and February, while out-of-door 
 life was resting, many of the lessons were" on life and objects far 
 away from us. The snow furnishes us an. interesting lesson, with 
 
17 
 
 its beautiful crystal forms, its formation, value to atmosphere and 
 soil and sleeping plants. We picture the little eskimo people 
 in the land of snow, living in snow and ice houses, driving dogs 
 and reindeer, and catching seals. Then we have a lesson on fur- 
 bearing animals; learn about a few that give their soft, silky fur to 
 keep others warm, and the method of preparing it for use. We 
 spend a day talking about the animals that are now under ground 
 sleeping soundly. How some of them, with thicker fur and much 
 Jat, lie down to sleep and awaken in the spring lean and poor, 
 with dishevelled fur. How others change their form and when 
 they awaken are new creatures, and still others quietly creep into 
 the ground and close their eyes, to awaken in the spring as if only 
 one night had passed. By actual experiment they learned what be- 
 comes of water in a shallow basin left on the radiator, and water 
 in a bottle and in a cup set outside the window when Jack Frost is 
 around. 
 
 We collect pebbles on one of the pleasant days and are inter- 
 ested in knowing that they were once part of a large rock, and en- 
 joy the story of the great rock by the side of the stream of water. 
 It saw children come to its banks to play, and knew they lived 
 somewhere back on the hill in a beautiful house. And it kept 
 wishing that it could leave its home where it had stood so many 
 years and go to the house. The wind and the rain listened to its 
 wish, and said: "We will help you." Then the wind blew and 
 blew, the rain beat against it, and after many years it was able to 
 send a few drops down into the hard rock; then the frost said; 
 "I'll help," and he made the drops; of water into little icy fingers 
 that pushed and pushed, and finally pushed a little corner off the 
 rock. This fell into the brook and the water carried it down the 
 stream a little way, and one day the children playing on the bank 
 saw it, and said, ' 'Oh, what a. pretty pebble ! We must have it;" 
 and took it home to the house on the hill. 
 
 Then we visited ship-yards', where larch and pine trees help to 
 make the "ships. And after fitting put one of the ships with the 
 necessary coal and provisions, we took a trip across the ocean, 
 passed islands which were of volcanic origin; a high rock on 
 which stood a lighthouse, and had a delightful visit with the lone 
 keeper of the light; saw many large and wonderful sea animals, 
 also many small and delicately fashioned ones. The sponge, the 
 
i8 
 
 starfish, the molluscs and the nautilus all proved very interesting. 
 After listening to the story of the chambered nautilus, and while 
 looking at a sea shell of lovely tints one little girl said: "Oh, I wish 
 a fairy would come and make me into a nautilus so I could know 
 how to make such a pretty shell." Afterwards a little fellow saw a 
 mollusc shell similar to one we had looked at in class and he 
 exclaimed: "O look there's the lid to the shell you had!" 
 
 Jordan's story of a salmon furnished us several delightful 
 lessons. We pictured the Cowlitz River flowing down the sides 
 of Mt. Tacoma, and receiving the melting snows of the mountain. 
 On its bottom not many years ago, there lay half buried in the 
 sand a number of little orange-colored globules, each about as 
 large as a pea. These were not much in themselves but great in 
 their possibilities. In the waters above them little suckers and 
 chubs and prickly sculpins strained their mouths to draw these 
 globules from the sand, but one at least escaped all harm. The 
 sun shone down on it through the clear water, and in it at last 
 awoke a living being. It was a fish, a curious little fellow, not 
 half an inch long, with great, staring eyes, which made almost 
 half his length. He was a little salmon, a very little salmon, but 
 the water was good, and there were flies and worms and little 
 living creatures in abundance for him to eat, and he soon became 
 a larger salmon. There were many more, little salmon with him, 
 some larger and some smaller, and they all had a merry time. 
 
 By and by they began to grow restless, and all started down 
 the stream, salmon fashion, — which fashion is to get into the 
 current, head up-stream, and thus to drift backward as the river 
 sweeps along. 
 
 Down the Cowlitz river the salmon went for a day and a night. 
 At last they began to grow hungry, and coming near the shore, 
 they saw an angle-worm of rare size and beauty. Quick as 
 thought one of them opened his mouth, which was well filled with 
 teeth of different sizes, and put it around the angle-worm. Quicker 
 still he felt a sharp pain in his gills, followed by a smothering 
 sensation, and in an instant his comrades saw him rise straight 
 into the air. He never came back and the others went on their 
 course wondering. 
 
 At last they came to where the Cowlitz and Columbia join, and 
 
19 
 
 they were almost lost for a time, for they could find no shores, 
 and the bottom and the top of the water were so far apart. 
 
 By and by the water began to change. It grew denser, and 
 no longer flowed rapidly along; and twice a day it used to turn 
 about and flow the other way. Then the shores disappeared, and 
 the Water began to have a different and peculiar flavor, — a flavor 
 which seemed to the salmon much richer and more inspiring than 
 the glacier water of their native Cowlitz. There were many curi- 
 ous things to see, crabs with hard shells and savage faces, but so 
 good when crushed and swallowed! There Were great companies 
 of delicate sardines and herring, green and silvery, and it was 
 such fun to chase and capture them. 
 
 Thus the salmon chased the herrings about, and had a merry 
 time. Then they were chased about in turn by great sea-lions. 
 
 So it went on for three long years; and at the end of this time 
 our little fish had grown to be a great, fine salmon of twenty-two 
 pounds weight, shining like a new tin pan, and with rows of the 
 loveliest round black spots on his head and back and tail. One 
 day as he was swimming about, all of a sudden the salmon noticed 
 a change in the water around him. 
 
 Spring had come again, the cold snow waters ran down from 
 the mountains and into the Columbia River, and made a freshet 
 in the river. The high water went far out into the sea, and out 
 in the sea our salmon felt it on his gills. He remembered how 
 the cold water use to feel in the Cowlitz when he was a little fish. 
 In a blundering fishy fashion he thought about it; he wondered 
 whether the little eddy looked as it used to look. 
 
 Then he did what every grown salmon in the ocean does when 
 he feels the glacier-water once more upon his gills, He became a 
 changed being. He turned his course straight toward the direc- 
 tion whence the cold water came, and for the rest of his life never 
 tasted a mouthful of food. He moved on toward the river-mouth, 
 at first playfully, but when he struck the full current of the Colum- 
 bia, he plunged straight forward with an unflinching determination 
 that had in it something of the heroic. When he had passed the 
 rough water at the bar, he was not alone. His old neighbors of 
 the Cowlitz and many more were with him. In front were 
 thousands pressing on, and behind them were thousands more, 
 
all moved by a common impulse which urged them up the 
 Columbia. 
 
 They were all swimming bravely "along where the current was 
 deepest, when suddenly the foremost felt something tickling like a 
 cobweb about their noses and under their chins. They changed 
 their course a little to brush it off, and it. touched their fins as 
 well. Then they tried to slip down with the current, and thus 
 leave it behind. But no! the thing, whatever it was, refused to let 
 go, and held them like a fetter. The more they struggled, the 
 tighter became its grasp, and the whole foremost rank of the 
 salmon felt it together, for it was a great gill-net, a quarter of a 
 mile long, stretched squarely across the mouth of the river. 
 
 "By and by men came in boats, and hauled up the gill-net and 
 the helpless salmon that had become entangled in it. They threw 
 the fishes into a pile m the bottom of the boat, and the others saw 
 them no more. We that live outside the water know better what 
 befalls them, and we can tell the story which the salmon could 
 not. 
 
 All along the banks of the Columbia River, from the mouth to 
 nearly thirty miles away, there is a succession of large buildings, 
 looking like great barns or warehouses, built on piles in the river. 
 There are thirty of these buildings and they are called canneries. 
 Each cannery has about forty boats, and with each boat are two 
 men and a long gill net. These nets fill the whole river as with a 
 nest of cobwebs from April to July, and to each cannery nearly a 
 thousand great salmon are brought every day. The salmon are 
 thrown in a pile on the floor; and Wing Hop, the big chinaman, 
 takes them one after another on the table, and with a great knife 
 cuts off the head, the tail, and the fins; then with a sudden thrust 
 removes the intestines and the eggs. The, body goes into a tank 
 of water, and the head is dropped into a box on a flat-boat, and 
 goes down the river to be made into salmon oil. Next, the body 
 is brought to another table, and Quong Sang cuts it into pieces 
 each just as long as a one pound can. Tnen Ah Sam cuts these 
 pieces into strips just as wide as the can. Next Wan Lee, the 
 "China Boy," brings down a hundred cans from the loft where the 
 tinners are making them, and into each can puts a spoonful of salt. 
 It takes just six salmon to fill one hundred cans. Then twenty 
 chinamen put the pieces of meat into the cans, making them 
 
21 
 
 exactly full. Ten more solder up the cans,, ten more put the cans 
 into boiling water till the meat is thoroughly cooked, and five 
 more punch. a little hole in the head of each can to let out the air. 
 Then they solder them up again, and little girls paste on them 
 bright-colored labels. Then the cans are placed in cases, forty- 
 eight in a case, and five hundred thousand cases are put up every 
 year. Great ships come to Astoria, and are loaded with them; and 
 they carry them away to London and San Francisco and Liverpool 
 and New York; and the man at the grocery store sells them at 
 twenty cents a can. 
 
 All this time our salmon is going up the river, eluding the nets 
 as by a miracle, and escaping death in other ways; and with him 
 came one other, and henceforth these two pursued their journey 
 together. 
 
 Now a gradual change took place in the looks of our salmon. 
 In the sea he was plump and round and silvery, with delicate 
 teeth in a symmetrical mouth. Now his silvery color disappeared, 
 his skin grew slimy, and the scales sank into it; his back grew 
 black, and his sides turned red. He grew poor; and his back, 
 formerly as straight as need be, now developed an unpleasant 
 hump at the shoulders. His eyes became dark and sunken. His 
 symmetrical jaws grew longer and longer, and meeting each other, 
 as the nose of an old man meets his chin, each had to turn aside 
 to let the other pass. His beautiful teeth grew longer and longer, 
 and projected from his mouth, giving him a savage and wolfish 
 appearance, quite at variance with his real disposition. For all 
 desires and ambitions of his nature had become centered into one. 
 We may not know what this one was, but we know that it was a 
 strong one. With him still, was the other salmon, handsomer 
 and smaller than he, and, like him, growing poor and ragged and 
 and tired. 
 
 At last, one October afternoon, our finny travelers came to- 
 gether to a little clear brook, with a bottom of fine gravel; over 
 which the water was but a few inches deep. Our fish painfully 
 worked his way to it; for his tail was all frayed out, his muscles 
 were sore, and his skin covered with unsightly blotches: But his 
 sunken eyes saw a ripple in the stream, and under it a bed of little 
 pebbles and sand. So there in the sand he scooped out with his 
 tail a smooth, round place, and his companion came and filled it 
 
with orange-colored eggs. Then our salmon came back again, 
 and softly covering the eggs; the work of their lives was done, 
 and, in the old salmon fashion, they drifted, tail foremost, down 
 the stream. 
 
 They drifted on together for a night and. a day, but they never 
 came to the sea, for the salmon, has but one life to live, and it as- 
 cends the river but once. The rest lies with; its children; and 
 when the April sunshine fell on the globules in the gravel these 
 were wakened into life. With the early autumn rains the little 
 fish were large enough to begin their wanderings. They/dropped 
 down the current in the old salmon fashion;, and thus- they came 
 into the great river and drifted away to the sea. 
 
 The entire story had a fascination for the children^. Aftec the 
 reading of it they were delighted to see a pound can of: salmon 
 that had been purchased at the grocery store,, and that had the 
 bright colored label on it and the picture of the salmon. They 
 tasted the meat and declared salmon to be, very good. 
 
 MARCH AND APRIL 
 
 •March brings the thought of spring 1 , even though snow may be 
 on the ground, and we determined to keep our eyes and ears open 
 for the first signs of returning life. A natural history calendar was 
 prepared, on which to record our observations. On March 4., some 
 one brought, the joyful' tidings, that she had seen two robins!- That 
 was the first to go on the calendar. Either the eyes, and ears were 
 slow to see and hear or all things else are not nearly so brave as was 
 Robin Redbreast, for nothing more was recorded until March 20, 
 when pussy willows were found,, and on March 22, bluebirds and 
 meadow-larks were seen. And then every day brought to the school 
 room a class of such enthusiastic and excited children, whose 
 beaming eyes plainly said: "Oh, I've seen something, and I must 
 tell you about it right away. " The very first blossoms were discov- 
 ered. No sooner did the first cherry bloom and apple blossom 
 burst than the little boys saw it and mus,t have it recorded. The 
 bees and the butterflies had to be given a place, too, as- well as 
 the birds. By the last of April a full dozen summer birds had 
 been seen and recognized. Often some one came to class saying: 
 "I saw a bird with a white vest and a black coat with white spots, 
 and a bright red tie. What was it?" Or, <■'! saw one with a black 
 
23 
 
 dress, a white apron, with the strings tied on the back, and a red 
 cap. What was it?" 
 
 The squirrels began to build clean and cool nests of leaves, for 
 family cares would soon overtake them. "In March the red squir- 
 rels tap the maple trees for their sap by gnawing through the bark 
 on the upper sides of horizontal branches. The little cavities so 
 made quickly fill to overflowing, and, stretched out at ease, the 
 squirrels regale themselves to their satisfaction. " 
 
 During the cold andstormydays of March we invested in a farm, 
 which consisted of a jar of sand on a sand table. We fenced off the 
 house-yard, barn-yard, garden and orchard, and divided the rest 
 into fields. Then we were masons and carpenters, and put up the 
 buildings and then furnished the house With those things which 
 we had learned about. Kach one planted his favorite trees in the 
 front yard, and then we went to the house to spend a year. We 
 watched the farmer at his spring work and we looked for everything 
 in garden, orchard and woods, that is to be found in the spring. In 
 the summer we went to the grain fields, the berry patches and gar- 
 den, and to the meadow, where we helped make hay. In the fall we 
 saw all things harvested, and in the winter we enjoyed the snow and 
 ice, and the long evenings and short days. 
 
 When the willow branches began to look green and' the apple 
 orchards to show a brighter purple, we talked of the sap which 
 renews the life in the trees. Spent a day or two in sugar camp, 
 among the maples. Brought in branches from the trees and ex- 
 amined the buds to see what ones had been injured during the win- 
 ter. Watched to see on what trees the buds were first to open. On 
 some the flowers and seeds appeared first. Some buds contained 
 both leaves and flowers. 
 
 The horse chestnut tree proved a very satisfactory tree for ob- 
 servation. Changes took place so rapidly and buds, flowers and 
 fruit were large. 
 
 By the middle of April we were ready to begin our garden. 
 Last year we had a lesson preparatory to working in the garden, 
 at which time eight kinds of seed were shown the class and each 
 member given an opportunity to name them. The seeds were 
 radish, lettuce, onions, beets, peas, beans, corn and oats. The 
 majority gave a name of some kind to. every seed, but no one gave 
 the correct name to every kind. Two children recognized six of 
 
2 4 
 
 the eight; one recognized five, another four, and the rest from one 
 to four. By one lettuce seeds were said to be tea; by another rad- 
 ish seeds were thought to be potato seeds; another seeker after 
 truth put a small black seed into his mouth and said, "that's on- 
 ions;" and afterwards it was a favorite pastime to test those black 
 seeds and be sure of the onion flavor. At the end of the second 
 year the most of the class are able to recognize all of these seeds 
 as well as several other kinds. 
 
 As they began to prepare the soil they found earthworms, which, 
 they were told, had been working in the soil ploughing it for us. 
 This little animal, which cannot see or hear., or scarcely smell, feeds 
 upon the soil, swallowing it in great quantities and then ejecting it 
 in the form of "castings." Later, when £m. earthworm was found 
 one little gardener exclaimed, "Oh! you mustn't hurt that worm; 
 it helps us plough our garden." 
 
 One morning when we came to school a large moth was dis- 
 covered flying about in the terrarium. We investigated and found 
 that our "brown jug" chrysalis had a hole in it and was empty. Al- 
 though the children had said many times "That is going to make 
 a butterfly," when they saw it flying about they could scarcely be- 
 lieve that it came out of that brown covering. 
 
 A few of the larger children went with us. after school hours to a 
 pond a long distance away, where we heard the frogs singing gaily. 
 We saw one bold little fellow who let us approach near enough to 
 watch him as he filled the bladder-like sack at his throat with air, 
 making music all the time, and we were delighted to know that it 
 must be his musical instrument. Then we watched a large frog, 
 wishing that he would get about his supper so we could see 
 that tongue, which is fastened at its tip, and watch him catch a fly 
 with it. But no, he was too timid to be watched by curious people, 
 and splash he went, back into the water. We found large masses of 
 the eggs in the water, and carefully transferred a handful to the basin 
 we had with us. The next day all the children enjoyed seeing the 
 frog eggs and hearing of the visit to the frog pond. 
 
 In a few days the water was filled with little black creatures, 
 squirming around, and we knew the eggs had hatched into polli- 
 wogs. We transferred them to our aquarium, which, with its soil, 
 pebbles, little water plants and rain water, was for all the world so 
 near like the great out-door pond they never knew the difference. 
 
25 
 
 At any rate they swam around and grew very fast. Soon they 
 lost their resemblance to a tiny fish, their bodies were large and 
 round, with funny knobs on the side and with a long, slender tail. 
 One day some one made a wonderful discovery. "Oh, look here! 
 this polliwog has two legs!" Later the surprise was just as great to 
 find that two more legs had appeared, and that the polliwog was 
 a quadruped instead of a biped. The tail was much shorter than 
 formerly, and by summer the little fellow will hop saucily upon 
 a stone which stands above the water, and we will see him a full- 
 fledged though by no means a full-grown frog. Then we mustn't 
 try to confine him to our little pond, but must give him his free- 
 dom, so that he may hop about on the ground, making hearty 
 meals from flys and insects. 
 
 MAY AND JUNE 
 
 During April the children had raked the garden and made bon- 
 fires, helped prepare the soil, divided the garden into beds and 
 planted some seeds, By May we were able to work in the garden 
 almost every day. There were seeds to plant and weeds to wage 
 war against. If, for any reason, we were kept from going to the 
 garden to work, disappointment and displeasure were plainly writ- 
 ten on the faces as the gardeners came to their indoor lessons. 
 Each day's work was recorded in the note-books; the date of the 
 planting of each kind of seed; the date that .the plants first appeared 
 above ground, and the date at which they were ready for use. 
 
 Much interest was manifested in the growth of the plants, and 
 the children appreciated the help that the sun and rain gave in 
 haying a nice school garden. They learned that as soon as the 
 sun warms the earth, and the rain moistens it, the little pkint that 
 is sleeping in the seed wakens up, and being hungry, helps itself 
 to the store of food laid away in the seed. This consists of starch, 
 oils, sugar and albuminoids. This food is ready for the plant to 
 use, and it sucks it in and works itself into a young plant, with 
 tiny roots at one end and a growing shoot with leaves, at the other. 
 
 And this is the way it grows: Just as the orange has little bags 
 or cells filled with juice, so has the orange tree, and all plants as 
 well as animals, cells like these, of various shapes, filled with 
 protoplasm — the first form of life. 
 
 The little plantlet which awakens in the seed, is made up of 
 cells filled with active, living protoplasm, which' drinks the starch 
 
26 
 
 and other food from the seed-leaves. In this way each cell grows 
 too full for its skin and then the protoplasm divides into two parts 
 and builds up a wall between them, and sd one cell becomes two. 
 Each of these two cells again breaks up into two more, and so the 
 plant grows larger and larger, till by the time it has used up all the 
 food in the seed-leaves, it has sent roots, covered with fine hairs, 
 downwards into the earth, and a shoot with beginnings of leaves, 
 up into the air. Now, the plant must work for itself. Until now 
 it has been taking in the same kind of food that you and I do; for 
 we, too, find many seeds very pleasant to ekt and useful to nourish 
 us. But now this store is exhausted, and, we find that the plant 
 can do better than we, for we cannot live unless we have food 
 which has once been alive, and the plant, as soon as it has. roots 
 and leaves begins to make living matter out of matter that has 
 never been alive. Through all the little hairs of its roots it sucks 
 in water, and in this water are dissolved more or less of the salts 
 of ammonia, phosphorous, sulphur, iron, ljme, magnesia and flint. 
 
 After the plant has begun, to drink in water at its roots, how is 
 it to get this water up into the stems and leaves ? It does it in a 
 curious manner which we can prove for ourselves: First, put one 
 end of a piece of blotting paper into water and watch the moisture 
 extend up into the blotter. A piece of sugar just touching the 
 water will likewise absorb the moisture. But the entire plant is 
 made up of closed bags or cells; how will, the water get through 
 them ? Tie a piece of bladder over a glass tube, fill the tube half 
 full of treacle, and then let the covered end rest in a bottle filled 
 with water. In a few hours the water will get into the treacle and 
 the mixture will rise up in the tube till it flows over the top, And 
 this is always true: whenever two fluids, one thicker than the other, 
 are separated by a skin or any porous substance, they will always 
 mix, the thinner one oozing through the skin into the thicker one. 
 Now, the saps and juices of plants are thicker than water, so, di- 
 rectly the water enters the cells at the root it oozes up into the 
 cells above and mixes with the sap. Then the matter in those 
 cells becomes thinner than in the cells above, so it oozes up, and 
 in this way, cell by cell, the water is pumped up into the leaves. 
 
 When it gets there, it finds the sunbeams hard at work. They 
 have divided the protoplasm into two kinds. The kind near 
 the surface is changed by the sunlight and by the help of the iron 
 
27 
 
 brought in by the water, so that every little grain of this proto- 
 plasm looks green and gives the leaf its green color. This par- 
 ticular kind of protoplasm is called chlorophyll. 
 
 It is these little green cells, that, by the help of the sun-waves, 
 digest the food of the plant and turn the water and gases into 
 useful sap and juices. They take in or absorb out of the air the 
 carbon dioxide which we have given out of our mouths, from our 
 lungs, and then, by the help of the sun-waves they tear the oxygen 
 away. Most of the oxygen they throw back into the air for us to 
 use, but the carbon they keep. 
 
 We can prove this for ourselves by taking fresh laurel-leaves 
 and putting them into a tumbler of water turned upside down into 
 a saucer of water, and setting the tumbler in the sunshine. Soon 
 little bright bubbles rise up and cling to the glass. They are bub- 
 bles of oxygen gas, set free by the green cells, which tore from 
 them the carbon of the carbon dioxide in the water. Now the car- 
 bon in the leaves meets the water which crept in at the roots and 
 has reached the leaves, and by the help of the sun-waves they are 
 worked up into starch, or sugar, or oils, for these substances are 
 nothing more than hydrogen and oxygen in different quantities, 
 joined to carbon. 
 
 We know that a diamond is pure carbon; that coal is chiefly 
 carbon, and that the lead in our pencils is carbon, and it is hard 
 to picture it as making a part of delicate leaves and beautiful 
 flowers, and even white sugar. And so we are interested in an ex- 
 periment by which we draw the hydrogen and oxygen out of com- 
 mon loaf sugar, leaving only the carbon. Pour upon the sugar 
 some hot water to melt and warm it, and then some strong sul- 
 phuric acid. This acid does nothing more than simply draw the 
 hydrogen and oxygen out. In a few moments a black mass of 
 carbon begins to rise, all of which has come out of the white sugar 
 we saw just now. 
 
 Then the plant secures nitrogen from the ammonia which was 
 contained in the water, and this uniting .with the carbon, oxygen 
 and hydrogen, makes the albuminoids, which form a large part of 
 the food of the plant, and it is these albuminoids which go to make 
 protoplasm. While the starch and other substances are made of 
 three elements, the active protoplasm is made of these three added 
 to a fourth, nitrogen, and also contains phosphorous and sulphur. 
 
28 
 
 And so, hour after hour and day after day our plants go on 
 pumping up water and ammonia from its roots to its leaves, drink- 
 ing in carbon dioxide from the air, and using the sun-waves to 
 work them all up into food to be sent to n\\ parts of its body. In 
 this way these leaves act, you see, as the stomach of the plant and 
 digest its food. 
 
 Plants which live only one year, such as lettuce and the pea, 
 take in just enough food to supply their daily wants and to make 
 the seeds. Then, as soon as their seeds are ripe their roots begin 
 to shrivel, and water is no longer carried up. The green cells can 
 no longer get food to digest, and they, themselves, are broken up 
 by the sunbeams and turn yellow, and the plant dies. 
 
 But many plants are more industrious than the pea and lettuce, 
 and lay by store for another year. The potato is one of these. All 
 summer the starch and albuminoids which the plant could spare 
 were sent down to the underground stem and stored up there, to 
 lie quietly in the cellar through the long winter, and then, when 
 the warm spring came, we put it in the ground and it sent out 
 leaves for a new plant. 
 
 -A beet, turnip and parsnip were planted in order to see them 
 produce seed. 
 
 In the school-room seeds were planted in different boxes. One 
 was kept in the dark, one was given water, and the other not. In 
 this way could be observed the effect of light and moisture. 
 
 May 20th, some one made the joyful discovery that a few 
 radishes were sufficiently large to eat. Enough were found to test 
 the excellence of the variety. A week later ten dozen were gath- 
 ered and sent as "treats" to the different school rooms. The yield 
 was good and many dining tables were graced with radishes from 
 the school garden. The largest number gathered in one day was 
 tweDty-two dozen. As time passed many regretted that they had 
 not planted radishes in their beds, and resolved that "next year' - 
 they would select radishes to care for. 
 
 But on June sixth a large amount of lettuce was picked and 
 sent to the dining rooms. A few days later, some more, and the 
 lettuce crop was recognized as very good. One day peas were 
 gathered and sent to the kitchen, on another, beans; and just 
 before the close of school several dozen beets were gathered. 
 
 It was such a pleasure to note the rapid growth of the plants, 
 
29 
 
 and. th& children's desire to keep the garden free fromi weeds was 
 so great that the interest, and enthusiasm didn't lessen at all as the 
 weeks went by and we worked day after day with our hoes and 
 rakes. Indeed all regretted to have the time come when we could 
 no. longer work in. the garden, hut we anticipated with pleasure the 
 return, in. the, fall. when, we could reap the harvest. We. wondered 
 if we would have cotton, and flax, to make into cloth,, and we won- 
 dered ii aur peanuts would be. ready for us to roast and. eat. 
 What. a. pleasure, it had been to watch the; peanuts and the. cotton 
 as they first, pushed their way through the soil. We. had planted 
 the aeeds scarcely believing that we could raise peanuts andlcotton, 
 but there the. plants: were, pushing, their way up. as independently 
 as could be and developing into strong heaLthy plants. And they 
 Bad heen our special, pride and delight, although nothing else was 
 slighted. 
 
 As a diversion from the garden we often walked, for a short 
 time, among the trees and noted the changes that were taking 
 place in them; made excursions into the grove where the brilliant 
 orioles greeted us, and sometimes we would have a. picnic, taking 
 for our- lunch, bread and butter and radishes. 
 
 There were flowers in the garden too, but because they were 
 smaller and of slower growth, and" also -occupied only a small 
 space, they received' less attention, but nevertheless furnished 
 much pleasure when we were able to gather bouquets for the 
 school-rooms. 
 
 .They also suggested to us the study of bees, for flowers and 
 bees belong together. Bees get their food from the flowers, and 
 the flowers need" the bees to enable them to form their seeds. 
 
 The bees can see the bright colors of the flowers a long way 
 off! They can also smell them, for flowers are generally fra- 
 grant. 
 
 Flowers make a sweet juice, on purpose to feed bees and other 
 insects. We call this sweet juice nectar, and the bees take it 
 home and make, honey of it. 
 
 Nearly all flowers, have a yellew- or brown dust, called, pollen. 
 It grows in little, boxes called anthers.; and: when the anthers are 
 rips, they burst open and let out the pollen; 
 
 In the center of the flower is another pari that Looks a. little like 
 
3° 
 
 an anther; its stem is long, and at the end is a sticky knob called 
 the stigma, but it is not filled with pollen. 
 
 When it gets ripe it gets sticky. If any pollen touches it, the 
 pollen sticks fast. 
 
 At the other end of the pistil, opposite! the stigma, is- another 
 knob. This knob is hollow. It is a seed : cup and is filled with 
 seeds. The seeds cannot grow without pollen. 
 
 .If the pollen gets on the stigma all goes well. It finds its way 
 down through the long stem to the little seeds. It nourishes them, 
 and tbey grow. But if the pollen does not come, the seeds die. 
 
 .Flowers do not like their own pollen. One lily prefers the 
 pollen from another lily, and the hairy-coated bees help by taking 
 it from flower to flower. 
 
 This is why the flower makes nectar, to coax the bees to come. 
 
 When the bees go down to the bottom of the flower after nectar, 
 they get their coats dusty with pollen. Then they fly to another 
 flower, and some of the pollen on their coats is rubbed against 'the 
 stigma and stuck fast there. 
 
 The nectar is always placed so that the bees have to touch the 
 anthers and the stigma of the flower on their way to the feast. 
 
 When insects carry pollen to the stigmas we say they fertilize 
 the flowers. Unless a flower is fertilized, it will bear no seed. 
 
 The three chief parts of a bee, are the head, the thorax, and 
 the abdomen. 
 
 The head bears the antennae, tongue, and eyes. 
 
 The thorax has attached to it the wings and the legs. In the 
 abdomen are the sting and the honey-sac. 
 
 Such great eyes as stare at us as we look the bee full in the 
 face! No wonder she can see a bright flower a long way off. Her 
 head really looks as if it were nearly all eyes — for two" large ones 
 cover the sides and in the space between th'em, right on top of her 
 head, are three small ones. 
 
 Nor is this all. Each of her two large eyes are made up of 
 about six thousand three hundred very small ones. 
 
 Whoever goes as far as the honey-bee hi search of flowers 
 needs good eyes that can see a long distance. She has been 
 known to fly four or five miles in search of flowers; -althoughas a 
 rule she goes only half- a mile or so. > , 
 
 The honey-bee has no eyelids, even though she possess so 
 
3i 
 
 many eyes. No, indeed! she has eyehairs instead, that point 
 outward and do not prevent her seeing, but keep dust and pollen 
 from getting into her eyes. 
 
 The honey-bee's tongue is almost as queer as her eyes. It is a 
 long tongue, and a strong tongue, and curls about, lapping up the 
 sweetness, as we can see for ourselves, if we catch her and give 
 her a drop of honey. 
 
 -But all of a sudden, when she is through eating, we cannot see 
 her tongue at all, and we did'nt see what she did with it. We 
 will watch more closely next time and try to see her pull it up as 
 short as possible, and then-fold it back into a nice little groove 
 under her head. 
 
 What becomes of the nectar that is gathered with this hairy 
 tongue? The bee swallows it and it passes into a little honey-sac 
 which is not as large as a sweet-pea pod, and which is so delicate 
 it looks like a little soap-bubble. 
 
 The honey-sac is in the big end of the abdomen, and holds 
 less than a drop of the nectar. 
 
 Some of the honey passes on into the true stomach of the bee, 
 which is just beyond the honey-sac, and is digested; but the most 
 of it is carried to the hive in the honey-sac. 
 
 When the bee gets to the hive, she makes the muscles of her 
 honey-sac squeeze the honey into her mouth, and she then puts it 
 into the honey-comb. 
 
 The bee swallows nectar, but when we take honey from the 
 honey-comb it has undergone a change, and is no longer nectar 
 but honey. In some way the nectar has been changed and made 
 into honey. 
 
 The honey-bee not only eats all she wants when she visits the 
 flowers, but she mixes nectar and pollen together and carries if 
 away with her. 
 
 She is able to do this, as she always carries baskets on pur- 
 pose; she never forgets them, for they are fastened to her 
 legs. The outside of the fourth joint of each hind leg is hollowed 
 a little, and along the outer edge of this' hollow space are stiff 
 hairs that turn towards the middle and make a very complete little 
 basket to hold the pollen that is put into it. 
 
 When the bee wants pollen she wriggles about in the flowers, 
 scraping out the pollen with her feet and collecting it on her 
 
3,2 
 
 branched hairs. Then she carefully brushes, it together, and by 
 means of. her legs, transfers it to her: pollen haskets. 
 
 All her legs have brushes, and when she.' is pollen gathering' we 
 can. see hen dusting every part oi her body with, these brushes. 
 
 There is nothing neater than a bee, and she is- forever cleaning' 
 herself. If* we wet hep a little, then dust her lightly with flour 
 and put her on the window, we can watch her: perform her* toilet 
 
 She. generally cleans her antennae and combs her head' and 
 eyes first. She turns her head about, using' first, one front leg and 
 then the other, until she has it- as clean, as a. bee's head ought to 
 be. She generally puts out; her tongue- and gives that a gaodiroib- 
 bing, too. 
 
 She usually' cleans her: back with her middle legs- and: her' ab- 
 domen, with her hind legs. When she flies, she. hooks the upper; 
 large wing, and the- lower small one. together,, so that the air may 
 not get between them and spoil her flight. 
 
 The bee has neither ears nor nose, arid yet' she can hear and 
 she can smell. This she is enabled to do by her antennae. She 
 has thousands of' "hearing spots'" and 1 thousands of "smell-hol- 
 lows'' on the short joints - of her antennae. 
 
 The bee's life depends upon her antennae. By means of them 
 she hears, smells, discovers the nature of objects about her, and 
 communicates with her fellow-bees. 
 
 The bee has a very reliable, weapon, her sting, and we do. not 
 wish it used on us, although we would like to know all about it. 
 It is a sort of. a sheath with a groove running its whole length,, 
 and fitted into the groove are two lances, which can move up and 
 down in the groove. If the. bee were to sting us she would, drive 
 the sharp point of her sheath into us,, then one after, the other the 
 lances, each with ten strong barbs. A jet of poison, is pumped 
 down the hollow sting from a poison bag in her body, and is forced 
 into the wound through an opening in the five lower. barhs. on each 
 lance. This is why a bee's, sting is. so painful, and why; we take 
 such care not to gjve her an opportunity to sting, us. If she does 
 sting us we know she will never do it again, for with the. loss- of 
 her sting the bee dies. 
 
 The: hee has many thousands of sisters, who gather honeys and 
 work at home just as she does, and these. are called the worker; bees. 
 
33 
 
 They have brothers who are fine gentlemen and never gather 
 honey nor work in the hive. They are drones. 
 
 The drones are handsome fellows, somewhat larger than their 
 little worker sisters. They have no honey-sac, no pollen baskets, 
 no sting arid no serviceable nectar -.gathering tongue, and so it is 
 not their fault that they do not work. 
 
 The mother of this family of brothers and sisters is called the 
 queen-bee. She is a great worker although she has no honey-sac 
 and no pollen baskets. Her wings are also small and hear tongue 
 very short. She has a sting, but as it is very precious she seldom 
 uses it. 
 
 There is only one queen in a hive, and she very seldom flies 
 abroad. Her chief occupation is to lay eggs for the whole colony. 
 Her sting is her .ovipositor ar egg-placer, and this is why she is so 
 careful about using it for a sting. The queen lives four or five 
 years, while the workers live only a few months* 
 
 The workers take care of the queen and feed her with specially 
 prepared food. They also take care o£ the eggs and the young 
 bees. Sometimes a hundred thousand eggs are laid in, one season, 
 and so all the workers must be kept very busy. 
 
 When the honey-bee wants wax. she eats a hearty meal of honey 
 and suspends herself by her hook-like toes from the top of the 
 hive, and takes a nap while it digests. When she wakes, up her 
 eight pockets on the under side of her abdomen, are full of wax. 
 
 Her hind legs are each provided with a pair, of nippers for 
 pulling the wax scales out of the pockets. These scales she mois- 
 tens in her mouth,, and then pulls them out into white bands. . 
 
 And now she begins, making the wonderful little, wax cells 
 which hold the honey. Beginning at the roof she forms the six- 
 sided cups, placing them horizontally with the open end tilted just 
 a little. Many trips must be made to the .flowers, and many times 
 must the honey-sac be emptied before the cell is filled with honey 
 and sealed with wax. 
 
 Some times the cells are filled with pollen mixed with honey, 
 and it is called bee-bread. We do not like it, but the bees do. 
 
 But all the cells are not filled with honey and bee-bread. Some 
 serve as cradles for the little bees. When the queen-bee lays the 
 egg each egg must be placed in a cell by itself. The cradle-cell of 
 the drones are the same as the honey-cells, but the worker-cells 
 
34 
 
 are about one-fifth smaller. The cradle-cell of the queen is a 
 great deal larger, shaped somewhat like a thimble, and opens at 
 the bottom. 
 
 The queen lays two kinds of eggs: one kind we call fertilized, 
 and they hatch into workers or queens;' the other kind, unfertil- 
 ized, always hatch into drones. 
 
 •In about three days the eggs hatch, and instead of pretty, 
 downy'bees, with gauzy wings, We find in the cell a little white 
 atom, with no legs and no wings, and which look's like a maggot. 
 It is the larva. 
 
 The workers, knowing how hungry the larva is, give it plenty 
 of food that is manufactured in glands in their heads. After 
 a while they stop feeding the little one, and put a cap over the cell; 
 
 : Now the larva does the same as caterpillars do, and spins a co- 
 coon in which to sleep. It has become a pupa. 
 
 After a few days it eats its way out of the cell and comes 'forth 
 a fine young bee. 
 
 The queen bee is hatched from an egg exactly like that of the 
 worker-bees. It is because she eats so much of the "royal jelly" 
 and none of the honey and bee-bread that she develops into a 
 queen. When the queen dies or gets lost the workers can go to 
 work and develop a new queen. 
 
 It takes sixteen days for an egg- to- became a queen-bee, twenty- 
 one for it to become a worker, and twenty-four for a drone egg to 
 become a drone. 
 
 Bees have no lungs but breathe through little holes in their 
 sides. ■ They are particular to have fresh air always in the hive, 
 but there are no windows, only the -little holes in the bottom, 
 through which the bees go in and out. 
 
 The bees fan a current of air through the hive by standing near 
 the entrance-holes and buzzing with their wings. And thus they 
 keep the air in the hive almost as pure as the air out of doors. 
 
 •With all this family of young bees the hive soon becomes too 
 crowded, and the old queen :flies away with her workers to- seek su 
 new home. The old- hive is left in possession- of the young bees 
 and a young queen. Perhaps she has a conflict with another 
 young queen, or has to destroy many baby queens before she is 
 sole ruler. But the family is not fully organized-until there is only 
 one queen. 
 
35 
 
 _ , 
 
 -Then, . when all is serene within the hive, if the day is fair, the- 
 the young queen takes an airing. She. does not have an escort, 
 but 7 goes alone to view the beautiful world outside the hive. She 
 flies up into the blue sky, where she meets a drone, who is her 
 mate.- He fillsiher .pocket, which she carries on purpose, with 
 pollen— -.not flower-pollen, but bee-pollen. This, pollen lasts as 
 long as she lives;- and she uses -it to fertilize the queen and work- 
 er eggs. ■ : • : 
 
 1 When she has taken her airing, the queen-bee goes home and 
 she never leaves 'the hive -alone- again. In fact, she never leaves 
 it at all; except at the end, when she goes off with the swarm. 
 
 In the fall, when winter is approaching, the drones are all dis- 
 posed of, for there must' be no more bees than necessary to' care 
 for during the winter. 
 
 Bees spend the winter clustered together in the hive, and are 
 then so inactive that they seem to be scarcely alive. In the spring 
 they are ready to begin work, as soon as the flowers come. 
 
 Prom their own observation of and acquaintance with bees, 
 the children were sufficiently interested in the subject to give their 
 eager and undivided attention from the first.. They anticipated 
 almost every step with questions, and after the first, every lesson 
 was suggested by the questions of the., previous day, so that when 
 the class came to recitation each day some one was sure to inform 
 the teacher what she "had promised to tell about" on that day. 
 The subject was treated even more fully than in the preceding 
 pages, and might have been in as much detail as is Margaret W. 
 Morley's book, "The Bee People," which was used largely in the 
 preparation of the lessons. 
 
 At the last recitation on the subject, a box, of honey was brought 
 in to be examined and afterwards tasted., The children retold the 
 story of the busy bees, and their life and work became very real to 
 the little people. Many questions presented themselves to their 
 minds and they asked: "Now, which do you like the best, the 
 worker-bee or the drone?" Another said: "I think the sister bee 
 is very nice to make honey for us, but I don't like her for not let- 
 ting the brother bee live through the winter." One said; "Don't 
 you think the queen bee is lazy to let others feed her and she just 
 lay eggs?" and added thoughtfully, "Well, I think she's pretty 
 good to stay at home and lay so many eggs." 
 
3& 
 
 Ants would furnish as interesting a subject as bees, and we 
 noticed them and talked about them in our walks, hoping that 
 some time we would become better acquainted with them, as also 
 with all the curious little folk living about "us. 
 
 In connection with the Nature Study work many lessons in 
 sense-training can be arranged. Where nswears and autumn leaves 
 are accessible, make a color scrap-book, showing as many shades 
 as possible of all the primary colors. Learn to distinguish flowers, 
 spices and fruits by. smell; distinguish, large variety of seeds by 
 sight and touch; different fabrics by touch; flavors, and so forth, 
 by taste; sounds by hearing, and weight by the muscular sense. 
 
 Weather charts are valuable for observations and keener judg- 
 ment. On these a record is kept of cloudy days or parts of days, 
 and sunny days, of storms, frosts, of wind and temperature. The 
 shortening of days is noted and related to the preparation that is 
 being made for winter. Position of sun being observed at morn- 
 ing and night, and at noon. Occasional comparisons are made 
 with previous observation's, and finally the lengthening of the days 
 is noted and related to seed time and growth. 
 
 The child's taste for literature can also be cultivated through 
 Nature Study. After he has become interested in some subject or 
 object, he readily appreciates a "real" story, or a myth, or a poem 
 regarding it. And the trite literature appeals just as strongly to 
 him as does the common "short story." 
 
 Many times have the children called for selections from Hia- 
 watha with the exclamation: "I like that story." And day after 
 day for weeks and months have they called ' for Henry Ward 
 Beecher's story of the birds, "Coming and Going," once asking 
 for the story "that says in it, the roof over our heads." 
 
 Nearly all of the books referred to in the following pages are 
 found in the Institution library. 
 
 OUTLINE FOR SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 
 
 Out-door life about us: 
 
 Trees 
 
 Birds 
 
 Flowers 
 
 Insects 
 
 Caterpillars 
 
37 
 
 Literature: 
 
 September, 
 
 A Tale, 
 
 October, 
 
 Golden -rod and Aster, 
 
 Clytie, A Sunflower Story, 
 
 The Anxious Leaf, 
 
 The Baby Buds' New Clothes, 
 
 Apple-Seed John, 
 
 How the Oak Tree Became King, 
 
 Third Reader Stepping Stones 
 The Maple, - Third .Reader Stepping Stones 
 
 The Oriole's Nest, Story. Hour 
 
 Coming and Groing, Wiltse 
 
 The Crane Express, 
 
 Miss Katy-did-and Miss, Cricket, Harriet Beecher Stowe 
 The Squirrels that Live In a Tree, Harriet Beecher Stowe 
 
 Hellen Hunt Jackson 
 
 Browning 
 
 Helen Hunt Jackson 
 
 Cook's Myths 
 
 Cook's Myths 
 
 - i 
 
 Child.'s World 
 Child's World 
 
 OUTLINE KOR NOVEMBER 
 
 Thanksgiving and related subjects: 
 Holland 
 
 America in 1620 
 Thanksgiving Dinner 
 Seeds and Seed Dispersion 
 
 Literature : 
 
 November, 
 Whittier's Corn Song 
 Whittier's Huskers 
 The Thrifty Squirrel, 
 The First Thanksgiving, 
 Hiawatha's Hunting, 
 Hiawatha's Fasting, 
 The Wee Wee Man, 
 
 Helen Hunt Jackson 
 
 Child's World 
 Story Hour 
 
 Cat Tails and Other Tales 
 
 OUTLINE FOR DECEMBER 
 
 Christmas and related subjects: 
 Sheep 
 Reindeer 
 
38 
 
 Mistletoe 
 
 Holly 
 
 Evergreen trees 
 
 Morning and evening star 
 
 Literature: 
 
 Story of the Wise Men, - - - Ben Hur 
 
 The First Christmas, Story Hour 
 
 A visit to the Weaver, Child's World 
 
 The Pine Cone's Secret, Primary Education, March, igoi 
 
 Hiawatha's Canoe, 
 
 The Discontented Pine-tree, 
 
 Nature's First Paper Makers, Tenants of An Old Farm 
 
 OUTLINE FOR JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 
 
 Varied subjects: 
 
 Hibernating anirh&ls am|l insects 
 Fur-bearing animals >*'• ■ 
 Sea life 
 
 Mines and mining 
 
 Rock disintegration : 
 
 Lumbering 
 • Snow and ice. 
 
 Literature: 
 
 Extracts from Snowbound 
 
 Dwellers of Sea-Shore and Ice, in Some Curious Flyers, 
 
 Creepers and Swimmers, James Johonnot 
 
 A Piece of Coal, Fairyland of Science, 
 
 The Life of a Salmon, - Jordan 
 
 The Chambered Nautilus, - Holmes 
 
 Captain January, : Laura E. Richards 
 
 The Brave Little Mole, Stories of the Red Children 
 
 Awakening life: 
 
 OUTLINE FOR MARCH AND APRIL 
 
 Birds 
 
 Buds 
 
 Frogs 
 
 Wild flowers 
 
 Maple tree 
 
39 
 
 Garden: 
 
 Earthworm . 
 
 Dew 
 
 Rain 
 
 Sun 
 
 Literature: 
 
 Fish or Frogs, - Cat Tails and Other Tales 
 
 The Little Brown Seed, Cat Tails and Other Tales 
 
 The Life of, the Butterfly, Cat Tails and Other Tales 
 
 A Lesson of Faith, Parables of Nature, by Mrs. Gatty 
 
 The Crickets' School, Among the Meadow People, Pierson 
 Robin Redbreast, Stories of the Red Children 
 
 Winter and Spring, Stories of the Red Children 
 
 The South Wind and the Dandelion, 
 
 Stories of the Red Children 
 How the West Wind Helped Dandelion, Child's World 
 
 The Wind, '- Stevenson 
 
 How the Robin Got Its Red Breast, Cook's Myths 
 
 OUTLINE FOR MAY AND JUNE 
 
 The garden: .. 
 
 ■i ■-. Care of plants ','\ 
 
 "Characteristics of plants > 
 Plant nourishment l '••\V\ V V 
 Production of seeds , \ \ *'■},. , 
 . The,h6ney-bee „-.r * ' V. : , 
 
 Literature: ■--., -*-' 
 
 The Bee Peaple, - - Margaret W. Morley 
 
 The Bees, . -..- - - ' - 'Burroughs 
 
 Seeds and;;Flowers,; Fairyland of Science, A. B. Buckley 
 King Solomon and the Bees, . - ' Cook's Myths 
 
 King Solomon and the Ants, r ^'"' Cook's Myths 
 
 Buz-Buz, '' Charles Stuart Pratt 
 
 The Star that Became a Lily, Stories of the Red Children 
 Hum, the Son of Buz, H. B. Stowe 
 
 Extracts from Vision of Sir Launfal 
 The Flax, Third Reader, Stepping Stones Series 
 
4° 
 
 The Daisy and the Lark; Stepping Stones Series 
 
 The Pea Blossom, Steppu\g Stones Series 
 
 The Little Spider's First Web, Among the Meadow People 
 
 REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 Nature Study, 
 
 Nature Study in Elementary Schools, 
 
 Frail Children of the Air, 
 
 The Fairyland of Science, 
 
 Trees of North America, 
 
 A Song of Life, 
 
 Citizen Bird, 
 Bird Neighbors, 
 Birds, volumes I, 
 Insect Life, 
 Outdoor Studies, 
 Outdoor Studies, 
 Wake, Robin, 
 
 Jackman 
 Wilson 
 Scudder 
 A. B. Buckley 
 Apgar 
 Margaret W. Morley 
 Mabel Osgood Wright 
 
 Comstock 
 
 Needham 
 
 Burroughs 
 
 Burroughs 
 
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 I 
 
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