Chapter 17

FORM I

AUTUMN

GARDEN WORK

On the re-opening of school after the summer holidays, the pupils should see that their plots are put into good order without delay. If they have been neglected during the holidays, a good deal of attention will be needed, and in some cases it may not be possible to reclaim them because of prolonged neglect. If such plots are found, they should be cleaned off completely, spaded up, and left in readiness for planting the following spring. All plots should be cultivated throughout the month of September to keep the soil mellow and prevent the growth of weeds. The pupils should be allowed to pick flowers from their own plots, but should always leave a few in bloom for the sake of the general appearance of the garden. Paths should be kept clean, and all rubbish, weeds, dead plants, etc., removed to the compost heap, which should be in the least conspicuous part of the garden. Hoes, rakes, and claw-hand weeders should be used in cleaning up and cultivating the plots. The soil should be kept fine and loose on top to prevent drying out.

LESSONS ON A GARDEN PLANT

PANSY

LESSON I

~Materials.~--A flower for each pupil A plant set into a flower-pot A leaf for each pupil A pile of leaves containing a few pansy leaves and several of other kinds.

~Introduction.~--A conversation with the pupils about their favourite flowers.

~Observations.~--The pansy flowers are now distributed and the general form of the flower is first noted. The resemblance to the face of an animal will be discovered. The name _corolla_ is given, but no other botanical terms are to be introduced in this lesson.

The details of colours, perfumes, velvety feeling of the corolla, and the number of leaflets in it are next _discovered_ and described by the _pupils_. Lastly, in a withering flower they discover the seed cases and the little seeds.

LESSON II

The conception of the relationship between the flower, root, and stem is developed by a method similar to the following:

What soon happens to a pansy flower after it is broken from the plant? Are the flowers that you have in your hands withering?

How can you keep them from withering?

Hence, what must the flower get from the stem?

Where does the stem get the moisture?

Hence, what is one use of the root?

A pupil is asked to pull the plant out of the soil in the flower-pot. What is another use that you have discovered for the root?

The plant is now uprooted from the soil, and the pupils examine the root to find how it is fitted for gathering water and food from the soil and for holding the plant in place.

Note the number of branches touching a great deal of soil and also the twisted form of the roots for grasping the soil.

The form of the leaves is studied by the pupils, and, as a test of the accuracy of their observation, they are asked to pick out the pansy leaves from the pile of leaves.

_To the teacher._--The pupils must be active participants in the lesson. They must use their eyes, hands, and even their noses in gaining first-hand impressions, and they are to be required to express in their own way the things that they discover. The beautiful flower with its face like that of an animal is an appeal to the child's imagination, and the child's interest in the _use_ of things is utilized in the study of the relations of root, stem, and flower.

This lesson may be used as the basis for busy work by means of the following correlations:

1. With art:

Represent the flower in colours.

2. With reading and literature:

The pupils are required to express the meaning and sentiment of the following stanza:

The pansy wakes in early spring To make our world more bright; All summer long its happy face Fills children with delight,

Lessons similar to those on the pansy may be based upon the following plants of the garden or field: dandelion, aster, buttercup, nasturtium, goldenrod. The teacher in preparing the lesson should read a description of the plant from a Nature Study book and should also study the plant itself until he is familiar with all the phases of its life.

OBSERVATION EXERCISES ON THE DANDELION

The exercises given below are suggestive for out of school observation work, but must not be too long. By way of preparation for an exercise of this kind, the interest of the pupils in the dandelion must first be aroused.

FIRST EXERCISE

The teacher places the pupils at the school windows from which dandelions are visible and asks them to name any flower that they can see. A short conversation about the brightness of the flower follows.

The pupils are next instructed to:

1. Find dandelions late in the evening, and find out how they prepare to go to sleep and how they are tucked in for the night.

2. Find where the leaves of the dandelion are, and bring a leaf to school next morning, and also observe how the leaves are grouped or placed.

_To the teacher._--Dandelion flowers close up in the evening; the green leaves beneath the head wrap closely around the flowers to form a snug covering. The leaves have margins with teeth shaped like those of a lion, and from this the plant gets its name, for the name is the French _dent de lion_, which is pronounced very much like the word dandelion. The use of the leaf cluster as a system of rain-spouts for guiding the rain toward the root should be noted.

SECOND EXERCISE

1. Why is the dandelion easy to find?

2. What makes it easy to find even in long grass?

3. What insect friends visit the dandelion?

4. Find out just how these visitors act during their visits, and find whether they carry anything to or away from the flowers.

_To the teacher._--The bright yellow colour of the dandelion attracts attention. When it grows in long grass, the flower stalk grows long, so that the flower surmounts its obstructions and climbs up to the sunshine. The flowers are visited by ants, bees, and wasps, and these may be seen burrowing into the flowers in search of honey. If their bodies and legs be touched, the yellow pollen of the flowers will be found sticking to them.

THIRD EXERCISE

1. Look for flower heads that do not open to the sun. Do not disturb them, but watch them for a few days and find out what they become.

2. Examine the large white balls of the dandelions and find out what they are.

3. Blow the down away. What does it carry with it?

_To the teacher._--In this exercise the pupils will learn that the large white balls are the mature, or ripened, flowers and are composed of little brown seeds, each being a little airship for wafting it away.

CORRELATION WITH LITERATURE AND READING

When the above exercises have been completed, the pupil's knowledge of the dandelion may be utilized in interpreting the following stanzas:

Oh dandelion! yellow as gold, What do you do all day? I just wait here in the tall green grass Till the children come to play.

And what do you do when your hair is white And the children come to play? They take me up in their dimpled hands And blow my hair away.

In addition to the dandelion, the following plants are suitable for observation exercises: morning-glory, wild balsam, sweet-pea, snap-dragon, nasturtium.

DWARF NASTURTIUM

~Observations.~--The size of the plant at the time of flowering; its leaves--size, colour, shape, length of petiole and how arranged; colours found in the flower, comparison with others of same species found in the garden; size and shape of the flower and the length of its stems. Do the flowers grow higher than the leaves? Do they look better when with the leaves or when alone? Note the perfume and taste of the flower stem, the insect visitors, and what part of the flower they tried to get at, when the first blossom was seen, and how long the blossoms continued to come out. Do they keep well in bouquets? Do they stand hot, dry weather as well as other flowers? When did the frost kill them? Compare with the climbing nasturtium. Find the seeds.

SEEDS

The autumn months are the best for seed studies, for almost all annuals are ripening their seeds at this time of year.

FIELD EXERCISE

Assign to the pupils the following exercise:

Collect the seed pods from as many plants of your garden plots, or home gardens, or wild plants, as possible, and be careful to write the name of each plant on the paper in which you put the seed pod of that plant. Notice the part of the plant from which the seed pod is formed.

CLASS-ROOM LESSON BASED ON THIS COLLECTION

The pupils place the seed pods on their desks, and observations and problems are dealt with of which the following are representative:

How does each seed case open?

What are the seeds for?

How many seeds are in each case?

Why should a plant have so many seeds?

How are the seed cases fitted for protecting the seeds?

Are any two seeds alike in shape?

Are the seeds easy to find if they are spilled upon the ground?

What makes them hard to find?

Where do nearly all seeds spend the winter?

Of what use is the hard shell of the seed?

SEED DISPERSAL

Study only a few of the more striking examples of seed dispersal with the Form I class. Seeds that fly and seeds that steal rides are good examples of classes of seeds whose methods of dispersal will prove of interest to children.

LESSON ON SEEDS THAT FLY

~Materials.~--A milkweed pod; a ripe dandelion head.

~Introduction.~--A short conversation about the effects of the crowding of plants, as carrots and turnips, in a garden plot, and hence the need for the scattering of seeds.

~Observations.~--Open a milkweed pod in the presence of the class, so that they may see how the pod opens, how beautifully the seeds are arranged, and how the silk tufts are so closely packed in together.

Allow a pupil to lift a seed out, blow it in the air, and observe how the silk opens out like an umbrella. Distribute seeds, one to each pupil. Ask the pupils to find out why this little airship is able to carry the seed. They will find that the seeds though broad, are thin and light, and the silky plumes very light.

Ask the pupils to release their milkweed seeds at recess, when out of school, and find out how far they can fly. This is an interesting experiment for a windy day.

The white balls of the dandelion are next examined, the tiny seeds are found standing on tiptoe on a raised platform, each grasping a tiny parachute and waiting for a puff of wind to start them off. A pupil is permitted to give the puff. Seeds are distributed, and the means of flight is compared with that of the milkweed. The shape of the seeds is observed and also the tiny anchor points at the lower end of the seed for clutching the ground when the seed alights.

Another lesson on seeds that fly can be based on the study of tree seeds, using those of the maple, elm, basswood, pine, and spruce.

CORRELATIONS

1. Drawing of milkweed pods and seeds, and drawing of the dandelion seed-ball and the seeds when floating in the air.

2. Reading and literature. Interpret the thought and read expressively:

Dainty milkweed babies, wrapped in cradles green, Rocked by Mother Nature, fed by hands unseen, Brown coats have the darlings, slips of milky white, And wings, but that's a secret, they're folded out of sight.

TWIGS AND BUDS

The study of buds is a part of tree study and may be taken as observation work in the class-room. This somewhat detailed study should follow the general lessons on tree study.

The materials for the lessons may be collected by the pupils at the time of the field lesson and kept fresh in a jar of water until required for use.

LESSON ON TWIGS

~Materials.~--A twig of horse-chestnut about six inches long, for each pupil.

A twig of the same tree with the leaves still on it.

~Observations.~--The twigs are distributed and the teacher asks the pupils to examine them and to describe all marks and projections that can be found on the twig.

Answers are required from the pupils separately. The pupil's answer in each case should be sufficiently clear for all the class to recognize the feature that the answer is intended to describe. A few brief questions will guide the answerer in making his description more definite, but the description should be the result of the pupil's observation and expressed in his own words.

The meaning or use of each feature should be discussed, when possible, immediately after it has been described.

The following features will be discovered and the problems suggested will be solved:

The brown or greenish-brown bark.

The buds.

One bud (sometimes two) is at the end of the twig.

Some buds are along the side of the twig.

What caused the end bud to grow larger than the others?

There is a leaf scar under each bud.

Of what use is it to the bud to be between the twig and the leaf stalk?

The bands of rings, one or more on each twig.

The tiny oval pores, each surrounded by a little raised band.

The detailed study of the buds is left for a separate lesson.

FURTHER STUDY OF TWIGS

The study in detail of various features is illustrated in the following:

Look closely at the leaf scars and describe them fully, as to shape, colour, and marks.

Do the scars look like fresh wounds, or are they healed over? Of what use to the tree is the healing of the scar?

We will learn later that the part of the twig between each pair of bands of rings represents one year's growth. How old is your twig? Who has the oldest twig?

Do all twigs grow at the same rate?

Who has the twig that had the most rapid growth?

_To the teacher._--The bud at the end of the twig or its branches is called the end bud; there are two leaf scars underneath it. The buds along the sides of the stem are called side buds, the latter are smaller than the end bud. The bud situated between the stem of the leaf and the twig is in a sheltered position. This position also puts the bud close to the pantry door, for the plant food is prepared in the leaf. The leaf scars are yellowish-brown, or if they are the scars from the leaves of former years, are dark brown in colour. Each scar is shaped like a horse-shoe and tiny dots are found in the position that the horse-shoe nails would have. Even before the leaf falls, a layer of corklike substance has formed over the scar. This layer is a protection against the entrance of frost and rain and germs of fungi and it also prevents the loss of sap from the scar. The tiny oval pores, each as large as the point of a needle, are the breathing pores of the twig. The bands of rings are the scars of the scales of the end buds of successive years. This latter fact can be discovered when the bud is opening.

REVIEW LESSON

The review lesson should consist of a review of the points taken up in the lessons that were based on the horse-chestnut twig, supplemented by the examination of the twigs of elm, apple, or lilac.

LESSON ON BUDS

~Materials.~--Twigs and buds of horse-chestnut, one for each pupil. An opening bud. (A bud or a twig placed in water in a warm room will develop rapidly.)

~Lesson.~--Distribute specimens, and review the positions of the buds.

Pupils examine the buds and tell all they can about them. They describe the colour, shape, and size of the buds, and also their gummy and scalelike covering.

Of what use are the gum and scales? Of what use is the brown colour of the bud?

They next find out what is inside the little brown house. They open the buds and try to identify the contents. There will be some uncertainty as to the meaning of the contents. Leave this over till spring.

_To the teacher._--The brown colour of the bud makes it an absorbent of sunlight, and also serves as a protection from observation by the sharp eyes of bud-eating birds. The gummy scales are waterproof, and the scales, by spreading open gradually, cause the waterproof property to be retained even after the bud has grown quite large. The inner part of the bud is composed of two, four, or six tiny leaves folded up and supported on a short bit of stem. Some of the buds have, in addition to leaves, a tiny young flower cluster. All of these things are densely covered with white down. The down is the fur coat to protect the tender parts from the cold.

REVIEW LESSON

Review the lesson on buds, but substitute buds of the lilac or apple for the horse-chestnut buds of the original lesson.

CORRELATIONS

The observational study of the buds and twigs is a good preparation for busy work in art and manual training, and the pupils may be assigned exercises, such as charcoal drawing of a horse-chestnut twig, paper cutting of a lilac twig and buds, clay or plasticine modelling of twigs and buds.

For oral and written language exercises, enlarge the vocabulary of the pupils by requiring sentences containing the words--scales, twigs, buds, protection, terminal, lateral, leaf stalk, blade, etc.

LEAVES

Leaves, because of their abundance and the ease with which they may be obtained, are valuable for Nature Study work. It is possible to arouse the interest of even young children in the study of leaves, but care must be taken not to make the observation work too minute and the descriptions too technical for the primary classes.

FIELD EXERCISES

An excursion to the school grounds or to some neighbouring park will suffice to bring the pupils into direct contact with the following plants: a maple tree, a Boston ivy (or other climbing vine), a nasturtium, a geranium.

Ask the pupils to find out where and how leaves are placed on each of these plants, that is, whether they are on the inner parts of the branches of the tree or out at the ends of the branches. Do the leaves overlap one another or does each make room for its neighbours? Are the leaves spread out flat or curled up? What holds the leaves out straight and flat? What do the leaves need to make them green and healthy?

Are the leaves placed in the right way, and are they of the right form to get these things?

_To the teacher._--The leaves of the plants named are quite noticeably so placed on the plants, have such relations to one another, and are of such outline that they present the greatest possible surface to the _air_ and _sunshine_ and _rain_. The leaf stalk and midrib and veins are stiff and strong to keep the leaves spread out. Compare with the ribs of an umbrella. The benefit of sunshine to leaves and plants can be developed by discussing with the pupils the paleness and delicateness of plants that have been kept in a dark place, such as in a dark cellar. They are also acquainted with the refreshing effect of rains upon leaves. The use of air to the leaves is not so easy to develop with pupils of this age, but the use of air for breathing just as boys and girls need air for breathing may be told them.

CLASS-ROOM LESSON ON LEAVES

~Introduction.~--Tell me all the things that you know upon which leaves grow. On trees, bushes, flowers, plants, vegetables, etc.

Are leaves all of the same shape?

To-day we are going to learn the names of some of the shapes of leaves.

~Observations.~--Show the class the heart-shaped leaf of catalpa or lilac, and obtain from the pupils the name _heart-shape_. Use the following types:

Maple leaf as star-shape, Grass or wheat or corn as ribbon-shape, Nasturtium or water-lily as shield-shape, Ash or rowan, as feather-shape.

~Drill.~--Pupils pick out the shape named. Pupils name the plant to which each belongs. Which shape do you think is the prettiest?

GARDEN STUDIES

If the pupils of this Form have planted and cared for garden plots of their own, they will have a greater love for the flowers or vegetables that grow in them than for any others in the garden, because they have watched their development throughout. For them such continuous observation cannot but result in a quickening of perception and a deepening of interest and appreciation.

STUDIES IN THE PUPIL'S INDIVIDUAL PLOT

What plant is the first to appear above ground? What plant is the last to appear? Describe what each plant was like when it first appeared above ground. What plants grow the fastest? What effect has cold weather, warm weather, dry weather, on the growth of the plants?

What weeds grow in the plot?

Why do these weeds obstruct the growth of the other plants?

What kind of root has each weed?

Find out what kind of seeds each weed produces?

Why is each weed hard to keep out of fields?

What garden plants produce flowers?

How are the seeds protected?

Compare the seeds with those that you planted.

Select the seeds of the largest plants and finest flowers for next year's seeding.

STUDIES FROM THE GARDEN AS A WHOLE

What plants grow tallest?

What plants are most suitable for borders?

What plants are valuable for their flowers?

What plants are valuable for their edible roots, for their edible leaves, for their edible seeds?

How are the edible parts stored for winter use?

Compare the plants that are crowded, with others of the same kind that are not crowded.

Compare the rate of growth of the plants in a plot that is kept hoed and raked with the rate of growth of plants in a neglected plot.

BULB PLANTING

The planting of bulbs in pots for winter blooming should be commenced with pupils in Form I and continued in the higher Forms. As a rule, the potted bulbs will be stored and cared for in the home, as most school-rooms are not heated continuously during the winter. Paper-white narcissus and freesia are most suitable and should be planted about the fifteenth of October, so that the plants will be in bloom for Christmas.

LESSON ON BULBS AND BULB PLANTING

~Materials.~--The bulbs to be planted.

As many four-inch flower-pots or tomato cans as are required.

Soil, composed of garden loam, sand, and well-rotted manure in equal proportions. Stones for drainage.

Sticks for labels (smooth pieces of shingle, one and a half inches wide and sharpened at one end, will answer).

Pictures of the plants in bloom.

~Observations.~--The attention of the pupils is directed to the bulbs, and they are asked to describe the size, form, and colour of each kind of bulb.

A bulb is cut across to make possible the study of the parts, and the pupils observe the scales or rings which are the bases of the leaves of the plant from which the bulb grew. The use of the fleshy mass of the bulb as a store of food for the plant that will grow from it is discussed.

The sprout in the centre of the scales with its yellowish-green tip is observed, and its meaning inferred.

The picture is shown to illustrate the possibilities within the bulb.

PLANTING THE BULB

The teacher directs, but the work is done by the pupils, and the reasons for the following operations are developed:

What is the use of the one-inch layer of pebbles, or broken brick, or stone, that is placed in the bottom of the pot?

Why are the bulbs planted near the top of the soil?

Why is the soil packed firmly around the bulbs?

Why must the soil be well wetted?

Why is the pot set in a cool, dark place for a month or more?

_To the teacher._--The pebbles or broken bricks are for giving drainage. The bulbs are planted with their tips just showing above the surface of the soil and there is about half an inch of space between the top of the soil and the upper edge of the pot in order to facilitate watering. The potted bulbs must be set in a cool, dark place until they are well rooted. This is subjecting them to their natural winter conditions, and it will cause them to yield larger flowers, a great number of flowers, and flowers that are more lasting. Sand in the soil permits of the more free passing of air through the soil. Basements and cellars are usually suited for storing bulbs until they have rooted, but they must not be warm enough to promote rapid growth. The pots when stored should be covered with leaves, sawdust, or coarse sand to prevent drying out. The soil must be kept moist, but not wet. Paper-white narcissus, if brought out of the dark after three or four weeks, will be in bloom at the end of another month if kept in the window of a warm room. Care must be taken not to expose the plants to bright light until they have become green. The bulbs of the white narcissus are to be thrown away after the flowers have withered, as they will not bloom again, but freesia bulbs may be kept and planted again the following year.