Back Matter

Appendix

Hints to Teachers

BUDS.—Twigs of beech, horse-chestnut, lilac, and hawthorn ought to be taken in in December and placed in water. They should have as much warmth and light as possible.

Willow twigs (for catkins) might also be forced in this way.

SEEDS.—Seeds should be soaked for twenty-four hours and then sown in sawdust in boxes 4 inches deep. They should be sown in presence of the pupils.

In winter these boxes should be kept on the hot pipes in school. The sawdust should not be allowed to get dry, neither should it be deluged with water, but kept evenly moist if possible.

Be careful to use water not colder than the temperature of the room  in which the seeds are grown. Nothing checks growth more effectively than chilling with icy-cold water. It is a good plan to keep the watering-pan full of water near the hot pipes, refilling it always after use.

Seeds germinate best in the dark, but whenever the plumule shows above the sawdust, the box containing them should be placed in the light. Sufficient seeds should be sown at one time to supply a plant to each pupil once a week for at least four weeks. A number of seeds or plants should be dug up once a week and sketched by the children. Each sketch should be compared with that of the previous week, and all changes duly noted down.

The best seeds to grow are:—Broad bean, common or "large white" maize, runner bean ("Painted Lady"), French bean, kitchen pea ("Stratagem"), and white mustard.

A few seeds of white mustard should be sprinkled on a small piece of moist blotting-paper, and covered over by a small glass bell-jar or an inverted tumbler. In less than a week the root-hairs may be seen.

If hot-water pipes are available, the following seeds should be grown, as their germination is interesting:—date stones, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, cherry stones, orange pips, seeds of cucumber and sunflower.

After maize and bean (or pea) plants have reached the height of 5 inches, they should be transferred to bottles of tap water—as described at the end of Lesson VI.—and the continuous growth sketched and noted from week to week.

POND AND DITCH HUNTING.—Make a ring of stout brass wire about 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and to this attach a bag net made of mosquito netting not more than 9 inches deep. In making the wire ring, leave attached to it about 5 inches of the twisted ends of the wire. Such a net as this can be easily carried and quickly attached to the end of a walking-stick by means of a piece of string.

The best "finds" are often made by sweeping the net under banks and among pond weeds.

FROG SPAWN.—Frog spawn is abundant in ponds and ditches everywhere in March. It should be kept immersed in as much water as possible in a large vessel, preferably of glass. Whenever the water show signs of fouling, it should be changed; but, as changing water containing tadpoles is somewhat difficult, the fewer changes the better.

As in the case of seed growing, the development of the tadpole should be learnt by weekly sketches and notes.

NEWTS.—Newts can be taken with the gauze-net or in the following way:—Tie a piece of small worm on to the end of a cotton thread fastened to the end of a willow or hazel switch. Cast into the part of the pond where the newts are, and await results.

Live newts, fish, frog spawn, etc., may be obtained from Messrs Willson, Live Stock Providers, 37 New Oxford Street, London; Thomas Bolton, 25 Balsall Heath Road, Birmingham, and other dealers. Newts should be fed once a day on pieces of small worms.

CATERPILLARS.—Caterpillars and pupæ, if not obtainable in local woods, fields, and gardens, can be had from Messrs Watkins & Doncaster, 36 Strand, London, and others.

CADDIS LARVÆ.—Caddis worms are to be found in almost every stream, pond, and ditch. Most of them are vegetable feeders: therefore a plentiful supply of water weeds should be placed in their tank. Carnivorous caddis worms may be fed on small pieces of raw meat. (See Stickle-backs.)

STICKLE-BACKS.—Stickle-backs are common in canals and streams. They are easily caught with the net. They should be fed once a day on grated biscuit, and occasionally on raw meat. The meat should be chopped very fine, and then pressed through a piece of perforated zinc. Very little food suffices. If too much is put in, the residue should be removed by means of a glass tube, as described in Lesson IX. If no green water plants are obtainable, the water should be changed at least every second day by means of a siphon. Once a month is quite often enough if sufficient green plants are kept in the tank and decaying matter carefully removed. Do not over-stock—few fishes and much water is the rule.

WATER PLANTS.—It is best to take the water plants which are found growing locally. The following are fairly common:—Elodea canadensis,  water millfoil; Potamogeton (nitens, crispus, or filiformis), "water soldier"; Vallisneria spiralis, Chara, Nitella,  water star-wort and watercress. A good selection of excellent aquarium plants are advertised at a cheap rate by the Solway Fishery Co., Dumfries. Water plants, if not rooted in the tank, should be renewed occasionally.

LARVÆ CAGE.—Take four square pieces (about 1 1/2 inches square) of wood, each a foot long, and nail or screw them upright into the four corners of a square piece of 3/4-inch deal measuring a foot each way. Stretch mosquito netting over sides, end, and top, arranging that one side can be opened. This can be managed by fastening the last fold of netting to one of the upright posts by three drawing-pins. Fresh leaves should be supplied daily. For those caterpillars which pupate in the soil, a shallow earthenware flower-pot—known in the trade as a "seed-pan"—should be supplied. The seed-pan should be filled with soil, the pupæ placed on the surface, and a layer of moss placed over them. Once a week the moss should be dipped in water, squeezed almost dry, and replaced on the pupæ.

AQUARIUM.—Procure from a local florist or seedsman what is known as a "propagating bell." These cost from 1s. up to 2s. 6d. A block of wood 12 inches square and 4 or 5 inches in thickness is also required. Bore a hole about 2 inches in diameter right through the centre of the block, to hold the knob of the bell. Then, with a gouge chisel, make a saucer-shaped hollow round the hole, to roughly fit the rounded end of the bell. Before fitting the bell into the block, interpose a thin layer of moss.

This makes an excellent aquarium—elegant and serviceable. Keep the aquarium in a window, but shade it from bright sunlight.

Exercises

Lesson I

1. Write out the names of all the wild birds you have seen.

2. Some of these we do not see in winter. How is this?

3. Why should we remember the birds in winter-time?

4. Describe the robin. How does he differ from the bullfinch?

Lesson II

1. Why do we put out suet and scraps of meat for certain birds in winter?

2. How can you tell a flesh-eating from an insect-eating bird?

3. Write down the names of all the birds which belong to the crow family.

4. What makes the jackdaw steal all his food?

5. Why are jackdaws, rooks, sparrows, starlings, and blackbirds said to be "the farmer's friends"?

Lesson III

1. Take in twigs with buds on them in December. Place them in water, and watch them from day to day.

2. Select one bud, and make a drawing of it every third day from the time it begins to open. Keep your drawings.

3. How are buds protected? (1) from cold; (2) from animals.

4. What causes the "horse-shoe" marks on horse-chestnut twigs?

5. Make a drawing of a small beech twig, showing buds and leaf-scars.

Lesson IV

1. Soak some seeds of broad bean (or pea) and maize (or wheat) for twenty-four hours. Plant some in damp sawdust.

2. What do you see when you open a bean seed?

3. Pick off the little baby plant, and try to draw it big.

4. Cut down through the centre (flat side) of a maize seed. Try to make out the little seed plant and the food store.

5. Every third day dig up a growing seed and draw it. Put the date beneath each drawing. Keep your drawings carefully.

Lesson V

1. Explain all that happens when a horse-chestnut bud opens.

2. Why do the buds which you force indoors wither after they open?

3. What changes come over your bean seeds as they grow?

4. Do the young plants draw any food from the sawdust? If not, what feeds them?

5. What three things does a seed need in order to start growing?

Lesson VI

1. Make sketches of a soaked bean and of a soaked maize seed.

2. Place a few beans (or peas) and a few maize (or wheat) seeds in a box of damp sawdust. Water regularly. After a week dig up a seed of each and draw them.

3. Dig up a seed of each at intervals of two weeks, three weeks, and four weeks; draw and compare them.

4. Sow in a box of sawdust a few of each of the following—date stones, orange pips, walnuts, chestnuts. Keep the box in a warm  place, and watch how these seeds grow.

Lesson VII

1. What did the boys find in the pond?

2. What other living things may be seen in ponds? Make a list of all the pond creatures you know.

3. Why do caddis "worms" build cases round themselves?

4. Can newts bite? Give reason.

Lesson VIII

1. What is an aquarium?

2. Why are water weeds and water snails put into an aquarium?

3. How do you feed small fish? Why should you be careful not to put in more than the fishes can eat?

4. Where does the stickle-back lay its eggs?

Lesson IX

1. What are tadpoles?

2. How old is the frog before his hind legs appear?

3. A tadpole seems to be all head and tail. Can you explain this?

4. How do tadpoles breathe—(1) when they are first hatched? (2) when they are four weeks old? (3) when they are eleven weeks old?

Lesson X

1. Where are frogs, newts, and toads in winter-time?

2. How could you tell a toad from a frog?

3. What is the difference between young newts (tadpoles) and young frogs (tadpoles)?

4. Write the life of a frog (or of a toad) as if told by the creature itself.

Lesson XI

1. Dig up a primrose plant, and make a rough sketch showing underground stem, roots, and leaves.

2. An underground stem may be of use to a plant in three different ways. Can you name them?

3. There are two distinct kinds of underground stems—those that grow quickly and those that grow slowly. Name three of each kind, and tell how they differ in shape.

4. Compare a potato with a horse-chestnut twig. Supposing your twig to be swollen out with plant-food, what parts of it do the "eyes" of the potato represent? What do the (scars/marks) near the "eyes" represent?

Lesson XII

1. Where would you look for the eggs of the white butterfly? Why are they always laid upon the same kind of plant, and why under the leaf?

2. Explain how caterpillars breathe.

3. Take any caterpillars you find. Observe the leaves you find them feeding upon. Give them fresh leaves every day, and watch how they grow.

4. Why has the "woolly bear" caterpillar got a hairy coat? What does he usually feed upon?

Lesson XIII

1. Explain why the pupæ of white butterflies are coloured like the objects they are attached to.

2. Write the life of a white butterfly, and illustrate your description with sketches of caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.

3. The life of an insect is divided into four distinct stages. Name them. Which is the longest stage in the case of the white butterfly?

4. Describe, as you have observed it, the behaviour of a caterpillar as it passes from the larva to the chrysalis form.

Lesson XIV

1. Turn a caddis worm out of his case in the way described in the lesson. Place the insect in a saucer half filled with water, and make a rough sketch of it.

2. When you have finished your sketch, place the empty caddis case in the saucer, and watch how the creature gets into it.

3. Make two columns by drawing a line down the centre of a page of your note-book. In the first column, describe the structure of the caddis larva and fly; in the second, that of the cabbage caterpillar and butterfly. Compare them.

4. In the same way describe the mode of life  of the caddis fly (Column 1), and of the white butterfly (Column 2).