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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
MAR 3 0 137/
L161 — 0-1096
Ttafant Studies
BOOK II
Thirty-six units and projects on
Insects , Fish and Animals
for elementary grades
EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING CORPORATION
DARIEN, CONNECTICUT
CONTENTS
BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS, BEES
The Evolution of the Tomato Sphinx Moth 4
The Nature Study Club, L. Alden Marsh 6
The Spinning Lady of Spiderland, Dorothy Lauer 7
Insects, Mildred Rodgers 8
We Study Bees, Margaret E. Parry 10
Honeybees, Margaret Fitzsimmons 11
Ants, Margaret Fitzsimmons 12
FISH, FROGS, REPTILES
Snails and Crayfish, Glenn O. Blough, Ida K. Brink 14
Queer Flying Things, C. B. Davis 16
Frogs, H. Roll 18
The Frog Unit, Noreen Hughes 19
Scenes in the Life of a Frog 20
Crusty, the Hermit Crab, Lyla W aterbury Haynes 22
The Toad, Evelyne Stone 23
Spring’s Awakening, Helen A. Smith 24
Teaching Geography, Eunice W entworth 26
The Turtle, Fred R. Cagle 27
Rabbits, Squirrels, Turtles, L. G. Whiteman 28
ANIMALS
Preparing for Winter, Anna F. Deane 30
Animal Life Work Sheets, Frances Crahan 31
The Cat and the Dog, Mildred Sourwine 32
Signs of Wildlife in Winter, Edmund J. Sawyer 34
Australian Animals 36
The Rabbit Unit, Jean Currens 37
Rabbits— Wild and Tame, Ella Bacon 38
The Squirrel Unit, Margaret Fitzsimmons 40
How Animals Keep Clean, H. B. Bradford 41
Wild Animals, Geraldine Buhr, Dorothy Gilbert 42
Squirrels, Gertrude Moore 43
Turning White, George King 44
Animals and Flowers, /. Buhr, Florence Eastwood 45
Those Cunning Foxes 46
Animals of the Arctic, John Watrous 48
Seals, Kay Clark 50
The Zoo, Evelyn Thurber 52
A Science Shelf for Your Classroom, Ida K. Brink J4
Copyright 1948 by Educational Publishing Corporation.
Printed in U.S.A.
f BUTTERFLIES, BEES
I Mr. Tomato Moth begins life as a tiny egg, so small he can
hardly be seen. (Extreme closeup of an egg of the Tomato
Sphinx Moth on a tomato leaf.)
2 As a caterpillar he gets a nice juicy dinner from a tomato
leaf. (Tomato Sphinx Caterpillar feeding on a tomato leaf.)
;•> y ;
3 Mr. Caterpillar, after his heavy meal, rests upon the stem
of a tomato plant. What a fierce and ugly looking creature
he is! (Closeup of the Tomato Sphinx Caterpillar on a stem in
sphinx position.)
4 Mr. Caterpillar becomes sleepy with too much eating and
too little exercise and decides he is ready for his long sleep.
(Closeup of caterpillar transforming into the pupa, actually
showing back of caterpillar splitting and exposing part of pupa.)
4
7 He is very proud of his queer antennae and sharp eyes.
(Extreme closeup of head of Tomato Sphinx Moth showing
the antennae, eyes and tongue — tongue has been moved from
normal position to expose same.)
Photographs by
Lynwood M. Chace
5 Mr. Caterpillar is much more attractive and, for
the moment, less dangerous in the pupa stage of
his life than as the “frightful’' caterpillar. Here he
is! (Closeup of pupa shortly after transformation
from caterpillar.)
6 After Mr. Caterpillar’s long sleep he emerges in
his full dignity as Mr. Tomato Sphinx Moth.
(Closeup of moth resting on tomato leaf shortly
after hatching.)
8 Like many enemies of mankind, Mr. Moth has an attractive appear-
ance because of the artistic markings on his wings and body.
(Closeup of wings of Tomato Sphinx Moth, showing pattern on hind
wings and abdomen.)
The Evolution of the
Tomato Sphinx Moth
Look out for him on your tomato plants
5
THE NATURE STUDY CLUB
A PROJECT TO DEVELOP INTEREST IN NATURE STUDY
L. ALDEN MARSH
Nature Club, which was or-
ganized among the children of the
training school in a large state nor-
mal school, is now a permanent out-
door club, which has for its purpose
activities to keep alive in the children
the inherent interest which they all
have in the beautiful and wonderful
outdoor life around them. The follow-
ing suggestions, based upon our ex-
perience, may be helpful to teachers
who would like to organize such a
club.
MEMBERS AND OFFICERS
The qualifications for membership
may be whatever are convenient for
the organizer. In a one-room rural
school, for example, all the school
children might be members. In a city
or town where there are Boy and Girl
Scout organizations, age limits of
from five to eleven years are conve-
nient, for Girl Scouts join at ten and
Boy Scouts at twelve.
Very few officers are necessary and
these may be either elected by ballot
or appointed by the adult in charge.
We have a president, a secretary, a
sergeant-at-arms, a historian, and a
housekeeper. Committees may be ap-
pointed as required, but too much ma-
chinery does more harm than good.
We have, however, developed simple
ceremonies of initiation and make use
of passwords because children love a
little innocent secrecy.
MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES
We call meetings for various pur-
poses as required, usually once a
week, and invite only the ones we
want to attend — sometimes the whole
club, sometimes the new members,
often a small group, such as Orange
badge members, or Red badge mem-
bers.
Refreshments, though not neces-
sary, add to the success of the meet-
ings. Sometimes members bring the
refreshments; sometimes they are
paid for out of the club dues which,
in our club, are twenty-five cents a
year. We play all kinds of games both
before and after our regular pro-
grams, for it is hard to hold chil-
dren’s attention very long, especially
if meetings are held after school.
We often take short trips, some-
FOR INTERMEDIATE GRADES
SOME OF OUR SPECIMENS
times to study the trees along a
street, sometimes to visit a sym-
pathetic friend who has an aquarium.
Occasionally we go to a nearby hill-
side covered with trees and each takes
a little lunch. In summer, we have
picnics in nearby parks; fathers,
mothers, and friends lending their
cars for the transportation of the
younger members. As a reward for
those who have won a blue ribbon,
we take them to a natural history mu-
seum in a nearby city. While there,
we insist that they look only at a few
objects, rest often, and get really to
know something about what they
have seen rather than just get glimp-
ses of everything.
Talks to individual children adapt-
ed to their age and capacity are most
valuable. In our club such confer-
ences may be had by any child, on re-
quest, after school, on any afternoon
except club days.
AWARDS OF MERIT
When children join the club they
are asked to get a composition book
and to write in it a table of contents
according to the following classifica-
tion: Birds, Insects, Spiders, Crabs,
Fish, Shelled things, Reptiles, Worms,
Amphibians, Mammals, Trees,
Shrubs, Vines, Wild Flowers, Culti-
vated Flowers.
To win a blue ribbon, they must
learn to know — not from pictures but
from the living thing itself — not less
than seventy-five plants or animals
from at least five of the above groups,
not including cultivated flowers or
domestic animals.
To win a red ribbon, they must
learn to know twenty-five more.
These may include cultivated flowers,
but not domestic animals. The re-
quirements for the red badge were
purposely made easy so as to encour-
age the members and to keep them
always on the lookout for forms of
life new to them.
The yellow badge, however, is hard-
er to obtain. To win this badge, a
member must collect and carefully
label twenty-five specimens. This, of
course, raises the question : “What is
a specimen?”
For the purpose of our club the
children are told that a specimen is
anything that is alive or ever has
been alive. A few examples will show
how varied the specimens may be,
as, for example, a piece of coal or of
coral, shells of all kinds, live spakes,
live birds, bird feathers, insects,
pressed leaves and flowers, seed pods,
and so on. To make the requirements
easy enough for all to fulfill, we al-
low them to include five pictures of
living things which they have seen.
Those who get a yellow ribbon re-
ceive a large package of some books
on forestry which can be obtained
free from the Department of Forestry
of our State. (Write to your own state
capitol for similar material.)
The next badge is purple and the
requirements are as follows : (1) Five
kinds of vegeta- ( Turn to page 55)
6
THE SPINNING LADY OF SPIDERLAND
A NATURE STUDY LESSON
DOROTHY LAUER
H
y
IAS it ever occurred to
you that a number of crea-
tures of the animal king-
dom display an intelligence
almost as great as that of
the human race? The spi-
der, for example, though
usually thought of by most persons
as repellent and even dangerous, and
looked upon by the small creatures of
the animal world as a robber and kill-
er, is in reality a most interesting
creature.
In her lone struggle for existence,
the lady spider has developed some
amazing instincts. Necessity forces
her to adopt unusual methods of pro-
tection, both for herself and for her
young. Most important to her self-
preservation, however, is her ingen-
uity in providing food.
The lady spider does all the spin-
ning. In fact, she does practically all
the work that is done in Spiderland.
This fact, perhaps, accounts for the
smallness and weakness of the male
spider. When the love-lorn male spi-
At early morn the spiders spin,
And by and by the flies drop in;
And when they call, the spiders say
Take off your things and stay all day.
— MOTHER GOOSE RHYME
der goes a-courting, he decks himself
in many bright-colored hairs, and
struts and dances before his lady-
love. He is careful, however, not to
come too close to her vicious claws
for, should he not please her, or
should her food supply be low, she
may decide to eat him for lunch!
How odd it would be to be able to
see all around you without turning
around! Yet this remarkable faculty
is possessed by some spiders, which
have from two to eight eyes, accord-
ing to the species. Mrs. Garden Spi-
der, for instance, who spins the lovely
cart-wheel webs you see in your gar-
den, has eight eyes. She lies in wait
r
in the center of her web
and, at the slightest dis-
turbance due to the en-
tanglement of an insect, she
can see in exactly what
part of the web it has
lodged. As her meals de-
pend upon speed, she darts out in-
stantly and swiftly ties up her victim.
Not only are spiders well provided
with eyes as to number, but they pos-
sess two kinds of eyes. The diurnal
eyes are adapted to seeing in the day-
time and the nocturnal eyes are for
night work. The latter are indispen-
sable, for most of Mrs. Spider’s weav-
ing and hunting are done under the
cover of the dark.
Before weaving her web, the lady
spider carefully surveys her building
site. Satisfied that it is well chosen,
she fastens her heaviest thread to the
support she happens to be resting up-
on and drops to a support below, leav-
ing behind her a silken cable. In a
short time, she has cut her space into
quarters. Then (Turn to page 60 )
THE SPINNING LADY’S WEB THE HEART OF THE WEB
7
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1. To teach appearance, mode of
life, habits, work and use of bee, ant,
wasp, and gall fly.
2. To find now bees assist in cross
fertilization of plants.
3. To learn how to recognize a true
insect.
4. To learn care needed for insect
bites and stings.
5. To develop appreciation of pur-
pose in life of all living things.
6. To find out how insects differ
from one another.
7. To develop appreciation of self-
sacrifice of the social insect for benefit
of community.
8. To develop appreciation of bene-
fits derived from life of social insect in
contrast with that of the solitary.
9. To learn classes and kinds of
bees, wasps, and ants.
INTRODUCTION
A discussion about insects.
1. What is an insect?
2. Name some insects.
3. Prove that they are true insects.
4. A spider is not an insect. Why?
A true insect has six legs and three
parts to his body: head, thorax, and
abdomen.
Choose four insects of immediate
interest because of possible first-hand
observation.
MOTIVATION
The following items motivated selec-
tion of the four insects in this unit:
1. Children brought a dead bumble-
bee to school.
2. Stories told about experiences
with bee stings.
3. Story of ant led to keen interest
and observation of large carpenter ant
found on playground.
4. Children reported their observa-
tions of ant-hills this summer.
5. A live wasp was found on the
window sill — probably the queen from
the hornet nest brought in by a pupil.
6. Flies emerged from goldenrod
galls brought by a child.
BEE
Honeybee
1. Problem: How would you rec-
ognize a honeybee?
a. an insect
b. color — yellowish brown
c. senses
(1) keen sight; eyes compound
and numerous
(2) smell and hear with an-
tennae (feelers)
d. pollen baskets on hind legs
e. four wings
2. Problem: What do bees eat?
a. nectar
b. pollen
3. Problem: What are the kinds of
honeybees?
a. workers
Insects
A Good Unit for Fall Classes
Mildred Rodgers
For Primary and Lower Intermediate Grades
(1) greatest in number (thou-
sands in a hive)
(2) smallest in size
(3) do all the work
(4) short-lived
(5) barbed sting
b. queens
(1) one in a hive at one time
(2) largest in size
(3) lay all the eggs
(4) smooth sting
c. drones
(1) few in number
(2) smaller than queens
(3) do not work
(4) killed at the approach of
winter
(5) no sting
Problem: What is the mode of life
in the hive?
a. social
b. number in a swarm (about
seventy thousand)
c. building the comb,
d. laying of eggs by the queen
(1) worker cells
(2) drone cells
e. development of the young
(1) the egg; (2) the larva (fed
bee-jelly and bee-bread by
the workers); (3) the co-
coon; (4) the young bee
f. other industries in the hive
(1) keeping it clean; (2) guard-
ing the hive; (3) ventilating
the hive; (4) making wax;
(5) gathering nectar and
pollen
g. developing new queens
(1) special cells
(2) special food (royal-jelly)
(3) destroying other queens in
cells
h. swarming and the reason for it
(1) the new queen
(2) the old queen
i. kinds of hives used in various
countries
i. Problem: Of what use is the
honeybee?
a. manufactures honey
b. assists in cross-pollination of
flowers
Bumblebee
.. Problem: How does the bumble-
bee differ from the honeybee?
a. appearance
(1) larger
(2) color — black and yellow
b. mode of life
(1) solitary
(2) home in the ground
(3) wintering
(a) only youngest queen
survives
(b) sleeps in hole in the
ground
2. Problem: Of what use is the
bumblebee?
a. assists in the cross-pollination
of flowers
b. helps honeybees to gather nectar
Leaf-Cutter Bee
1. Problem: How does it differ from
the other two kinds of bees?
a. appearance
(1) smallest
(2) gray in color
b. mode of life
(1) solitary
(2) nest in old soft wood —
thimble shaped
2. Problem: What is the work of the
leaf-cutter bee?
ANT
A. Problem: How does the ant com-
pare with the bee?
1. similarities
a. social and solitary
b. kinds in a community
(1) workers
(2) drones
(3) queens
2. dissimilarities
a. bees cooperative and disin-
terested
b. ants war-like
B. Problem: How would you rec-
ognize an ant?
1. an insect
2. small ants (red and black ants)
3. large, brown carpenter ants
C. Problem: What do ants eat?
1. other insects
2. honeydew from aphids
3. grain and crumbs
D. Problem: What is the mode of life
in an ant-hill?
1. location and construction
2. wedding flight
a. latter part of June
b. queens and drones acquire
wings and discard them after
flight
c. swarm (all of one specie of
ant at one time)
3. egg laying by the queen
a. average of one egg every two
minutes (Turn to page 64)
8
CLOSEUP OF NEST, SIDE CUT AWAY, EXPOSING THE
INTERIOR CONSISTING OF FIVE TIERS OF CELLS
CLOSEUP OF ONE TIER
SHOWING HUNDREDS
OF CELLS
Photographs by
Lynwood M. Chace
YOUNG YELLOW JACKET HORNET JUST AFTER EMERGING FROM CELL
QUEEN WASP JUST AFTER EMERGING FROM CELL
9
Study
A Unit In Elementary Science FOR PRIMARY GRADES
BY MARGARET E. PARRY
One day in our science class, while discussing seeds and
how they travel, one of the boys became enthusiastic
about bees. He had recently visited an uncle who kept
them. The uncle was invited to come to school and tell
us about bees. When he came he brought his movies
which told a vivid story about them. He gave us a bee
hive to place in the window so that we could watch the
bees. The following unit was developed.
STUDY GUIDE
T Social Bees
II Honey bees Community
A Kind of bees
1 Workers
a Largest class
b Smallest class
c Undeveloped female
d Performs all work
2 Males
a Larger than the workers
b Hairy body
c Performs no tasks
d Killed at approach of winter
3 Females or Queens
a Same egg as worker
b Different food
c Mating of queen
d Largest body
e Lay eggs
f Has sting
g Care of Queens
h Battles of Queens
i Swarming
B Community life
1 Wax secreting
2. . .Care of hive
a Comb building
b Cleanliness of hive
c Ventilation
d Guarding hive
3 Egg laying
a How eggs are placed
b Number laid
4. . . . . .Bee scouts
a Getting food
b Getting nectar for honey
5 Developing of young
a Egg
(1) Size
(2) Shape
(3) Time to hatch
6 Wintering
7 Enemies of the bees
a Insects
b Disease
III Bumble bee
A Appearance
1 Size
2 Color
3 Sting
B Community life
1 Ready made nests
2 Wax in cells
3 Females live through winter
4 Fertilization of flowers
5 Guest bumble bee
IV Solitary bee
A Carpenter bee
B Mason bee
V Value of bee to man
A Honey
B Wax
C Pollenization
PROCEDURE
After the study guide was made we listed ways we may
develop it.
1 Find pictures
2 Read stories and poems
3 Write and sing songs
4 Write stories and poems
5 Make booklets
6 Keep word lists
7 Play games
8 List social groups
OBJECTIVES
Social Habits
Cooperation
Knowledges
Skills
Appreciation
CORRELATION
1 Spelling New words found in our unit
2 Reading
Stories
Poems
3 Language
Picture study
Stories Individual and group
Plays Individual and group
Poems and Riddles Original-group and indi-
vidual
4 Music
5 Art
Booklets
Charts
Posters
REVIEW ACTIVITIES
I General Questions
1 What is the bee’s food?
2 On what are the young fed? (Turn to page 63)
10
HONEYBEES
A UNIT OF WORK IN NATURE STUDY
MARGARET FITZSIMMONS
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
OBJECTIVES
1. To make pupils realize :
a. How interesting and intelli-
gent honeybees are.
b. That honeybees work together
in groups to build their homes
and store their food.
c. That if it were not for the
honeybee, we should have to
go without many fruits and
vegetables.
d. That honeybees help the farm-
er and that they are the only
insects which make any contri-
bution to the food of man.
OUTLINE FOR STUDY
The following outline was used to
guide the children in their study and
observations :
1. Characteristics.
(1) Winged insect
(2) Tongue for gathering nectar
(3) Sight
(4) Smell
(5) Hind feet for carrying pollen
2. Food.
(1) Honey
(2) Beebread
3. Classes of Honeybees.
(1) Queens or females
a. slender with long bodies
b. lay eggs
c. have stings
d. live for about three years
(2) Drones or males
a. have no sting
b. larger than the workers
c. do not work
d. are fed by the workers
(3) Workers
a. largest class
b. perform all the work
(a) make the cells
(b) care for the queen,
drones, and babies
(c) gather nectar and pol-
len
4. Apiaries.
(1) Types of beehive
a. old fashioned beehive
b. modern square boxes
(2) Honey
a. strained
b. comb
CORRELATIONS
(a) informational sentences
about bees
(b) oral riddles
b. Written
(a) informational sentences
about bees
2. Reading.
a. Library books
b. Charts of new words
c. Seatwork assignments
3. Spelling.
a. Simple words taken from vo-
cabulary
4. Art.
a. Paper cutting
b. Crayon illustrations
5. Vocabulary. (Arranged alpha-
betically by pupils.)
A.
fold
poison
air
food
pounds
B.
flight
Q-
bees
G.
queen
boxes
grown
R.
baskets
guard
royal
babies
H.
S.
bread
head
sting
brood
honey
summer
blow
hive
small
busy
hook
sac
C.
J.
smoke
chew
jelly
stays
carry
juice
stomach
comb
K.
sided
clean
kill
scouts
cells
L.
same
cool
legs
suits
clover
lives
swell
close
long
T.
D.
lays
thin
drones
M.
thousand
dry
male
trunk
dust
mother
W.
E.
millions
wings
eyes
N.
wax
eggs
nectar
warm
eat
nurse
workers
F.
0 .
water
flowers
opens
winter
fan
P.
wooden
fight
pockets
Y.
flesh
pollen
yellow
TESTS FOR SEATWORK
1. Yes or No Sentences.
Put an X after the sentences that
you think are right and an O after
those that you think are wrong.
a. Three queens live in one hive.
b. The pollen gatherers fill the
baskets on their hind legs with
pollen.
c. The drones can sting.
d. Bees gather sweet juice called
nectar from the flowers.
e. Smoke is blown into the hive
to make the bees sting.
f. Pollen dust is used to make
beebread.
g. Bees fan fresh air into the
hive.
h. A bee has many eyes.
i. A beehive is kept very clean.
j. A bee fights by using her sting.
Key for scoring: X = Yes, 0 = No:
a-0; b-x; c-0; d-x; e-x; f-x; g-x;
h-x; i-x; j-x.
2. Classification.
Below each of the following column
heads write the letters of the sen-
tences which tell about it.
Queen Drone Workers
ABC
a. I gather pollen.
b. I am the mother of the hive.
c. I am a fat bee.
d. I have to be fed.
e. I lay eggs.
f. I have a short tongue.
g. I make wax.
h. I am very long and thin.
i. I have a long tongue.
j. I like to eat honey.
Key for scoring
ABC
b c a
d d g
e f i
h j j
j
3. Blank filling.
Fill in the blanks With the correct
word from the list below.
a. Wild honeybees lived in hol-
low .
b. Each bee has her own
to do.
c. Bees save enough food for
d. Workers feed the queen
e. Bees carry from
flower to flower.
f. The workers are the
bees in the hive.
g. When young bees are fifteen
days old, they are ready to
1. Language,
a. Oral
11
h. A bee’s sting (Turn to page 56 )
ANTS
A CORRELATION OF NATURE STUDY AND OTHER SCHOOL SUBJECTS
MARGARET FITZSIMMONS
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
OUTLINE FOR STUDY
The following outline was de-
veloped to guide the children in their
study and observations.
I. Parts of the ant.
1. Head
2. Thorax
3. Abdomen
4. Legs
5. Wings
II. Classes.
1. Male
a. Usually winged
b. Does not work
c. Short lived
2. Female
a. Largest form
b. Winged
c. Lays all eggs
3. Workers
a. Smallest form
b. Most numerous
c. Does all the work
d. Wingless
III. Mode of Life.
1. All species social
2. Plant dwellers
a. Nests in dead trees
b. Nests in living plants
3. Soil dwellers
a. Manner of Nests
Galleries
Chambers
b. Regular tasks
Keeping nest clean
Securing food
Feeding young
IV. Choice of Food.
1. Flesh eaters
2. Plant lice kept as cows
3. Seed eaters
4. Fungus eaters
ACTIVITIES
I. Language.
1. Oral
a. Informational sentences about
ants
b. Oral riddles
2. Written
a. Informational sentences about
ants
II. Reading.
1. Library books
2. Charts of new words
3. Seatwork assignments
III. Spelling.
ant feelers holes
soil wings food
Editor's Note: The study of ants is par-
ticularly appropriate for the month pre-
ceding summer vacation. At picnics in the
country the children will all have experi-
ences with ants and this outline affords an
opportunity to lead them to regard these
busy little insects not as pests but as very
lively objects of interest.
(2) The Queen ant takes care of
the
a. workers b. eggs c. cows
(3) An ant makes its home of
a. brick b. hay c. sand
(4) On its legs the ant has
a. claws b. brushes c. rings
(5) Ants plant
a. corn b. mushrooms c. hay
(6) Some workers are
IV. Art.
a. happy b. blind c. sad
(7) In its jaws the ant carries
1. Paper cutting
a. stones b. food c. boxes
2. Crayon illustrations
(8) From the cows they get
V. Vocabulary.
a. eggs b. grain c. honeydew
ants
ceiling
moving
KEY FOR SCORING
male
mushrooms
soil
female
cattle
fighting
(1) a (4) b (7) b
wings
cows
brush
(2) b (5) b (8) c
wingless
feed
comb
(3) c (6) b
grain
jaws
head
b.
workers
carrying
eggs
( 1 ) Carpenter ants bore through
clean
nurse
guard
a. fences b. trees c. apples
queen
food
door
( 2 ) The ant uses its jaws for
enemy
pathways
stones
a. singing b. flying c. digging
sideways
tunnel
sand
(3) The ant uses its feelers for
feelers
moving
nest
a. running b. jumping c.
bottom
eyes
sidewalk
tapping
stones
blind
colony
( 4 ) The ant washes herself like a
honeydew
soil
swarm
a. bird b. elephant c. cat
red
battles
milk
( 5 ) Some ants are
black
underground
lice
a. blind b. sad c. happy
gardener
milking
leaves
(6) Ants eat
protect
stroke
trees
a. apples b. mushrooms c.
VI. Types of Seatwork.
corn
1. Blank filling
(7) From the cattle ants get
a. Ants
have
feelers.
a. honeydew b. corn c. apple
b. Ants have
legs.
(8) The ants build barns for the
c. An ant has
parts to
a. workers b. cattle c. Queens
its body.
KEY FOR SCORING
d. Ants cross their when
they meet.
e. Ants move their sideways.
f. Ants have on their
front legs.
Cl) jaws (4) three
(2) two (5) six
(3) feelers (6) brushes
(1) b — trees
(2) c — digging
(3) c — tapping
(4) c — cat
(5) a — blind
(6) b — mushrooms
(7) a — honeydew
(8) b — cattle
KEY FOR SCORING
( 1) e (4) c
(2) a (5) b
(3) d (6) f
2. Multiple choice.
a.
(1) The ant is always
a. working b. singing c. cry-
ing
3. Yes and No Sentences
a.
(1) Ants are very clean.
(2) An ant has six feelers.
'3) Ants keep horses.
(4) The Queen ant takes care of
the eggs.
(5) Some workers are blind.
(6) Ants make their houses out
of grass. ( Turn to page 55j
12
FISH, FHOCS, REPTILES
GARDEN SNAIL POND SNAILS
SNAIL FEEDING
SNAILS AND CRAYFISH
MATERIAL FOR NATURE STUDY LESSONS
GLENN O. BLOUGH, Assistant Professor of Science, State College of Education, Greeley, Colorado: IDA K. BRINK
THE SNAIL
1. Questions for study :
a. Examine a snail under a reading
glass and see how much you can
find out about it.
b. How does the snail protect it-
self?
c. What does it eat ?
d. How does it eat and move ?
e. Where do young snails come
from?
2. Young snails:
Some day, when you are looking at
your aquarium, you may find a lump
of clear jelly fastened to the side of
the glass. Unless you look closely you
may not see it because it is almost
the color of the glass. If you look at it
through a reading glass, you will see
SNAILS IN THEIR SHELLS
Eoitoe's Note: Th* photographs tor tha il-
lustration of this article ware supplied
through the courtesy of The American
Museum of Natural History.
that this jelly is made up of many
tiny dots. These are snail’s eggs.
Soon after the eggs hatch, the
young snails will begin to creep away
from the jelly in which they were
laid. Since the goldfish in your
aquarium may eat the young snails,
you may want to take them out.
Should you do this, handle them very
carefully and place them in a small
jar of water until they have grown
too large for the fish to eat. Then you
may put them back into your aquari-
um. Put some water
plants into the small
jar for the snails to
eat. They will need the
plants for food as they
grow.
3. The snail’s mouth
and tongue:
Many people have
never seen the mouth
of a snail but, if you
look closely when you
are watching the snails
in your aquarium, you
can see the mouth. It is
very small and seems
always to be opening
and closing. The snail
is eating as it creeps
along over the glass.
With a reading glass
you may be able to see
the tongue when it
comes out of the mouth
as the snail eats. As the
L tongue moves back and
forth, it scrapes off the
tiny plants and animals that live on
the glass and the blades of the water
plants. These plants and animals —
like those that the fish eat — are so
small that you cannot see them with-
out a microscope. Sometimes, if the
sides of your aquarium are green
with these small plants, you may find
a tiny path that shows where a snail
has cleaned them off the glass.
Some, kinds of snails breathe un-
der water, just as fish do, but other
kinds must come to the top for air.
They take in oxygen in breathing
just as fish do.
4. The snail’s house :
The snail always carries its house
with it. It never needs to go away
from home nor to hurry home before
dark. Since the day it hatched from a
tiny egg, it has lived in its shell-
house. A snail could not leave its
shell even if it wished to do so, be-
cause its soft body parts are fastened
to the shell. The hard shell protects
the soft parts inside. Some of the
softer body parts help to make the
shell. As the snail grows, its house
gets larger. Perhaps you may notice
a small snail and a large one close
together. If you do, you will see that,
as the snail gets larger, the shell adds
more curves to itself.
5. The snail’s foot :
Watch the snail as it moves The
flat part of the body that presses
tightly against the glass is called the
foot. A snail you see has only one foot,
but that is all it needs to enable it to
creep slowly along. Most snails give
off a slimy material that helps the
foot to slip along easily. If you hold
one in your hand as it crawls along
you can feel the slime.
6. Things to do :
Perhaps you may like to do some
of these things:
14
system
b/ood vesse/
A CRAYFISH
ORGANS OF A CRAYFISH
THOMPSON
A FEMALE CARRYING EGGS
a. Draw a snail and label the
mouth, foot, and shell.
b. Find as many different kinds of
snails as you can.
c. Raise some young snails from
eggs and give them to a friend
who has an aquarium.
d. Find a picture of a snail’s mouth
and tongue and show it to your
classmates.
e. Look in the woods for snails.
f. Scrape some of the green plants
from the glass in your aquarium
and put it under a microscope.
Show them to your classmates
and tell them that snails eat
these plants.
THE CRAYFISH
1. Questions for study :
a. What are the parts of the body
of a crayfish that help it to live
in water?
b. What do crayfish eat ?
c. Where would you expect to find
a crayfish?
d. From where do young crayfish
come?
e. What do they do in winter.
2. How crayfish live :
The crayfish is a small animal,
with many jointed legs, that lives in
fresh water. Many people call these
animals crabs, but crabs live only in
the salty water of the oceans, while
crayfish live only in fresh water
lakes and streams.
A small crayfish is easier to keep
in an aquarium than a full grown
one. The sand and stones in the bot-
tom of your aquarium make a good
home for a crayfish. Watch it as it
burrows under one of the stones. It
will probably spend much of its time
sitting under a stone with its feelers
sticking out far enough to wave back
and forth. Drop a very small piece
of fresh meat in front of these feel-
ers and watch the animal jump out
after it.
3. The food crayfish eat :
Crayfish live in small burrows un-
der stones in running brooks and,
when food floats past them, they
spring out to seize it. They catch
snails, tadpoles, and young insects
as they go swimming by. Sometimes
they eat one another. Usually they
hunt for their food at night.
4. How a crayfish moves :
You will be surprised to see how
very fast a crayfish can move. It can
go either forward or backward with
great speed and, because of its many
legs, it can also easily move side-
wise. If you look carefully, you will
see, growing out of the body of the
crayfish, many different kinds of
legs. Some are used for feeding, some
for walking, and some to hold the
eggs when they are hatching. At the
ends of two of the front legs there
are large pincers which help the cray-
fish to catch food. Sometimes they
catch hold of the toes of small boys
who are wading in a creek where cray-
fish live ! Notice how the back part of
a crayfish folds under. When this
folded piece is forcibly straightened
out, it pushes the crayfish backward
through the water at great speed.
When you lift a crayfish from the
water it often straightens out this
“tail” with a quick jerk and spatters
water on you. If you always lift a
crayfish by the hard
shell near the front, it
cannot reach you with
its long pincers.
5. The shell of a cray-
fish:
As a young crayfish
grows, its outer cover-
ing becomes too tight
for it. Then a strange
thing happens. The
hard shell splits across
the top and the animal
slowly draws itself out
of its outer shell. Even
the tiny legs come out
of their shell-covering.
The old shell is left be-
hind but, in a few days,
the crayfish grows a
new shell that is large
enough for it to live in
comfortably! Before a
crayfish is full grown,
it sheds its outer cover-
ing several times.
Besides being able to
make itself a new shell, a crayfish can
do another very interesting thing. If
it loses a leg in a struggle with an-
other animal, or by an accident, it
grows a new one ! Crayfish have been
known to grow new feelers and even
new eyes!
6. Young crayfish :
Young crayfish hatch from eggs.
The mother crayfish fastens the eggs
with a glue-like substance under the
back part of her body. In spring, you
may easily find a crayfish with eggs
and keep her in your aquarium until
the eggs hatch.
7. Things to do :
Perhaps you may like to do these
things :
a. Go to a brook and hunt for cray-
fish.
b. Look carefully at a crayfish as it
moves and try to find out which
pairs of legs it uses.
c. Draw a crayfish and name the
parts.
d. Find pictures of crayfish and
show them to your classmates.
e. Keep a mother crayfish with
eggs and try to raise the young.
CLOSE-UP OF A CRAYFISH
IS
UNDERWOOD
THE FLYING FOX
QUEER FLYING THINGS
AN APPROACH THROUGH NATURE STUDY TO THE STUDY OF THE AIRPLANE
C. B. DAVIS
M odern inventors have achieved
marvelous results with the airplane
and other devices for aerial travel
but, long before the airplane was in-
vented, two little animals used a sim-
ilar principle in successful flight.
Both the flying squirrel and the flying
fish sail through the air and rise and
fall on an airplane of nature’s in-
vention.
THE FLYING SQUIRREL
Our common flying squirrel, with a
thin, wing-like membrane stretched
tightly between its extended legs, is
a typical airplane. Thoreau, in speak-
ing of such a squirrel, says: “It
sprang from a maple at a height of
twenty-eight and one-half feet from
the ground, and landed easily and
lightly on the ground at the foot of
another tree fifty and one-half feet
away. Its flight was not a regular de-
scent. It varied from a straight line
both horizontally and vertically. It
THE FRUIT BAT
Editor's Note: An approach through na-
ture study is a very advantageous way of
motivating a unit of activity. This article
affords such an approach for an airplane
unit.
skimmed much like a hawk, and part
of its flight was nearly horizontal.
There were six trees from six inches
to a foot in diameter between the be-
ginning and the ending of its flight,
and these it skimmed partly round
and passed through their thinner
twigs. It did not, as I could perceive,
touch a single twig.”
Other observers have seen numbers
of these little creatures engaged in
similar sportive gambols which
seemed to have had no other object
than playfulness or the mere pleasure
of flight. Their movements, however,
are not flying as a bird flies, for the
membrane that supports their bodies
while in the air is motionless and acts
somewhat like the parachute of the
aviator when he “bails out”.
THE FLYING FISH
The “wings” of the two known
kinds of flying fish are the pectoral
fins grown to an enormous size. The
FLYING FISH DROPPING BACK INTO THE OCEAN
FLYING FISH IN THE AIR
Iff
COURTESY. AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
COURTESY. AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
THE FLYING FROG
OCEANIC FLYING FISH
FRESH WATER FLYING FISH
kind most commonly seen is called
the flying herring and resembles the
garpike. They do not move their fins
when flying, but seem rather to float
on the wind, their flights sometimes
extending, in calm weather, to a dis-
tance of more than an eighth of a
mile.
When they land on the deck of a
ship, as they sometimes do, it is sup-
posed that their flight has been de-
flected by air currents which the wind
makes as it strikes against the side
of the vessel and which lift the fish
above the deck. Some observers say
that they can change the direction of
their flight at will, but it is more
probable that they are at the mercy
of the wind. The flying fish are sup-
posed to leap from the water to escape
the attack of a hungry enemy.
THE FLYING FROG
In Java and some other places oc-
curs a remarkable flying tree frog —
or, according to some observers, a
tree-toad — which has a green back,
a white belly, and a bright, orange-
colored membrane between its toes,
which are tipped by circular disks.
This frog, like the chameleon, can
change its color according to that of
its surroundings. It feeds at night on
insects and, when disturbed, can leap
out of the tree in which it is seated,
and sail away to safety. The mem-
brane between its toes probably acts
as a parachute and not as a flying ap-
paratus. The toe disks, like similar
enlargements on our common tree-
toad, presumably act like suckers to
hold the animal firmly in place
against the trunk or limb of the tree.
THE FLYING SPIDER
In favored localities these little gos-
samer spiders occur in such large
numbers that the ground and the
herbage over a considerable area are
often whitened by the threads which
they have spun and which, having
served their purpose, have been
thrown away. Just why this spider
takes his floating excursions and why
so many are active only in the au-
tumn are not positively known.
In Texas, however, occurs another
gossamer spider which has similar
floating habits and which uses its
sailing webs to carry its young from
place to place and thus to scatter
them over a wide extent of country.
This little creature weighs only about
two grains. She spins a hammock-
shaped structure of web, cuts it loose
when she feels that it has sufficient
lifting power, and, with her young
ones clustered on her back, sails be-
fore the wind, apparently trusting to
luck to bring her down in a place fa-
vorable for herself and family. Her
balloons have been seen floating at a
height of from one thousand to two
thousand feet and, before a brisk
wind, they may fly for a hundred
miles or more.
Other queer flying creatures are
the bats of which there are about 300
kinds including the flying fox of India,
which has a wing spread of nearly
five feet, and the fruit bat, which does
so much harm in Australia and other
tropical countries.
None of these creatures (except
the bats), not even those of man
himself, are true flying machines.
They float and sail in the air only
because they take advantage of cer-
tain natural laws. The human aviator
uses an engine to force his machine
forward. The flying squirrels, frogs,
and fish start by leaping, and make
their descent gradual by the help of a
parachute. The ( Turn to page 57)
THE FLYING FROG
THE FLYING SQUIRREL
FROGS
A NATURE STUDY UNIT WITH CLASS ACTIVITIES
H. ROLL
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
BULLFROG AND LEOPARD FROG
P rogs are found
in all parts of
the United States
except in deserts
and other arid
regions. They are
amphibious ani-
mals, that is,
they are so made
that they can live
either in air or in
water, and they
must have access
to water to com-
plete their life’s
cycle. There are
many kinds of
frogs in the Unit-
ed States but the
most common of
those found east of the Rocky Moun-
tains are the bullfrog — so called be-
cause of his deep bass voice — the
spotted leopard frog, the small green
frog, the tree frog, and the peeping
frog of the meadows, the two last of
which are properly called hylas. The
species of frogs west of the Rocky
Mountains are somewhat different
but the life cycles of all are much the
same.
LIFE CYCLE OF THE FROG
Frogs are hibernating animals. All
winter they sleep in the mud at the
bottom of a swamp or pond but, when
the weather warms up in the spring,
the ice leaves the pond, and the frost
comes out of the ground, they awaken
and come out to sun themselves.
Usually we do not notice them until
we hear their chorus at night. The
male frogs are the singers; the fe-
males do not sing. The male takes a
deep breath, closes his mouth and
nose, and applies pressure to the air
between his lungs and his mouth.
This forces some of the air into an
air sac which swells so as to form the
lump which we see under his chin.
This “balloon” produces his “voice”.
Frogs eat insects but cannot see
them when they are still and hence
can capture them only when they are
in motion. The frog has a very long
tongue which is covered with a sticky
substance and with which he is a very
accurate marksman. When he sees an
insect flying about nearby, he takes
one well-directed leap toward it and
snatches it out of the air with his long
tongue.
If you will look around carefully in
the tall grasses at the edge of a
swamp or pond you will probably find
a number of jelly-like masses which
look much like tapioca pudding.
These are the eggs of a mother frog.
Inside the gluelike outer covering of
each of them you can see a tiny black
speck. Within about a month after
the eggs are laid, this speck hatches
into a tiny pollywog.
The life cycle of a frog may be
divided for convenience into the fol-
lowing stages:
Stage 1. The egg is laid in the water
at the edge of a swamp or pond and
the young tadpole lives at first on the
gluey substance of the egg. Soon,
however, he develops a beaklike
mouth with which he scrapes from
plants and other objects in the water
the scum on which he feeds. He is
obliged to keep well hidden to avoid
being eaten for dinner by a larger
tadpole, a fish, or some other denizen
of the pond. At first a tadpole swims
like a fish with the aid of a tail and
is much like a fish in other respects,
but he soon changes into an air-
breathing animal and must rise to
the surface every few moments to
breathe.
Stage 2. By the fifth day after he
starts to grow, the tadpole has de-
veloped a strong tail which enables
him to move about freely to obtain
pond scum and
small water ani-
mals for food. He
also uses it to
escape from his
numerous ene-
mies. Only about
one tadpole in a
hundred lives be-
yond this stage.
Stage 3. On the
eighth day, the
tadpole’s legs
have begun to de-
velop. If one of
his toes, or even
an entire leg, is
bitten off at this
stage, it will grow
out again ; but
this marvelous regeneration can take
place only during this part of his
life.
Stage 4. By the fourteenth day,
the tadpole is about twice his size at
the previous stage. The right arm
now begins to develop and this seems
to be quite a painful process. The
tadpole moves about very little at
this stage but stays near the surface
of the pond because the right arm
grows at the place where the pore for
breathing in water is located. The left
arm now begins to develop and after
the tadpole gets both front arms, or
legs, he can hop out of the water and
live equally as comfortably on land.
Stage 5. By the end of the ninth
week all four legs have become fully
developed.
Stage 6. During the preceding
stages, the tadpole’s tail has been
gradually absorbed and, at about the
eleventh week, the tail is completely
absorbed and he has become a minia-
ture frog.
Stage 7. A young frog takes from
three to five years to develop into a
mature adult.
The adult frog is an air-breathing
animal although he can remain under
water for quite a long time. Hence
he can pass at will from the air to
the water and back again, either to
seek food or to escape from his en-
emies. He usually stays near the
edge of the swamp or pond and, if
placed in deep water, will swim fran-
tically toward the ( Turn to page 55)
18
EWING GALLOWAY
I. OBJECTIVES
1. To develop appreciation of na-
ture
2. To develop interest in life and
habits of frogs
II. MATERIALS
1. Frogs’ eggs
2. Tadpoles
III. GENERAL OUTLINE
A. Location
1. All parts of the United States
except very dry regions
B. Eggs
1. Location
2. Size
3. Number
4. Appearance
C. Tadpoles
1. Shape
2. Manner of breathing
3. Length of life
4. Process of changing into a frog
D. Frog
1. size
2. eyes, tongue, feet
3. length of life
4. hibernation
E. Classes of frogs
1. Leopard frog
a. most common
b. color
c. number of eggs laid
2. Peeper frog
a. size
b. color
c. swelling of throat
d. where found
e. food
3. Tree frog
a. feet
THE FROG UNIT
A STUDY OF A FAVORITE ANIMAL
NOREEN HUGHES
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
1. sticky pads on feet
2. walks like a fly
b. food
1. hunts at night
2. catches ants, gnats, and flies
c. home
1. trees
a. climbs tallest trees
b. hides in mossy places
2. water
a. good swimmer
b. likes cool, damp places
4. Uses of frogs
a. help to destroy insects
b. food
IV. OUTCOMES
A. Language
1. oral
a. informational stories, riddles,
poems, etc.
2. written
a. informational stories about
frogs
B. Reading
1. children’s references
2. vocabulary chart
3. seatwork assignments
C. Spelling
jelly
eggs
pond
legs
hatched
spring
frogs
mud
gills
tail
lungs
baby
D. Vocabulary
spawn
insects
hibernate
croak
aquarium
hoarse
concert
shrill
weather
tadpole
moist
absorb
E. Art
1. Free illustrations, paper cutting,
easel work, friezes, etc.
F. Type of seatwork
1. Write the word that does not
belong (phonics)
a. frog spring song book
b. tadpole milk swimming eggs
c. hat pond flies pollywog
d. trees girl bark moss
e. hops jumps sings dances
f. gills lungs flag breathe
g. legs swing tail mouth
h. gnats flowers mosquitoes
2. Matching — tiny peepers
1. Peepers are
2. A peetper is about
3. A peeper puffs his throat
4. The eggs of a peeper
5. A peeper has a sweet
6. Peepers are heard very
7. Peepers change colors
8. Some peepers climb
9. Peepers’ eggs look
10. Peepers still sing in
a. are very tiny
b. little song
c. early in spring
d. very small
e. like the tree f-rog
f. look like seeds
g. late autumn
h. one inch long
i. to tops of trees
j. out like a balloon
3. Classification
1. Frogs 2. Tadpoles
a. water breather
b. long tail
c. lung breather
d. uses gills
e. sleeps all winter
f . croaks
g. hops
h. is like a fish
i. has arms and legs
4. Multiple choice
1. A tadpole has a. arms
b. legs c. tail
2. A frog breathes through
a. gills b. lungs c. air
3. A frog buries himself in
a. water b. straw c. mud
4. A tadpole loses his
a. head b. tail c. ears
5. Young tadpoles do not have
any a. heads b. mouths
c. bodies
6. The hatches the tad-
poles. a. mother b. sun c. water
7. A frog grows until he is about
years old. a. ten b. two
c. five
8. A frog all winter, a. hi-
bernates b. works c. hops
1. Leopard Frog 2. Peeper Frog
3. Tree Frog
a. smallest
b. most common
c. changes color
d. climbs trees
e. three to four inches long
f. sits for hours
g. sticky pads on feet
h. heard very early in spring.
(Turn to page 61 )
19
O MR. FROG begins to look like a real tadpole
“ though he is still very much in his infancy.
(Tadpoles in a more advanced stage hiding
in water plants.)
O MR. FROG after his third week as a tadpole changes
*■* his appearance remarkably. (Third week development.)
20
5
NOW he is beginning to look like a real lively frog
and will soon have forgotten all about his tadpole
experiences. (Tadpole with tail about half absorbed.)
HERE is our young Bullfrog looking quite
fit and eager for adventure in the outside
world. (Young Bullfrog after tail has been
absorbed.)
Lessons in
Elementary Science
Photographs by Lynwood M. Chace
HE IS now a grown-up Bull-
frog, ready to go forth and
seek his fortune. (Adult
Bullfrog swimming to sur-
face of water.)
O MR. BULLFROG sits among
the lily pads on the shore
and meditates about his fu-
ture problems. (Bullfrog
resting on shore of pond.)
21
For Primary and Intermediate Grades
Crusty, the Hermit Crab
A Science Story and Song
LYLA WATERBURY HAYNES
C rusty was only a quarter of an inch long. He didn’t
have a mother or father. He didn’t have a home.
Poor little Crusty, the baby Hermit Crab!
Crusty wished that he had a home. He needed it, too.
Only that morning he had been resting in a tidepool, when
a Sandpiper came along. He had come closer and closer
until he was almost upon Crusty.
You wouldn’t expect such a young crab to know much,
but just in time he slid into the pool out of Mr. Sand-
piper’s reach. The Sandpiper strained and stretched but
he couldn’t quite pick up Crusty with his sharp bill. If
his neck had been longer, like a flamingo’s, he would have
had a delicious luncheon. But Crusty remained right
where he was in the blue water. Mr. Sandpiper stood
around for awhile. He smoothed his white feathered vest
and straightened his speckled coat which looked like the
sand. Still nothing happened. The little crab did not
move. It isn’t much fun waiting around, so pretty soon
Mr. Sandpiper gave up, and went down the shore, bowing
and teetering and looking for sand fleas, which were easier
to catch anyway.
All this had frightened Crusty, so he set out at once to
find a home. He would never be safe until he backed
himself into a shell. Then Mr. Sandpiper couldn’t get
him, or if he did, Mr. Sandpiper would have a good
stomach ache. Indeed, eating shells would not agree with
anybody!
Crusty dragged himself over the sand. After awhile
he found a small empty periwinkle shell house. It looked
quite homey so he entered. He backed in and closed the
door by putting his hard shelled claw into the opening.
Crusty was happy in his new home. He felt safe and
contented. He thought he would live there forever.
Little did he know how soon he would be forced to move.
One day Crusty felt something pinching him. It isn’t
very nice to be pinched and he wondered what it could be?
He looked around to see if he had company. But there
wasn’t a soul nearby! Imagine how surprised he was
when he discovered that he had grown, and the shell
apartment had become too small. His house felt like a
shoe that is too tight but he squeezed himself back into it
again. He wasn’t going to take a chance of Mr. Sandpiper
catching him out of doors.
Next morning Crusty bumped along looking to right
and left. He knew exactly the kind of shell house he
wanted. It wasn’t long before he found one which seemed
to be vacant. To make sure he thrust in his claw and
felt around.
Inside he found a greenish clam worm. That was all
right. Crusty was in luck, for clam worms are nice to
have around. They eat all the little bugs which come in
to bother. So Crusty quickly changed houses.
The roommates got along well and were contented to-
gether for some time. After awhile the shell house which
had been so roomy at first began to be crowded. So
Crusty knew he must be growing again. He had grown
larger and stronger so he started out at once to find a
larger house. (Turn to par/c ;> 7)
THE HERMIT CRAB
Lyla W. Haynes Helen T. Burdette
22
TIE TOAD • A HELPFUL CIRDEII WORKER
EVELYNE STONE
O ne of the most fascinating workers in our Victory gar-
dens this summer will doubtless be the helpful little
toad. Children are always interested in this queer little
creature and therefore he makes a very good subject for
a unit of work or a story-type lesson. Very likely your
class has already worked out such a unit or lesson. The
little quiz on this page may be used in connection with
your unit of activity or it may be given as a separate
nature test.
If the children have not already studied the toad in the
manner indicated above, another way to use these ques-
tions is to give them to the class and let them search for
the information required. Then it may be the basis of a
lively question-and-answer period with great excitement
as to who has been able to answer the largest number of
questions about the gardener’s friend.
To check the score, count 5 for each correct answer. A
grade of 90 to 100 per cent is excellent; 80 to 90 is very
good ; and 70 to 80 is good. Below that — well, the children
will see that they do not know much about toads !
the day he was hatched ?
YES
NO
2. Are all Mr. Toad’s rela-
tives tadpoles when they
are first hatched?
YES
NO
3. Are any of his relatives
less than two inches
long?
YES
NO
4. Are any of his relatives
more than six inches
long?
YES
NO
5. Does Mr. Toad drink as
we do?
YES
NO
6. Does he eat much ?
YES
NO
7. Is his tongue fastened in
the back of his mouth?
YES
NO
8. Does he have any teeth ?
YES
NO
9. Is it true, as some people
believe, that Mr. Toad
can live many years
without air?
YES
NO
10. Is it true that you will
get warts if you handle
Mr. Toad?
YES
NO
11. Should we protect Mr.
Toad?
YES
NO
12. Does Mr. Toad have as
many enemies as Mr.
Frog?
YES
NO
13. Does he have any way of
protecting himself
against enemies?
YES
NO
14. Can Mr. Toad and his
relatives live a long
time?
YES
NO
15. Are Mr. Toad’s legs as
long as Mr. Frog’s ?
YES
NO
16. When he sheds his skin
does he leave it lying on
the ground?
YES
NO
17. Does Mr. Toad like to
live in damp places bet-
ter than in dry places?
YES
NO
18. Do you see Mr. Toad
oftener during the day
than at night?
19. Does Mr. Toad cover
himself up when he goes
to bed ?
20. Do you see Mr. Toad
hopping about in your
garden all winter ?
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
HERE ARE THE ANSWERS:
1. No. In the beginning, he was a tad-
pole and lived the first part of his
life in water.
2. No. The “Jack-in-the-box” toad that
lives in South America looks just
like its mother when it is hatched.
3. Yes. The oak toad is only three-
quarters of an inch long and is
found in the southeastern part of
the United States.
4. Yes. The Giant Toad that lives in
Arizona and California is seven
inches long.
5. No. He drinks by soaking himself
full of water.
6. Yes. He fills up his stomach four
times a day. To do this he must eat
nearly all the time. During the
summer he can eat as many as ten
thousand insects.
7. No. His tongue is fastened in the
front of his mouth, so that he can
throw it far out and catch insects
and other food.
CUTOUT BY JENNIE M. HAVER
8. No. Unlike Mr. Frog, Mr. Toad has
no teeth. He does not need any as
his diet is made up mostly of insects
and worms, which he swallows
whole.
9. No. Mr. Toad needs air just like any
other land creature.
10. No. There is no danger of Mr.
Toad’s causing warts if you handle
him.
11. Yes. Mr. Toad destroys garden
pests such as spiders, ants, potato
bugs, plant lice and beetles.
12. No. His only real enemies are the
snakes.
13. Yes. In the glands behind his head
is a secretion which comes out in
little beads on his skin and has a
very unpleasant taste. Snakes are
the only enemies who do not seem
to mind this. Also, Mr. Toad is pro-
tected by his color, which is almost
like that of the ground, making it
difficult for him to be seen.
14. Yes. Some toads who are lucky
enough to avoid their enemies have
been known to live thirty-five years.
15. No. Mr. Toad’s legs are shorter than
Mr. Frog’s and are better suited for
walking than for jumping.
16. No. He swallows it.
17. Yes. He likes to live in damp, cool
places where there are stones to
hide under.
18. No. He likes to sleep during the day
and go out food-hunting after the
sun has gone down.
19. Yes. He kicks himself into bed. He
pushes himself backward into loose
sand or dirt and twists himself
about until he is completely covered
up.
20. No. He buries himself in the ground
and sleeps there all winter long.
23
SPRING'S AWAKENING
A STUDY OF SPRING INTERESTS WITH
RELATED ACTIVITIES
HELEN A. SMITH
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
^^UR study of spring’s awakening
was initiated through the children’s
interest in bringing to school
branches of pussy willows to show to
the rest of the children. This led them
to discuss the coming of spring. One
child offered to bring to school a pic-
ture which he had seen in the Sunday
paper of two baby cubs and their
mother just coming out of their win-
ter home. The class became very en-
thusiastic and we decided to record
the signs of spring.
SIGHS OF SPRING
Children’s Suggestions
Pussy willow trees — where they grow
frogs and toads turtles
snakes bears
rabbits butterflies
LANGUAGE
The children composed the follow-
ing stories about spring interests
which were used for silent reading
and as illustrations to stimulate indi-
vidual pupils to write stories of their
own of similar character.
Our Pussy Willows
Donald brought us some pussy wil-
lows.
Pussy willows grow in wet, swampy
places. Donald found his on the side
of a hill near a pond.
Pussy willows have little gray buds
that are soft and furry. That is why
they are called pussies.
Pussy willows are among the first
signs of spring.
We have some pussy willows in a
vase in our room.
Frogs
The frogs have been asleep under
the ground all winter. Their homes
have not been warm.
Sometimes the frogs freeze solid
but that does not kill them.
They come out of their winter
homes when the sun becomes warm
in the spring.
They are just beginning to leave
their homes now. They hurry down
to the pond to lay their eggs. Their
eggs look like white jelly with black
spots in it. These black spots hatch
into baby tadpoles.
Baby tadpoles do not look like
frogs. They have only a little round
head and a long tail. Soon little stubs
grow on the tail. Then these grow
into legs.
When tadpoles get legs and can
hop, they leave their home in the
water and live on the ground. They
€* LYN WOOD M . CHASE
WOODLAND NEIGHBORS
are not tadpoles then. They are frogs.
Another name for a tadpole is
polliwog.
Toads
Toads are useful animals because
they eat insects in the gardens.
They eat flies, worms, bugs, and
other insects. Toads keep insects from
eating garden vegetables.
They catch insects with their sticky
tongues.
Toads drink with their bodies. They
lie in the water and let it soak into
their skins.
The enemies of toads are snakes,
hens, ducks, hawks, and owls. Many
animals like to eat toads.
The Rabbit
There are two kinds of rabbits, pet
rabbits and wild rabbits.
I. Pet Rabbits
A pet rabbit needs much care. He
needs a good clean place to live. A
clean box makes a good home for him.
A pet rabbit needs two meals a
day. He likes to eat carrots, lettuce,
cabbage, clover, and green grass. He
likes to eat his vegetables raw.
Cooked food does not agree with him.
A pet rabbit needs fresh water two
or three times a day.
A’ rabbit makes a good pet for lit-
tle children. Children who have pet
rabbits should not let them run out
of the yard.
II. Wild Rabbits
A wild rabbit has to take care of
himself. He must watch for danger
all of the time.
He uses his ears, eyes, nose, legs,
and wits to protect himself.
When danger is near, he runs to a
briar patch.
Mother rabbit thumps on the
24
©LYNWOOD M. CHASE
MR. TREE FROG
ground to tell her babies that danger
is near.
Baby rabbits watch the cotton un-
der mother’s tail. It is like a light.
When mother sits down, the light
goes out. Then the baby knows he
must sit still, too.
A wild rabbit eats what he can find
in the woods. He lives in a hollow
stump or tree.
Many large animals hunt wild rab-
bits for food.
Men hunt them, too.
The rabbit’s fur changes color in
the spring.
Some fur coats are made of rabbit’s
fur.
The Bears
Katharine found a picture of two
little bear cubs and brought them to
school.
They were born in February, but
Mother Bear would not let them come
out of their home until spring was
here.
Baby bears are always born in
pairs.
When bears walk, their tracks look
like men’s tracks.
They can stand up on their hind
feet.
Bears just love honey. They will
tear down a bee’s nest to get the
honey.
Caterpillars
We have had a cocoon in our room
all winter.
In the fall, the caterpillar spins a
house for himself. He sleeps in this
house all winter.
This house is called a cocoon.
When the warm sun shines in the
spring, it wakes him up.
When the caterpillar comes out of
his cocoon, he is not a caterpillar.
He is a beautiful butterfly.
The butterfly will fly in the woods
and gardens and lay eggs.
When the eggs hatch, they are not
butterflies but they are small cater-
pillars.
Other Animals
Many little animals sleep during
the winter.
Snakes bury themselves deep down
in the ground. In the spring, the
warm sun wakes them. They crawl
out of their holes and begin to look
for food. Snakes eat flies and insects.
Many people are afraid of snakes, but
most snakes around here are not
poisonous.
Turtles sleep in the bottom of the
pond all winter. They have nothing
to eat either. The sun wakes them
up, too. The turtles dig a hole in the
sand, lay their eggs in it, cover them
up and leave them there. The sun
hatches them.
Snails and crabs bury themselves
deep in the mud at the bottom of the
bay shore. The warm spring wakes
them up, too.
The Turtle
We have three turtles in our room.
One is middle-sized, and two are
small, baby turtles.
They are painted turtles. Their un-
dershell has many pretty colors.
There are yellow, orange, red, green,
and black checks on the undershell.
The middle-sized turtle’s back is
brownish black. The baby turtles’
backs are green with black lines.
Turtles’ feet are webbed. That
helps them to swim.
Their feet have claws on them.
Their heads look like snakes’ heads.
Turtles live in the water. They like
to come up on the sand to sun them-
selves.
Feeding The Turtles
Catherine and Lois brought meat
for the turtles.
We broke the meat up into pieces.
The big turtle ate as much as he
wanted and left the rest of it alone.
The little turtles seemed not to eat
much.
We watched the big turtle nibble on
some lettuce leaves.
Turtles should be fed twice a week.
Turtles that live in the ponds eat
snails, worms, and minnows.
CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. Reading.
a. Stories from books on library
table.
b. Poems.
2. Spelling.
a. Words needed to write short
stories and sentences.
3. Writing. Short stories about
spring activities.
4. Music. Spring songs.
5. Art work.
a. Pictures of spring activities.
b. Draw pictures illustrating the
stories given above.
TESTS
1. Multiple Choice.
Yes and No Sentences.
If the sentence is true, write yes.
If the sentence is not true, write
no.
a. Mother toad has a beautiful
voice.
b. A toad’s tongue is very sticky.
c. A toad catches insects with his
tongue.
d. Toads and frogs are the same
kind of animals.
e. A frog’s eyes are on top of his
head.
f. A toad’s teeth are very sharp.
g. A toad has ( Turn to page 62)
©LYNWOOD M. CHASE
MRS. WOODPECKER AND HER CHILDREN LIVED IN A SHOE
25
MRS. FROG'S FAMILY STUDIES TURTLE EGGS
Teaching Geography
Through Nature Study and Elementary Science
Eunice Wentworth
S ome courses. of study do not list ge-
ography as a required subject in first
and second grades. They prefer,
instead, the term Elementary Science, or
perhaps simply Nature Study. This is
quite correct, because the elements of
both these subjects really are the founda-
tional preparation for studying the more
formal subject of “Geography — As the Home of Man.”
The following outline suggests the scope of content
usually expected to be covered in these grades.
Home and habits of plants.
Friends and enemies of plants.
Victory garden work.
Connect this work with other
subjects such as physical edu-
cation.
2. Landscape — L e a d chil-
dren to see and appreciate the
outdoor pictures by which they
are surrounded in their own
home environment. Lead them
to observe and to talk about
slopes, hills, valleys, brooks,
lakes, ponds, mountains
near their homes.
3. Interesting Life Sub-
jects.
Plants
Recognition of a few
wild and cultivated
plants.
Needs, or conditions,
for growth of plants.
(Important in our
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR WORK
There should be much field work, through excursions
and field trips. Observations should be of simple char-
acter. The object of the study of plants is to arouse inter-
est in the homes of plants and animals. Let LIFE be the
thought emphasized throughout. In studying plant and
animal life, uses and relationships are the greatest interest
to small children. Use many nature myths and other
stories. Let the children think of geography as an inter-
esting way of finding out all about the earth on which
they live.
Select from the following topics subjects suitable for
observation and conversation in the first and second
grades.
Landscape in our town at different times of day and
night.
Life — plant, animal, man — as related to soil, water, etc.
Forms of water as they affect our lives.
Winds as they affect our lives.
Weather observations.
Observations of heavens. (Simple astronomy)
Direction — in terms of home geography.
Distance — (From local distances get idea of longer
distances.)
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING THESE TOPICS
1. Terms — Teach children to use correctly terms — up.
down, upper, lower, over, under, above, below, right, left.
Change of season, effects of weather on life of plants.
Use to man — to other living things.
Animals
Observation of some common animals, domestic and
wild. Study especially the birds.
Needs of birds. How supplied? What can children do
to help?
Homes and habits. Compare children’s love of their
own homes with the needs and love of birds for their nests.
Why should we never destroy a bird’s nest?
Weather
In their season, observe clouds, fogs, mists, rain, snow,
hail. ice. frost. Notice appearance, formation, effects
Notice changes in seasons and effects on man. plants, and
animals.
Heavenly Bodies
Sun. moon, pole-star, great-dipper, morning star, eve-
ning star.
People
Our own social life.
Stories and pictures of children of Hot Lands.
Stories and pictures of children of Cold Lands.
Stories of Our Good Neighbors — Canada. Mexico. South
America, etc.
Stories of our friendly allies — the Chinese, their home
life, customs, etc. ( Turn to page 62)
26
THE SLIDER TURTLE
Common throughout Central and
Southern States this turtle is a
valuable source of food.
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING UNIT
Turtles should be placed in the
school aquarium a few days previous
to the beginning of the unit. They will
stimulate the pupils’ interest and will
prepare the class for the unit.
Small turtles may be purchased at
pet shops or they may be collected
around streams and ponds during
spring and summer. They are easily
kept in the school room. An aquarium
or large glass bowl should be partial-
ly filled with water, and a large rock
should be placed in it. The upper sur-
face of the rock should protrude from
SUNNING
This turtle crawled onto the log in the
full rays of the summer sun.
the water and provide a dry area upon
which the turtle can crawl. Turtles
should not be forced to remain con-
tinually in the water. Small pieces of
liver, insects, or prepared turtle food
purchased at the pet shop will provide
sufficient food.
OUTLINE OF STUDY
A. Objective.
To teach interesting facts about the
life history of turtles and to learn
how they are of importance to man.
B. Procedure.
1. Motivation.
Arouse interest by showing
turtles to the class and telling a
few interesting facts about them.
Allow the children to tell about
their experiences with turtles.
2. Teaching.
Have the class work out and il-
lustrate life facts about the tur-
tle, on the basis of their own
observation. The teacher places
the turtle where the entire class
can see. She may proceed after
this fashion : “In our science
classes, we have discussed how
we learn by observation. Let us
see what we can learn about this
interesting creature by observa-
tion. Do you see anything un-
usual about him?”
The pupils will volunteer sug-
gestions. Some pupil will observe
A TURTLE NEST
This is a cross section with the mud plug
sealing the nest loosened. Weeds and
debris are mixed with the mud seal and
aid in effectively concealing the nest.
that the turtle has a hard, bony
shell and the class may conclude
that the turtle is a clumsy ani-
mal. Other observations might
be: Webbed feet indicating life
in the water; sharp, powerful
jaws indicating that it eats heavy
food, etc.
The teacher should emphasize
the importance of turtles to man
—their value as food and scav-
engers, and the harm they do as
predators and pests to fishermen.
3. Read stories about turtles.
C. Class Activities.
1. Let the class appoint committees
for the care of the turtle.
2. Make a turtle design for the
blackboard or a bulletin border,
to be used during the time of the
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE
FRED R. CAGLE
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
study. Make a turtle booklet.
3. Design a poster showing interest-
ing events in the life of a turtle
— such as stealing fish for food
from the fisherman’s hook. (“Mr.
Turtle Becomes a Thief.” ) Show
him as a scavenger and, finally,
asleep on a log in the sun. One
poster may be made featuring
all three events and may be en-
titled, “Mr. Turtle has a Busy
Day” or, “A Day in the Life of a
Turtle”.
FACTS FOR THE TEACHER
There are at least sixty-four differ-
ent kinds of turtles in the United
FROM BELOW
The undersurface of a Slider Turtle is
well-protected by a bony plate.
States. These may be separated into
three major groups : those that live
almost entirely in the water, the soft-
shelled turtles; those that spend most
of their lives in the water but often
travel about on the land, the Painted
Turtles, the Slider Turtles; and those
that spend their entire lives on the
land, the Box Turtles, the Gopher
Turtles.
All turtles are alike in that they
have a bony shell formed from the
union of the much flattened ribs cov-
ered by a layer of horn. When the
turtle withdraws its ( Turn to page 54)
EGGS OF THE MUSK TURTLE
These were taken from several nests and vary consider-
ably in size. The Musk Turtle usually lays four eggs.
27
WHERE WE GOT OUR TURTLE OUR SQUIRREL
RABBITS • SQUIRRELS • TURTLES
A Unit on Our Schoolroom Pets • For Primary tirades
L. G. WHITEMAN
T he study of pets affords excellent
material for your reading readi-
ness program, for children natu-
rally have a keen interest in them.
The possibilities for building lan-
guage experiences, teaching factual
material, encouraging creative abil-
ities, and formulating desirable habits
are far reaching.
In addition, it enriches the child’s
background and lays a foundation for
the reading of books which
abound in stories about pets.
In this way reading becomes
an alive and meaningful sub-
ject.
OUR OBJECTIVES
To provide a center of in-
terest out of which will evolve
such habits as courtesy, re-
sponsibility, initiative, co-
operation, talking before the
group, experience in talking
in turn.
To make the getting ac-
quainted days happy and in-
teresting.
To make a richer reading
and speaking vocabulary.
To create a happy, inquisi-
tive attitude towards reading.
To increase children’s in-
formation about pets.
OUR APPROACH
Interest in the unit in our
room was aroused by having
a squirrel and a couple of
turtles brought in. Then it
was suggested that we get a
rabbit. The next question
was how to make a home for one and
the kind we would need.
The class searched through pictures
and books until they found a rabbit
hutch. Our janitor was asked to make
it and in a short time we had our
rabbit properly housed. The next step
was the naming of the pets. The fol-
lowing names were chosen: Joe,
Bobbie, Tim, and Peanut. Name labels
were then placed over each home.
The children decided what they
wanted to know about each pet and
charts were printed separately.
The rabbit chart was as follows:
What will Joe, our rabbit, eat?
What do we need for his hutch?
Why does he have long ears?
How does Mother Rabbit care for
her babies?
How does she make her nest?
What will our rabbit need for food?
How can we make him feel
at home?
TEACHING
Each pet was examined
carefully, calling attention to
its physical characteristics —
eyes, feet, tail, paws, body
covering, ears, etc., its move-
ments; climbing, jumping,
crawling, and hopping. Then
housing and food for each
kind of pet were considered.
The children cared for our
pets by bringing their food,
feeding them and cleaning
their homes, thereby giving a
sense of responsibility.
After this, we made stories
and recorded them on charts.
Each chart was placed near
the home of the pet, thus
serving as a reading cue. The
following stories were de-
veloped.
Our Squirrel
Our squirrel is pretty.
He has a long bushy tail.
He has sharp teeth.
( Turn to page 59)
OUR RABBITS FIND A NEW HOME
28
WILD MIMALS
PREPARING FOR WINTER
ANNA F. DEANE
State Teachers College , Westfield , Mass.
I n teaching this unit of preparation for winter, the ob-
jective was to help children to see that man is not
alone in making such preparations, that all living
things have certain winter habits. To make this concrete
to pupils of primary grade level, the unit was divided into
four parts.
PART I
How Animals Get Ready for Winter
Specific objectives for this part of the unit were:
To show children what happens to —
1. animals they have been seeing all summer
(squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, dogs and kittens)
2. animals they have been reading about
(bears, rabbits, raccoons, etc.)
Charts were prepared by cutting and mounting pictures
taken from the book “Forest Friends,” a picture book by
Fern Peat bought in the ten-cent store. Under each pic-
ture, the teacher printed a short story which the children
could read, as follows:
Picture of a rabbit — “Some rabbits become white.”
Picture of a raccoon — “Mr. Raccoon grows very fat.”
Picture of a chipmunk — “Chippy saves his food. He also
takes naps.”
Picture of a squirrel — “Mr. Squirrel stores food for winter.”
Picture of kittens — “Our pet kittens get warmer coats.”
Picture of a bear — “Bears grow very fat. They have long
naps.”
Picture of a skunk — “Skunks take
naps too. Their naps are not very
long.”
Picture of a woodchuck — “Mr.
Woodchuck has g lqng nap.”
Picture of a muskrat — “Jerry Musk-
rat stays in his home all winter.”
A large printed chart was made
and placed in the middle of the
bulletin board. This was a concise
wording of the subject:
Getting Ready for Winter
Some animals go to sleep.
Some animals store food for the
winter.
Some animals become very fat.
Some animals build winter homes.
Some animals become white like
the snow.
The lesson was introduced by a discussion of how people
get ready for winter. The children were then asked if
they knew of anything else that gets ready. Several
answers were given, among them “squirrels.” The class
talked about squirrels, and the teacher showed the
squirrel picture and explained what the story meant. In
this way each animal was discussed. The large chart
came last as a review and summary. This chan, was read
by one child. Then the whole display was mounted in the
“Nature Corner.”
During the discussion, one boy suggested grasshoppers
and crickets are getting ready for winter. We saved dis-
cussion of these little animals for the next lesson. So the
way was paved for part 2 of the unit.
The following references are helpful in planning what
information to give about the pictures:
“Out of Doors”— Craig and Baldwin, pages 53-69
“Science Stories Book II” — Scott Foresman, pages 62-64
“My Nature Book” — May T. Watts
‘The Wonderworld of Science” — Knox, pages 47-55
“Bear Cubs and Their Mother” — Charlotte Barske-Artists
and Writers Guild. (A ten-cent store book. Excellent.)
“Wild Animals of North America” — John Holgworth. (Ten
cents.)
“Furry Ones” — Robin Palmer. (Ten cents. Excellent. Large
photographs.)
PART II
How Insects (or Little Animals)
Get Ready for Winter
Here the objective was similar
to the previous one — to find out
what had become of the grasshop-
pers and crickets we had been see-
ing. Additional charts were made
using the colored pictures from the
ten cent store book “Bugs.” These
were mounted with stories under
them as follows:
Caterpillar picture — “The caterpillar
makes a cocoon and sleeps.”
Cricket picture — "Crickets lay eggs
and die.”
Grasshopper picture — “Grasshoppers
lay eggs then die.”
Beetle picture — "The beetle sleeps
in the ground.”
The class re- (Turn to page 59)
30
BY FRANCES CRAHAN
ArUmal Jlile
WORK SHEETS
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
D isplay pictures or give the class a page of hecto-
graphed drawings of sheep, cow, calf, pig, raccoon,
wolf, rabbit, deer, bison, skunk, muskrat, horse and bear.
Number each picture or drawing. Write the numbers of
the pictures that answer the following questions. You
may have to use some numbers more than once. ( The
sentences may be hectographed for each child.)
1. From which animal do we get material for our snow
suits?
2. From which animal do we get veal?
3. Which animal hibernates in winter?
4. From which animal do we get pork?
5. From which animals do we get the fur for our fur
coats?
6. From which animal would you get the material for
your woolen sweater?
7. The fur of which animals are used to trim our coats?
8. Which animals are protected by law?
9. Which animals live in holes?
10. Which animals did the Indians use for food and for
their clothing?
11. Which animals eat other animals?
12. From which animals do we get butter?
13. From which animal do we get leather for shoes?
14. Which animal washes his food before eating it?
15. From which animal do we get lard?
16. Which animals are not used for food?
17. From which animals do we get glue?
18. From which animal do we get bristles for our
brushes?
19. From which animal do we get T-bone steak?
20. From which animal do we get bacon?
21. From which animal do we get material for our foot-
balls?
22. The baby of which animal is called a fawn?
23. Cheese is made from the milk of which animal?
24. The meat for your hamburgers come from which
animal?
KEY
1. sheep
11.
wolf, bear
2. calf
12.
cow
3. bear, skunk
13.
cow, horse, deer
4. pig
14.
raccoon
5. muskrat, raccoon, bear,
15.
Pig
deer, sheep
16.
wolf, muskrat, bear
6. sheep
17.
cow, horse
7. muskrat, raccoon, bear,
18.
Pig
wolf
19.
cow
8. raccoon, bear, deer,
20.
Pig
bison, muskrat
21.
Pig
9. skunk, muskrat, bear,
22.
deer
wolf
23.
cow
10. deer, bison
24.
cow, pig
P ictures or drawings of pig, cow, calf, sheep, lamb,
and deer numbered and displayed as in the first work
sheet. Ask children to write the numbers of the picture
that answer question, as before. If you had one of these
meats for dinner from which animal would you get each
meat?
1. T-bone steak
2. spareribs
3. hamburger
4. bacon
5. beef roast
6. ham
7. liver
8. pork roast
9. round steak
1. cow
2- pig
3. cow, pig
4. pig
5. cow
6. pig
10. veal chops
11 leg of lamb
12. mutton
13. pork chops
14. pork steak
15. venison steak
16. short ribs of beef
17. pork tenderloin
18. wieners (frankfurters
or “hot dogs”)
KEY
7. cow, pig, calf
8. pig
9. cow
10. calf
11. lamb
12. sheep
13. pig
14. pig
15. deer
16. cow
17. pig
18. pig, cow
D isplay or distribute pictures or drawings of cultivator,
tractor, harrow, manure spreader, combine, potato
digger, reaper, drill, hay loader, hay rake, mowing ma-
chine, corn binder, and potato digger. Number each one.
Ask the children to write the number of the picture that
matches the description in the following sentences.
1. I uproot weeds and loosen the earth.
2. I break up lumps and covers seeds.
3. I put fertilizer on the soil to enrich it.
4. I cut wheat, oats, rye, and barley.
5. I cut and thresh grain at the same time.
6. I take potatoes from the ground.
7. I sow seeds in rows.
8. I cut hay.
9. I help to load hay.
10. I gather the hay into long rows.
11. I am the machine that is most often used.
12. I am not used in spring.
13. I am used in spring.
14. I am used to pull heavy loads.
15. I tie com stalks into bundles
1. cultivator
2. harrow
3. manure spreader
4. reaper-combine
5. combine
6. potato digger
/. drill
8. mowing machine
9. hay loader
KEY
10. hay rake
11. tractor
12. combine, reaper, potato
digger, com binder
13. tractor, harrow, drill,
mowing machine, ma-
nure spreader, cultivator
14. tractor
15. com binder
G ive hectographed copies of these questions to the chil-
dren to write the answer. It is presumed by this time
in the year that the class will have taken up these facts in
connection with the farm unit. You may have to help them
with the first answer. If preferred, you may take the
questions up orally, writing the names of the different
babies on the board. In that case, ask the children then
to write the name of the baby opposite the question on
his paper and draw its picture.
1. What is a turkey’s baby called?
2. A calf is the baby of what animal?
3. What is a cat’s baby called? (Turn to page 55)
31
The Cat and the Dog
A Unit on Two Common Pets
BY MILDRED SOURWINE
For Primary Grades
T he dog is the child’s favorite pet. There is no other animal with which he
is so familiar. In many homes he is much loved, having the same privileges
as the children. The dog is loved not only by children but by the grown-
ups as well. He is known as man’s best friend.
The cat has been a household pet as far back as we have any records of
civilization. She is not only a beloved playmate but is of great value in check-
ing the ravages of rats and mice. We owe much to the cat for her help.
AIMS
A. To teach a few facts about some com-
mon household pets.
B. To stress kindness to animals.
C. To increase child’s speaking and read-
ing vocabulary.
D. To give opportunity for self-expres-
sion through the spoken word and
through handwork.
MEANS OF APPROACH
A. Conversation
B. Observation
C. Pictures
D. Stories
E. Poems
POINTS EMPHASIZED
The Dog
A. Obvious parts and their uses.
B. Breeds
1. Shepherd
2. Collie
3. Terrier
4. Hound
5. Police, etc.
C. Uses
1. For protection.
2. For hunting purposes.
3. Substitute for horse.
4. A household pet.
D. Characteristics
1. Courage
2. Strength
3. Faithfulness
4. Love
5. Endurance
6. Beauty
7. Swiftness
8. Intelligence
9. Memory
10. Docility
E. Care
1. Food
(a) Kind
(b) Amount
(c) Regular Feeding
2. Cleanliness
3. Housing
4. Training
F. Emotional Expression
1. Delight
2. Friendliness
3. Affection
4. Anger
5. Fear
6. Shame
7. Attention
8. Excitement
The Cat
A. Obvious parts and their uses.
A good project for “Be Kind
B. Kinds
1. Persian — the long haired.
2. Common — the short haired.
C. Colors
D. Uses
1. As a pet.
2. As a hunter of mice and rats.
E. Characteristics
1. Intelligent
2. Teachable
3. Sensitive
4. Nervous
5. Timid
6. Graceful
7. Loves attention
8. Good memory
9. Cleanly
10. Has a love for places
F. How does a cat express its emotions?
1. When hungry
2. When happy
3. When friendly
4. When frightened
5. When hurt
6. When defiant
7. When disobedient
8. When fighting
G. Care
1. Food
(a) Kind
(b) Amount
(c) Regular Feeding
2. Housing
3. Training
H. Points of Special Interest
1. Emotional expression of animals.
2. Comparison of tracks.
3. Comparison of eyes.
4. Noting position of nostrils.
5. Noting differences in ears.
ACTIVITIES
A. Cooperative Stories
B. Storytelling
C. Collecting Pictures
D. Making Booklets
E. Illustrating with Crayons
F. Illustrating with Paper Cutting
G. Making Animals with Cardboard and
Oilcloth
H. Modeling with Clay and Plasticine
I. Making Riddles
LAMBERT
32
to Animals” week. — Editor
VOCABULARY
A. Names of Dogs
Collie, Terrier, Shepherd, St. Bernard,
Police
B. Parts of the Body
head
legs
claws
eyes
feet
hair
nose
toes
fur
mouth
tail
whiskers
ears
C. Action
pads
tongue
run
climb
pull
walk
lead
hunt
trot
bark
smell
crawl
whine
growl
jump
watch
mew
lap
purr
TYPES OF SEATWORK
A. Which Are Right?
1. A cat keeps her kittens clean.
2. Cats wash after they eat.
3. Cats like hot milk.
4. Cats catch rabbits.
5. All cats are white.
6. Some cats have long tails.
7. Some cats have no tails.
8. Cats are good jumpers.
Key
1. yes 3. no 5. no 7. yes
2. yes 4. yes 6. yes 8. yes
B. Completion
1. A cat has sharp .
2. A cat has long .
3. A cat has soft .
4. A cat has a rough .
(a) tongue (c) feet
(b) whiskers (d) claws
Key
D. Descriptive and
for Comparison
1 .
soft
keen
tall
stout
1 .
rough
good
warm
hot
2.
sharp
thick
short
cold
3.
clean
fresh
long
dull
dry
wet
slender
4.
light
heavy
bright
5.
OUTCOMES
A. Enlargement of child’s interest and
experience.
B. Skills
1. Reading
(a) Increased reading vocabulary.
(b) Furnished motive for reading.
Children found and read stories
to group.
2. Oral English
(a) Developed power in self-ex-
pression.
(b) Increased speaking vocabulary.
(c) Memorized poems.
(d) Appreciation. Choosing stories
and poems.
3. Art
(a) Free illustration of parts of
stories.
4. Writing
(a) Improvement. Each child tried
to improve his handwriting so
that he might write the sentences
in our cooperative book.
2. b
1. A dog knows his
You can teach a <
You must give a
every day.
You must keep h
You must not give
6. Give your dog a -
3. c
4. a
water
bones.
once a week.
7. Give your dog meat a day.
8. Always be to your pets.
(a) kind (e) once
(b) bath (f) chicken
(c) clean (g) fresh
(d) tricks (h) master
1. h
2. d
3. g
4. c
Key
5. f
6. b
7. e
8. a
C. Matching Questions and Answers
1. What does a cat say when she wants
you to open the door for her?
2. What does she do when she is happy?
3. What does she do when she is angry?
4. What does she do when you hurt
her?
5. What does she do when you take
away her food?
(a) growls (d) purrs
(b) mew-mew (e) spits
(c) squalls
Key
1. b 2. d 3. e 4. c 5. a
D. Multiple Choice
1. A cat has
(a) soft fur
(b) rough fur
(c) hard fur
2. A cat walks
(a) on its tail
(b) on its ears
(c) on its toes
3. A cat hunts
(a) at noon
(b) at night
(c) in the morning
4. A cat catches
(a) bears
(b) rats
(c) birds
(d) foxes
(e) rabbits
5. When walking, a cat makes
(a) four tracks
(b) two tracks
6. A cat should have
(a) cold milk
(b) hot milk
(c) warm milk
7. A baby kitten has
(a) blue eyes
(b) yellow eyes
(c) green eyes
8. A cat has
(a) no whiskers
(b) short whiskers
(c) long whiskers
Key
1. a 3. b 5. b 7. a
2. c 4. b, c, e 6. c 8. c
1. Which does a dog watch?
(a) sheep
(b) squirrels
(c) sleep
2. How many toes are on a dog’s front
foot?
(a) four
(b) two
(c) five
3. What are baby dogs called?
(a) ponies
(b) puppies
(c) supper
4. Which do dogs hunt for?
(a) lost people
(b) lost airplanes
5. Where is a good place for a dog to
sleep in summer?
(a) in the house
(b) in the yard
6. How does a dog keep his teeth clean?
(a) with water
(b) with bones
(c) with bread
7. How does a dog help blind people?
(a) he leads them
(b) he feeds them
8. How do you know when a dog is
well?
(a) by his bright eyes
(b) by his dull eyes
(c) by his wet nose
(d) by his dry nose
(e) by his cold nose
(f) by his warm nose
Key
1. a
5. b
2. c
6. b
3. b
7. a
4. a
8. a, c, e
E. Following Directions
1. Put a green X on my eye.
2. Put a brown X on my tail.
3. Put a blue X on my paws.
4. Put a purple X on my ears.
5. Put a red X on my whiskers.
6. Put a yellow X on my neck.
7. Put a black X on my tracks.
(Turn to page 57)
33
AUTOGRAPHS OF MINK AND REDPOLL
THE RED FOX’S TRAIL
SIGNS OF WILD LIFE IN WINTER
MATERIAL FOR LESSONS IN ELEMENTARY SCIENCE
EDMUND J. SAWYER
B.kds and four-footed an im a, S are
few in winter and rather seldom seen,
for it is not easy to wade through the
deep snow in the woods and fields for
chance glimpses of crossbills, owls,
redpolls, and snow-buntings. The fur
bearers make quick forays after food
and water and soon return to their
snug burrows or hollow trees. We are
lucky if we see on our winter walk
anything but a few squirrels and rab-
bits. However, there are many stories
written on the snow in varied and in-
teresting characters. Not even a tiny
field mouse can take one timid step
from his hole without leaving a rec-
ord for sharp eyes to read. The snow,
which shuts the animals themselves
away from us, is after all an advan-
tage. Animals of which we learn little
in summer, because they are scarce
or roam abroad chiefly at night now,
by their trails in the snow, tell us
about their wanderings; how and
where they got food ; where they went
for water; and whether they ran,
trotted, walked, or ambled, is there
written down. The squirrel, raccoon,
fox, mink, muskrat, skunk, rabbit,
and many birds will have been abroad.
STREAMS AND PONDS
Certain kinds of places are partic-
ularly favored by wild creatures in
winter. A swift stream, or any piece
of open water, is always sure to at-
tract many of the winter wide-awakes
and these are the best places in which
to look for various snow trails, espe-
cially those of mink and muskrat.
Near bushy or weedy growths along
old fences, beside low thickets, or in
dry, sedgy marshes, you will find that
mice have been most numerous and
active, their trails crossing and re-
crossing in some places quite like the
PEARL ASTRID NELSON
A LONG NAP
RUTH WE9TMAN
r ft
f- r —^ j >=■
. m m
■ 8 r f ^
Bears don’t mind the
cold and fog, They
P P (J P
sleep in a hoi - low
log
When the spring comes
w- B tiV
H
-i f:
—jp
- 1 -L . ■ —
. a j — — —
r v *.„t l
t
pi m
round once more, They creep
•• f
out of their log house
= r-=
door. In the
I —
sun they stretch and
— ft
gape and
i=fc
p r -T^j fre-fH
W*
r J v-~
gape and
a a l * .
gape In the
it v r ^
sun they stretch and
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PH/ J ^
Af-ter their long win-ter’s
nap.
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34
railroad tracks at a busy junction or a
large freight terminal.
These, too, are naturally good
places at which to look for signs of
foxes and of big, snowy owls. Where
one of these creatures has sat in wait
for the mice or pounced upon one of
the poor fellows, there will be curious
marks to study. The fox, however, is
a great traveler and, once you are in
the open or wooded country, you
should be constantly on the lookout
for his trail although, unless foxes
are more than usually numerous in
your locality, one or two fresh trails
in a walk in the woods are all that
you will be likely to see.
WEEDY FIELDS
A weedy field is perhaps the second
best place for wild trails, mostly bird
tracks. Fields of goldenrod, “stick-
tights” of various sorts, mullen, and
other heady weeds, in the shelter of
a wood, with perhaps clumps of black
haw and wild plum — these are the
places for winged winter gleaners.
A search of such localities will hardly
fail to show where “snowflakes”, tree
sparrows, horned larks, redpolls, and
perhaps goldfinches have been at
work. About especially seedy stalks,
of the right kinds, the little trails are
often clustered and confused, remind-
ing one of the mice tracks in the
swamp, but much more thickly group-
ed than mouse tracks are ever found
to be.
I have watched the lively birds
making just such trails on a frosty
day. How they did flutter and flit
about one weed stalk, one of the flock
trying to keep all the rest away and,
at the same time, feed from the weed
by tiptoeing or flying up to reach the
higher seeds!
WOODS AND THICKETS
Woods and thickets of any sort may
show tracks of the ruffed grouse. At
’ I
THE TRAIL OF THE RACCOON
COTTONTAIL TRACKS
this season, however, these are more
often found in an alder swamp or low-
lying alder thicket. Here the shy
grouse love to go to feed on the buds
and catkins of alders and other trees
usually found in such places. I have
found their trails very numerous for
weeks together about fresh brush
piles where woodmen have been at
work. To me, the trail of this bird is
always the most interesting of all.
Here and there are places where the
grouse has rested a while in the snow
and left the imprint of his breast
and tail. This is also the time to find
the snow caves where these birds
spend the cold nights when the snow
is deep.
Coming to the big woods we find
the tracks of red squirrels and rab-
bits most abundant. Here, too, we
may look for the more rare trails of
gray squirrels, skunks, and raccoons.
A woodcutter once told me of felling
a hollow tree in which, to his great
surprise, he found half a dozen or
more ’coons. This lazy animal seldom,
if ever, stirs abroad in bright day-
light but, at night, he unrolls himself
and crawls clumsily down from the
hollow tree in which he spends a great
part of his life. His tracks are indeed
interesting and, if possible, they
should be followed. Can you tell a
’coon’s trail from that of a skunk?
Here is something to learn in the
winter woods.
The skunk is a born ambler. His
trail will be found going this way and
that, as he looked for food; now and
then he has stopped to root down to
the ground. The other day, I met a
little skunk going about rooting with
much energy in the muck of the
wood. Undisturbed, he allowed me to
follow him about until I came within
a few yards. Then he would face about
and try to scare me by making little
runs in my direction, and scraping
backward with his front feet, a very
peculiar way that skunks have.
WINTER SHELTERS
Although the birds seem merry and
lively and the red squirrel frisks
across the snow, the wild creatures
really have little love for frost and
bleakness. The squirrels are out for
food and, when not hunched up gnaw-
ing a butternut, or a frozen apple, or
looking for something to gnaw, they
will be found curl- (Turn to page 63)
RUFFED GROUSE RED squirrel BOB-WHITE IN SHELTER
35
AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS
CURIOUS ANIMALS O F- T H E LAND DOWN UNDER
FOR PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE GRADES
i
THE KANGAROO
Along with the emu, the kangaroo is incorporated in
the Australian coat of arms. The largest of these ani-
mals are the red and gray species. Some have been
known to clear thirty feet in one leap. The animals are
exclusively vegetarian. They are harmless and may be
tamed.
THE KOALA
The Koala, or Teddy Bear, is a quaint creature, easily
tamed and perfectly harmless. It is extremely slow in
movement and lives entirely in trees. It feeds exclu-
sively on certain species of eucalyptus trees.
A PRICE ON HIS HEAD!
The Australian Dingo, or Wild Dog,
roams the land in large numbers.
These dogs are killers of sheep and the
government pays bounties of up to
$2.00 for each scalp brought in by a
hunter.
NO SUCH ANIMAL!
When the first stuffed platypus was
sent to the scientists of the British
Museum, they laughed and remarked,
“There ain’t no such animal!” The
platypus is a combination of animal,
bird, fish and reptile. It has short fur,
beaver-like tail, webbed feet, duck’s
bill and rooster’s spur. It is at ease in
the water or on the land. It lays eggs.
FEATHERS, BUT NO FLIGHT
The Emu is Australia’s national bird.
It can neither fly nor fight. Its brown-
ish-black feathers, although attrac-
tive, have no commercial value. The
female lays up to 18 eggs, of 16 to
18 ounces in weight. They have no
song, but make a deep, drumming
sound. Like the ostrich, the emu can
run at remarkable speed when pur-
sued.
ALL PICTURES ABOVE. AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION riidfaii
THE ECHIDNA
The Echidna is one of three representatives of the
most primitive mammals on earth. The echidna is
about 18 inches long. Its back and sides are covered
with strong, pointed spines. It captures its food, con-
sisting mainly of ants, by means of its long tongue.
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAYS
LYRE BIRD
The lyre bird is one of Australia’s peculiar birds, so
called because its tail is shaped like a lyre. It is the
largest of all song birds and imitates the songs of other
birds and the sounds of animals.
36
Arrange these animal names in al-
rV phabetical order.
rabbit
turtle
chipmunk
ape
kangaroo
quail
muskrat
frog
horse
zebra
squirrel
goat
beaver
jaguar
hippopotamus
ox
pony
unicorn
yak
deer
dog
mouse
wren
man
elephant
lion
woodchuck
Check with your dictionary to see if
you have arranged them properly.
What is a rodent? (Animals that
gnaw, such as rats, mice, squirrels,
hares and rabbits.)
Choose just the rodents from your
list of animal names, and arrange
them alphabetically.
After each rodent’s name, write a
brief description of each animal.
By class choice, or by some other
method, select one of these animals
for further study.
Let the group compile a list of ques-
tions about the particular animal that
is their choice, either individually or
as a group. (My class chose the rab-
bit.)
Study of Rabbit
1. See pet rabbit and observe it.
(a) Hopping, (b) Making its toilet,
(c) Eating.
2. Look at pictures in books and
read captions.
3. Read stories.
4. Look up answers to questions
that have not been cleared up.
(a) Rabbits’ long legs are helpful to
them. They have strong, hind legs to
aid them in escaping their enemies.
They are able to jump as high as eight
feet at one time while hurrying from
fox, mink, weasels, hawks, owls,
snakes, or man. As they run they
place their hind feet on each side and
ahead of their front feet. Their five
front toes and four hind toes do not
make a distinct track, for they are hair
covered. This hair also protects their
feet from the cold while they are sit-
ting in the snow.
(b) Rabbits’ long ears are helpful.
Rabbits’ ears are not just ornamental.
They are quick to detect danger and
are usually on guard. When the long
ears stand up very tall, they are
keenly studying a particular sound.
If one ear is forward and one points
backward, the rabbit is trying to locate
the danger. Rabbits’ ears are not black
tipped as are those of the hare.
(c) Rabbits’ colors are helpful too.
Cottontails’ colors are white under-
neath and brown topped to match the
snow and gray brown of the dead
grasses and weed stubs. Therefore,
unless rabbits move, they are difficult
to detect. The snow-shoe rabbits have
protective coloring, too. In summer,
they are reddish brown. In autumn,
they are white.
(d) Rabbits are vegetarians. Rab-
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
The
Rabbit Unit
With special reference
to alphabet usage
Jean Currens
_ - -.in.-liriMI'I.Bi-
Your pupils will be delighted
with the part the Easter Bunny
plays in this unit. — The Editor
37
bits’ foods are such plants as the
coarse blades of cabbage, turnip
leaves, celery, carrot tops, chick-weed,
sow thistle, dandelions, clover, blue
grass, parsley, and grains. Another
delicacy in the rabbit’s diet is bark.
In winter when most plants are frozen
or snow covered, the rabbit makes
himself unpopular with farmers by
chewing the bark of young fruit trees
and berry bushes.
(e) Rabbits have many kinds of
homes. The cottontail rabbit’s home
may be very simple. It may be covered
only by growing weeds and just wide
enough to allow them to enter. When
the family is born, the nest will be a
very shallow excavation lined with the
female’s own hair. In winter, the rab-
bit’s home may be a vacated wood-
chuck or skunk burrow called a war-
ren.
(f) Man makes use of rabbits. Rab-
bit meat and fur have long been used
by man. Rabbit skins are now care-
fully dyed to represent ermine and
chinchilla. Rabbit hair is used in the
making of many felt hats. After the
hair has been removed, the hides are
sold to glue and sizing manufacturers.
(g) There are many kinds of rabbits
such as the Belgian hare, lop-eared
rabbit, Dutch rabbit, Angora rabbit,
Siberian, Himalayan, Patagonian, and
Flemish rabbits, the fancy silvertip
rabbit, and the delicate Pole rabbit.
The jack rabbit is really a hare, not a
rabbit.
(h) Easter, the rabbit’s busy day.
The rabbit furnishes part of the Easter
legend, as follows: Bunny’s gifts on
this occasion are bright colored and
beautifully decorated eggs. Rabbits
leave their eggs in houses, behind fur-
niture, in specially decorated baskets
and boxes, and other obscure places.
On Easter morning children hunt baby
chicks, eggs, and candy rabbits. Also
bunny’s picture is painted with the
Easter eggs on Easter cards. Bunny’s
Easter eggs are supposed to symbolize
the new birth of springtide.
5. Discuss findings.
6. Check on alphabet work, (a) List
enemies of the rabbit alphabetically.
(h) List rabbits’ favorite foods alpha-
betically. (c) List kinds of rabbits
alphabetically.
7. Let each child pretend to be a
rabbit and tell of his own experiences.
(a) A Narrow Escape
(b) One of My Experiences
(c) Getting Food
(d) Danger One Warm Winter Day
( e) My New Mate
({) Training My Family
(g) How I Protect Myself
(h) Easter, My Important Day
(i) Why My Ears Are So Long
(j) I’m In A Glue Bottle
(k) Sewed to A Coat
(l) How A Hunter Almost Got Me
(m) When I’m At Home
(n) My Relatives
RABBITS-WILD AND TAME
A UNIT OF STUDY APPROPRIATE FOR EASTER*
ELLA BACON
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
I. OBJECTIVE
A. To gain knowledge of the value
of rabbits to man.
B. To increase the love for rabbits
as pets.
II. AIMS
A. Teacher’s aims.
1. To teach the pupils to read.
2. To teach them to search for
suitable materials.
3. To give them an opportunity to
use different forms of composi-
tion.
4. To teach them to protect rab-
bits, and to appreciate nature.
B. Pupils’ aim.
1. To find out what they can about
rabbits.
III. MATERIALS
A. Pictures.
1. Of rabbit life.
2. Of rabbits by famous artists.
B. Stories.
C. Easy Poems.
IV. PREPARATION
A. Ask such questions as:
1. Where was the original home
of the rabbit?
2. Do you know the name of a wild
rabbit and a tame rabbit?
3. Do wild rabbits store food for
winter ?
4. Do wild rabbits carry food to
their burrows?
5. What do you think they find to
eat?
B. Read to the pupils interesting
poems and stories.
C. Show them pictures of rabbits.
D. Let one of the pupils bring a pet
rabbit to school. Have him tell
how he takes care of his rabbit.
J. JAY HIRZ
J. JAY HIRZ
BUNNY AT HOME
V. PRESENTATION OF PROBLEM-
A. Structure of rabbit.
1. Body.
2. Ears.
3. Eyes.
4. Nose.
5. Mouth.
6. Legs.
7. Feet.
B. Homes.
1. In the briar patch.
2. Under the root of a tree.
3. In the hay field.
4. In a hollow tree or log.
5. In a hutch.
6. In a sandy bank.
C. Food and feeding.
1. Dry foods — hay and grain.
2. Green foods — garden vegeta-
♦This unit was worked out in the public schools
of Escanaba, Michigan.
bles, weeds, grass, and clover.
3. Water — fresh all the time.
4. Salt — piece of rock salt kept in
the hutch.
5. No wet or stale food.
6. Time for feeding — twice a day.
D. Habits to observe.
1. Position of legs, body, ears, and
eyes when sleeping, lying down,
sitting up, listening, frightened,
or hungry.
2. Fighting.
a. Manner of indicating anger:
thumping.
b. Manner of fighting: biting
and kicking.
3. Mother rabbit and her babies.
a. Carries her babies as a moth-
er cat does her kittens.
b. Rabbits never should be car-
ried by their ears.
c. Baby rabbits are born blind
and helpless.
d. Baby rabbits taken away
from their mother after two
months.
4. Movements.
a. Walking, hopping, jumping.
b. Digging.
c. Tracks (recognition of
tracks ) .
5. Personal cleanliness.
a. Washing, with tongue.
b. Brushing, with foot.
6. Sounds.
a. Extreme fright — loud shriek.
b. Terror or pain — long-drawn
shriek.
c. Thumping of foot in anger,
warning, and mating.
E. Enemies.
1. Bird enemies — hawks and owls.
2. Mammal enemies — coyotes,
dogs, and cats.
3. Human enemies — traps, poison,
H. ARMSTRONG ROBERTS
KEYSTONE
WHITE NEW ZEALAND
38
WHITE ANGORA
GRAY ANGORA
UNDERWOOD ft UNDERWOOD
SPECIALLY BRED LONG EARED RABBITS
hunters, automobiles, and bad
boys.
4. Miscellaneous enemies — snakes.
5. Protection from enemies.
a. Protective coloration.
b. Freezing, sitting still.
c. Telegraphing.
d. Tricks — hiding, dodging.
e. Fighting.
VI. VALUE TO MAN
A. Pet3.
B. Food.
C. Fur.
VII. DAMAGE CAUSED BY RABBITS
A. To bark of young trees by gnaw-
ing.
B. To crops in garden, vineyards, and
hay fields.
VIII. ACTIVITIES AND TESTS
A. Language.
1. Oral.
a. Questions and answers.
b. Informational sentences
about rabbits using the new
vocabulary.
c. Reciting selected poems
about rabbits.
B. Reading.
1. Read stories relating to rabbits.
2. Ability to use intelligently and
correctly the words on the
vocabulary chart.
3. Seatwork based on class discus-
sions.
4. Blackboard reading about rab-
bits.
C. Spelling.
1. Words relating to rabbits, as
hutch, nest, thumping, wild,
tame.
UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD
FLEMISH GIANT
D. New vocabulary.
rabbits
foxes
briar patch
value
root
flesh
runways
hutch
grains
nest
weeds
hollow
fresh
dry
hind
vegetables
tracks
clover
fighter
legs
tail
front
sensitive
dodger
three-cornered
ground
forwards
ears
brushes
mouth
dogs
sharp
weasels
tongue
danger
enemies
food
traps
tame
snakes
wild
man
tree
skin
buck
hole
green
safe
grass
hay field
salt
hay
strong
garden
jumper
water
thumps
long
cotton
weak
twinkles
digger
eyes
telegraphs
washes
nose
foot
motion
boys
backwards
fur freezes
hunters pets
poison glue
E. Art.
1. Draw pictures of rabbits.
2. Cut rabbits freehand.
3. Directed lessons.
4. Booklet on rabbits.
F. Types of seatwork.
1. Blank filling.
1. The cottontails are
rabbits.
2. Cottontails get their name
from their
3. Cottontails have brown fur
in
4. They have gray fur in
5. They have very long
6. Their legs are strong.
7. Their hind legs keep them
out of
8. They have on their
feet.
1. summer 5. winter
2. cushions 6. ears
3. 'hind 7. tail
4. danger 8. wild
2. Multiple Choice
1. A cottontail rabbit is
a. tame b. red c. wild
2. He gets his name from his
a. ears b. tail c. noise
3. In summer his fur is
a. red b. black c. brown
4. He likes to eat
a. clover b. nuts c. corn
5. He is sometimes called a
a. dodger b. cat c. dog
6. His home is called a
a. farm b. house c. den
7. He wash- (Turn to page 60)
KEYSTONE
VARIOUS BREEDS
39
UNDERWOOD S UNDERWOOD
CHINCHILLAS
The Squirrel
I stood this morning at my kitchen door
And watched a squirrel beneath our hickory trees.
His bushy tail went scurrying in the breeze
As nuts he found and buried by the score.
Indeed, he must have hid two winters’ store!
What inspirations from such scenes accrue!
Briskly he worked with eye, and leg, and tail.
In this, his biggest job, he would not fail.
Some men have never learned what this squirrel knew:
Successful living calls for work to do.
— LELAND B. JACOBS
THE SQUIRREL UNIT
MATERIAL FOR A REQUIRED ACTIVITY
MARGARET FITZSIMMONS
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
I. OBJECTIVE
a. To learn about squirrels and their
habits.
II. POINTS DEVELOPED IN THE STUDY
a. Squirrel Family
1. Squirrels
2. Flying squirrels
3. Ground squirrels
4. Chipmunks
5. Prairie dogs
b. Classes
1. Tree squirrels
2. Ground squirrels
3. Flying squirrels
c. Description
1. Short and strong legs
2. Bushy tail for balancing
3. Sharp, long front teeth
PICTURES FROM "THE CHISEL-TOOTH TRIBE" BY
WILFRED S. BRONSON: COURTESY HARCOURT. BRACE A CO.
4. Sharp claws
d. Homes
1. Winter homes
a. In the hollows of maple, birch,
beech, oak, and pine.
b. Among the roots of trees.
2. Summer homes
a. Nests constructed of twigs and
leaves and located on high
branches.
b. Nests made in apple trees
and located nearer to the
ground.
e. Food
1. Nuts
2. Grain
3. Apple seeds
4. Berries
5. Worms
6. Pine seeds
III. VOCABULARY
ground
bushy
haunches
tree
tails
hollow
slender
acorns
store
long
food
body
lives
noisy
chatter
cones
nest
snug
leaves
lined
claws
shelter
trunks
parks
family
hair
color
curious
berries
enemy
flying
graceful
tame
spread
frisky
IV. MATERIALS
a. Pictures of squirrels from mag-
azines and newspapers.
b. Stories.
c. Poems.
V. OUTCOMES
a. Language.
1. Simple informational sentences.
2. Riddles.
b. Reading.
1. Supplementary readers.
2. Library books.
3. Charts.
4. Seatwork.
c. Art.
1. Paper cutting — borders.
2. Easel work.
3. Crayon illustrations.
VI. SEATWORK
a. True and False Statements.
1. Squirrels are about 20 inches
long.
2. Squirrels line their nests.
3. The squirrel is an animal that is
not often heard.
4. The squirrel is very lazy.
5. Squirrels have but one nest.
6. The squirrel stores food away in
hidden places.
7. The squirrel steals sap from the
trees.
8. Squirrels are the same color all
the year.
9. Squirrels like to chatter.
b. Blank filling.
1. Red squirrel hides nuts under
2. He likes to drink
3. He has homes.
4. He likes to
5. He has teeth.
6. His tail keeps him
7. He likes to eat seeds.
8. Red squirrel is
9. He can nuts.
a. four f. sharp
b. warm g. open
c. playful h. sap
d. pine i. chatter
e. trees j. two
c. Classification.
Put the numbers of the sentences in
the correct column. (Turn to page 56)
40
HOW ANIMALS KEEP CLEAN
A CORRELATION OF NATURE STUDY AND HEALTH
H. B. BRADFORD
The Easter season when, with the
approach of spring, the children are
especially interested in birds and ani-
mals is a good time to impress upon
them the importance of cleanliness in
the care of pets. All students of child
life consider it advisable for every
child to own a pet and to be held re-
sponsible for its care. And one of the
best ways to motivate the study of
health in relation to the child’s own
welfare is through the study of how
animals keep themselves clean. This
study will impress upon children not
only that they should take proper
care of the pets themselves, but also
that they should keep the homes
which are provided for their pets neat
and attractive.
Those who have seen how dirty
some farmers’ pigs and other animals
usually appear may think that un-
cleanliness is the usual condition of
most animals but this is not the case.
The mud bath of the buffalo, for ex-
ample, is a cleansing process. The
buffalo’s wallow serves as a sort of
scrubbing hole. The mud soon dries
Editor's Note: The accompanying illustra-
tions show a wasp cleaning an antenna by
its mouth "jaws"; a kangaroo, a cat, and
a mouse washing their faces; a fly cleaning
its wings with its hind legs; and a group
of chickens, two oxen, and three rabbits at
their toilets, in the order named.
•
into cakes upon the animal’s hide
and either falls or is rubbed off, tak-
ing with it loose hair and much other
irritating matter. When pigs are al-
lowed to graze and root in a large
field, they are cleanly animals. Young
pigs are always clean unless they are
kept in a dirty pen.
The uncleanly condition of certain
domestic animals, such as horses and
cows, is the result of their owner’s
carelessness. The cows of a careless
farmer are likely to be dirty unless
the local Board of Health or milk in-
spector takes charge. A good farmer
keeps the coats of his cows as clean
and smooth as he keeps those of his
horses. All horses like to roll on the
earth in some dry, bare spot, because
it enables them to scrub their back
and shoulders which they cannot
reach in any other way. The tongues
of cattle are very rough and are often
used to smooth their own coats and
those of their offspring. They often
help each other in tidying up and
proffer their services to others of
their own kind. If you rub any ani-
mal the wrong way you will notice
how quickly he will try to smooth
himself.
The members of the cat tribe, in-
cluding lions and tigers, use their
rough tongues as damp brushes for
the cleansing and smoothing of their
fur. They also wash their faces by
licking a foreleg just back of the foot
and then rubbing it over the head,
especially over the face, now and
then extending the process over the
ears.
Rats, mice, squirrels, and rabbits
use both paws simultaneously over
the face, except when they reach up
to and over the ears. Then they usu-
ally attend to each ear with one paw
at a time. Rabbits, (Turn to page 56)
41
THE TIGER
MONKEYS
THE LION
WIDE WORLO
WILD ANIMALS
A SOCIAL SCIENCE UNIT
GERALDINE BUHR, DOROTHY GILBERT
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
I. OBJECTIVES
1. To give knowledge of several wild
animals.
a. where they live
b. what they eat
c. how they protect themselves
d. their usefulness to man
e. their outstanding characteris-
tics
2. To give appreciation of wonders
of wild life.
II. ACTIVITIES
1. Language
a. Discussion of animals to gain
information about the lion,
tiger, elephant, giraffe, camel,
monkey, deer, and bear.
b. Cooperative riddles.
c. Cooperative stories about the
animals.
The Lion
The lion has a heavy mane. He has
a strong tail. He can knock a man
down with his tail. The lion puts his
head to the ground and roars. He must
be eighteen months old before he can
roar. He kills only when he is hungry.
The lion lives in the jungle. He is
called “King of the Beasts”. A mother
lion is called a lioness.
The Giraffe
lives in the depth of the jungle.
The Bear
Bears live in the forest. They eat
berries, leaves, and honey. They sleep
all winter in a cave. Bears have strong
claws. They can climb trees. They can
walk on two or four feet. They are
quick to learn to do tricks.
Camels
A camel lives in the desert. Some
camels have two humps on their
backs. Some camels have one hump.
He has long eyebro\ys to keep off the
sun. His feet have pads under them.
He eats leaves and bushes. He can go
many days without food and water.
He stores fat in his hump. He has
two stomachs. One holds water.
Camels work like horses.
The Monkey
A monkey has a very long tail. He
has hands and feet like people. He is
playful. He is easy to train to do
tricks. He can hang by his tail. A
monkey lives in the trees. A monkey
eats cocoanuts and fruit.
2. Reading.
a. New vocabulary
heavy mane ivory tusks
sharp teeth ( Turn to page 61)
THE ELEPHANT
THE CAMEL
UNDERWOOD STRATTON
The giraffe is the tallest animal. He
has a long neck. He has brown spots.
He has a long tongue. It is covered
with gum to keep from getting sun-
burned. He has long hair on his lips
so thorns won’t prick him. He is a
lonely animal. He would die if left
alone. Giraffes do not make any noise.
The Elephant
The elephant is the largest animal.
He has a long trunk. He can carry
big logs with his trunk. He can pick
up peanuts, too. He has ivory tusks.
He can swim and walk under water.
The elephant’s skin is gray and
very tough.
Elephants can do tricks.
The Tiger
The tiger belongs to the cat family.
A tiger is orange and black. He looks
like sunshine and shadows. A tiger
is wicked. He kills other animals for
fun. He has very sharp teeth. A tiger
UNDERWOOD a UNDE * WOOD
GIRAFFE
Tallest animal in the world.
42
NATURE STUDY CLASS
SQUIRRELS
MATERIAL FOR A SQUIRREL UNIT OR THE
GERTRUDE MOORE
THE RED SQUIRREL
The red squirrel is as much a part
of the October landscape as are drop-
ping nuts, and red and yellow leaves.
His gay little chatter belongs to
autumn woods quite as much as the
bobolink’s song does to June mea-
dows.
See the little red squirrel in the
picture ? He fairly bubbles over with
fun. He is as full of pranks as a hand
organ is of tunes. His home is the
great green wood. The fences and
stone walls are his highways. On
them he travels to orchards when
apples are ripe. Only occasionally,
when times are hard, does he venture
to some barn and help himself to the
farmer’s grain.
Many times on his journeys he
stops for lunch. He sits up straight
and fits his long bushy tail into the
graceful curve of his back. Between
his paws he holds a ripe hickory nut.
He turns it from side to side and
crunches into it with his sharp white
teeth. He munches daintily. All the
time his big, bright eyes watch, his
keen ears listen. He is. one quiver of
excitement from the tip of his ears to
the end of his tail. A sound — he is off
and away, a streak of rusty red
against the gray of the fence rail.
If he finds that he need not have
been frightened, he stops again, pulls
himself together with many a quick
jerk and turn, and goes on with his
meal. He cocks his pretty head, now
on one side, now on the other. If he
sees you peering at him, he looks you
all over. When he finds that you do
not intend to harm him, he screams
and laughs and chatters. So saucy is
he that you are quite sure he is say-
ing, “Oh, what a silly thing it is to be
a little boy. It’s so much more fun
COURTESY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
RED SQUIRREL
UNDERWOOD a UNDERWOOD
CHIPMUNK
to be a squirrel and be free like me!”
He is such a happy-go-lucky sort of
fellow that he doesn’t bother much to
lay up food for the winter. Some-
times, he stores a few extra nuts here
and there, in case he should need
them, in the forked branches of trees,
or hides them away in saplings. This
isn’t such a poor plan in some ways,
either. For with his food thus scat-
tered about, the red squirrel can go
away from home, quite sure that no
thief can rifle all his stores. He is
more or less active all winter.
When freezing days come, the little
red squirrel may know some hungry
minutes, but he scurries about over
the snow, sure that he will find some-
thing to eat. Perhaps there are a few
frozen apples left in the orchard. The
FLYING SQUIRREL
43
seeds of these will do for breakfast.
Sometimes he dines scantily on
sumach buds, or on the seeds he finds
hidden away in hemlock cones.
THE CHIPMUNK
Another lively little squirrel is the
chipmunk. He is lighter in color than
the red squirrel, his tail is shorter
and smaller, and he has long, narrow,
black stripes on each side of his body.
If you could examine his mouth,
you would find a tiny flap of skin on
the inside of each cheek. These open
inside and make very handy little
pockets. Thanks to these pockets, he
doesn’t need to carry his food in his
teeth, as other squirrels do.
The chipmunk lives in a hole which
he digs in the ground. It would seem
that the little fellow would leave
somewhere nearby the loose soil
which he digs out, but usually there
isn’t a trace of it to be seen after the
snug little nest is finished. Only the
little builder himself knows where
he conceals it.
For food he likes a maple leaf quite
as well as anything. He picks out a
good-sized one, and with both hands
tucks it into those handy little pock-
ets of his. Then away he goes by the
most roundabout paths to his home.
Close to his home he stores a tidy
pile of nuts, enough to last him all
winter. In December, he goes into his
den. There he stays, warm and cozy,
all winter long. He always lives by
himself. He does not usually come
out of his nest until March. Then he
is up and stirring. Who could sleep
under the ground when woodpeckers
drum and frogs chirp that spring has
come?
March is mating time for chip-
munks. In May, four or five babies are
born to the proud ( Turn to page 58)
GRAY SQUIRREL
TURNING WHITE
A LESSON IN WINTER NATURE STUDY
GEORGE KING
With the first snowfall, all nature
turns white. Even the air is “whited,”
as Emerson has said:
The whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and
the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the gar-
den’s end.
Many plants act their part in this
transformation, for the change is not
limited to the world of frost crystals.
Long ago, the goldenrod turned
brown, but now it has become white
and stands out clear and bright
against the weatherbeaten fence or
the grayish blackness of the stone
wall. The hawkweeds, too, have passed
from yellow to brown and then to a
wintry whiteness. The fluffy thistle-
heads, once so rich a purple, and the
milkweed pods, once heavy with their
burden of brown seeds overlapping
one another like the scales of some
great fish, are now tossing aloft their
white seeds by the handful.
An apple tree by the roadside has
been embraced by a part of the win-
ter’s white flora, for the beautiful,
plume-like fruit of the clematis,
whose woody stems have climbed far
up among its supporting and protect-
ing branches, is adorning it.
Some fence corners and trees as-
sume a floral whiteness, while others
are beautified by crystals, and the
buildings are “new-roofed with Car-
rara .” 1
From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow,
The stiff rails softened to swan’s down
And still fluttered down the snow.
The brooks soon become fringed
with white sculpturing; window-
panes, fence rails, even the stones of
the city’s pavements, are decorated
with dainty lace work in patterns
that only Nature’s fancy can evolve.
But, more wonderful than all these
apparently accidental examples of
winter’s whiteness, are Nature’s in-
tentional changes in her efforts to
adapt to their surroundings those
creatures whose welfare will be en-
hanced by a resemblance to the gen-
erally prevailing character of the
season.
PROTECTIVE COLORATION
Probably the most marked exam-
ples of such seasonal changes are af-
forded by the ptarmigan and the er-
mine weasel. In summer, the ptarmi-
gan, a member of the grouse family,
is mottled with black and a rich,
fluffy brown but, in winter, it becomes
pure white. The snowy owl and the
snow-buntings, which come to us
from the far north, have whitish
plumage that blends harmoniously
with the prevailing whiteness of the
landscape.
l A very white marble.
VARYING HARE
But perhaps the most interesting
example in all nature is the weasel,
whose fur, in summer, has a peculiar-
ly soft shade of reddish-brown but, in
winter, except at the tip of the tail, is
pure white. This black point is prob-
ably useful to its owner in diverting
the attention of a carnivorous bird or
of a beast of prey, as the black spot
is more readily seen than the white
body of the animal. It is said, too,
that, if the tip of the weasel’s tail is
covered with snow, the whole animal
becomes clearly visible. It is also said
that, if the first snowfall is later than
usual, the color change is delayed ac-
cordingly.
The arctic fox, in the far north, is
snow-white throughout the year. Far-
ther south, its coat is bluish-brown
in summer but becomes white in win-
ter.
TWO FUR COATS A YEAR
In the case of the plants above re-
ferred to, the tissues themselves are
bleached. Animals become white
through a change of covering. The
summer coat of hair, fur, or feather,
does not change in color, but is re-
placed by a new growth. This is well
explained in the following description
of the varying hare, in “American
Animals” :
“Much has been written on the
change of color of the varying hare
and other mammals and birds, but
there are few subjects concerning
which more mistakes have been made.
We read of the change taking place
in a single night, coincident with the
first fall of snow and of the actual
blanching of the individual hairs. One
statement is quite as erroneous as
the other. The change is really very
simple. All mammals, in northern
climes at least, shed ( Turn to page 55)
WEASEL
44
ANIMALS AND FLOWERS
TWO UNITS WHICH INCLUDE MANY THINGS TO DO
J. BUHR, FLORENCE EASTWOOD
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
Animals
sheep
chickens
goat
2. Which are garden flowers ?
hen
squirrel
bird
3. What are the colors of each ?
J. BUHR
Animal food.
4. How does each one grow ?
OBJECTIVES
corn
grass
meat
a. Close to the ground or tall ?
1. To enable children to recognize
hay
milk
carrots
b. On vines ?
common pets and other animals.
oats
acorns
nuts
c. On bushes ?
2. To teach them the following tacts
Extra vocabulary.
5. Where does each one grow ?
about these animals:
fat
rides
like
a. In wet places ?
a. appearance.
pretty
help
ears
b. Under leaves ?
b. food.
give
farmer
tail
c. In gardens ?
c. homes.
wool
eat
d. In dry, sunny places ?
d. usefulness to man.
Baby animals.
e. In greenhouses ?
e. characteristics.
kitten
puppy
lamb
f. On lawns or beside roads ?
f. how they protect themselves.
colt
kid
6. Why do we have so many dan<
3. To develop a feeling of kindness
calf
chickens
lions? How do they get plante
toward animals.
Animal sounds.
Describe their seed.
Bow-wow
Moo, Moo
Cluck, Cluck
ACTIVITIES AND CORRELATIONS
Baa, Baa
Mew, Mew
Quack, Quack
SEAT WORK
1. Field trips to the zoo and to see
kittens, rabbits, dogs, and other
pets.
2. Writing.
a. Writing names of the animals.
3. Art.
a. Directed pictures of animals.
b. Free illustrations for booklets.
c. Cut-out animals.
d. Posters.
4. Language.
a. Oral discussion about animals to
gain information.
b. Cooperative stories as in a class
booklet.
c. Cooperative riddles such, for ex-
ample, as the following:
I have big ears. I say, “Wee Wee”.
I have a little tail. What am I ?
I can hop.
I like carrots. 1 hel P the farmer -
What am I? I give you rides.
I can gallop.
I am pretty. j ujje oa tg.
I eat grass. What,am I?
I say, “Baa Baa”.
I give you wool. I am little.
What am I ? I like milk.
I am big. I say, “Mew Mew”.
I give milk. What am I?
I eat hay. I like to run.
I say, “Moo Moo”, j can play balL
What am I? x eat meat .
I am fat. I say, “Bow-wow”.
I like corn. What am I ?
d. Poems about animals.
5. Reading.
a. Vocabulary.
Animal names.
cat cow pig
dog horse rabbit
6. Seatwork. Examples of the fore-
going made up into booklets.
Flowers
FLORENCE EASTWOOD
AIMS
1. To give children an appreciation of
the beauty of flowers as to their
a. Coloring.
b. Form.
c. Fragrance.
d. Texture.
2. To teach the care of growing flow-
ers and their needs of
a. Sun.
b. Water.
c. Air.
d. Good earth.
3. To teach the parts of flowers and
their uses.
a. Blossom.
b. Stem.
c. Roots.
d. Leaves.
4. To interest children in making flow-
er gardens at home, caring for them
properly, and reaping a reward of
beautiful blossoms.
COMMON SPRING FLOWERS
1. Arbutus.
2. Rose.
3. Carnation.
4. Trillium.
5. Jack-in-the-
pulpit.
6. Tulip.
7. Pansy.
8. Dandelion.
9. Violet.
10. Marsh mari-
gold.
QUESTIONS
1. Which are wild flowers?
1. Show with your crayons the colors
of each of the following flowers :
a. rose. f. pansy.
b. arbutus. g. violet.
c. carnation. h. marsh mari-
d. trillium. gold.
e. tulip.
2. Seat work for following directions :
a. Draw a purple tulip and two yel-
low tulips.
b. Draw a trillium.
c. Draw three red carnations in a
blue vase.
d. Draw a Jack-in-the-pulpit.
e. Draw a dandelion.
f. Draw a basket of pansies.
3. Draw a big pretty flower on a long
green stem.
a. Make some leaves on the stem.
b. Make some roots on the stem.
c. Put “b” by the part that is pret-
tiest.
d. Put “r” by the part that gets
food for the plant.
e. Put “s” by the part that holds up
the flower.
f. Put “1” by the part that takes air
to the plant.
SELECTION TEST
Complete the following sentences
by selecting the appropriate word
from the list below:
a. A has prickers on
its stem.
b. A has a little face.
c. A has three white
petals.
d grows under the
leaves. (Turn to page 61 )
45
For Upper Primary and Lower Intermediate Grades
THOSE
CUNNING
FOXES
\
The Silver or Black Fox is a handsome animal. He is black, with long
silky hairs, many of them delicately ringed with silver gray. His tail is
tipped with white.
The Gray Fox is dull gray, flecked here and there with black. His tail
is gray-white on the sides, rusty below, and black at the tip.
The Common Red Fox is beautiful. He is tawny red with yellow lights
in his fur to match the yellow gleams in his eyes. The underside of his
body and the lower parts of his back are grizzly gray. Along the under-
side of his body runs a narrow line of white. His throat is white. The
backs of his stiff, straight ears, his keen pointed nose, his slender legs,
and the tips of the hair on his tail are black and glossy.
T he fox is proud of his tail. It is a warm golden-
red color, light and feathery. When he runs it
seems to float above him like a yellow torch shining
against the white snow. But sometimes in wet
weather, when he has run far his tail becomes
damp, bedraggled and heavy so that he can
scarcely carry it. Then he takes refuge in his den.
There he stays until his tail becomes dry and
light again.
FOX DENS
In the spring the fox goes out house-hunting.
Sometimes he selects a good place, burrows deep
into the earth, and makes his own den. But some-
times he can take possession of a burrow already
made, by a rabbit perhaps. That the rabbit has
THE RED FOX
American Museum of Natural History
made her home herself and is living there in peace
and quiet makes no difference to the fox. All that
is necessary is to get rid of the rabbit and that is
not difficult for a fox to do.
Often a fox den is in the midst of an open field.
This may be so that the wary creatures can see
on all sides, and spy danger far off. New Eng-
land foxes usually have but one or two rooms in
their homes. These rooms are dark as pockets.
But foxes do not mind. Their eyes, like a cat’s,
can see as well in the dark as in the light.
Usually a fox family has more than one den.
If they find that one is being watched, they move
to another as quickly and quietly as possible.
Many a boy and dog have run up, after a long hard
chase, to the mouth of a fox den, only to find it
empty.
HOW FOXES LOOK
Fox cubs look like round, roly-poly, yellow gray
bundles of woolly fur. Their tails are so short and
stiff it does not seem possible that they will ever
grow to be soft and plumy.
The mother fox takes good care of her babies.
She feeds them young mice and rats. They grow
larger and larger until some bright day she takes
them out-of-doors to play.
The little foxes have pert, pointed faces, sharp
ears, and bright, cunning eyes full of mischief.
They frolic about like puppies, chasing their tails
and pouncing upon each other. Often they make
sudden onslaughts upon their dignified mother.
They give short sharp yelps like baby puppies
learning to bark. Sometimes they find a cricket
hurrying home to his family and begin to worry
him. But they forget him when a little cub finds
a big, lazy June bug taking a nap. Sometimes
they just sit quietly and look the field over with
their bright, round eyes.
If there is a sound ever so faint, like the bark of
a dog, the mother fox springs to her feet, warns
her babies and away they scamper into their den.
It is said that when a fox has a den near a
farmhouse, she never robs the hen-roosts of that
farm. Instead she may go a long way to some
distant barn for a tempting meal to bring home to
her babies. While her cubs are small, mother fox
will not risk being caught near her home. Both
the father and mother fox will protect their young,
even to losing their own lives. They will starve
rather than take food away from their children.
FOOD FOR THE FOXES
Foxes eat all sorts of animal food. Each fox,
when old enough, hunts by himself. He steals
out cautiously at night and creeps carefully along,
often going miles in search of the food he wants.
No rabbit, squirrel, field mouse, rat or mole is safe
when a fox is abroad. He likes fruit too, especially
grapes. (Refer to the old folk story of “The Fox
and the Grapes.”)
The fox does not like to wet his feet. However,
a fine crab sometimes tempts him so that he forgets
his dislike of water. There is a story of a fox who
used to drag his bushy tail back and forth lightly
over the water. When a crab put up a claw and
grabbed the tail, the fox dragged him quickly to
land.
When a fox finds chickens at roost in a tree, he
46
has a strange way of catching them. He rims
round and round the tree. The chickens watch,
lean out farther to see what it is all about, grow
dizzy, lose their balance and fall to the ground.
Then the fox has his dinner all ready.
FOX TRAPS
Since foxes are such thieves, it is no wonder that
farmers do all they can to catch them.
To catch a fox in a trap one has to have the
patience and skill of the fox himself. The trap
must not be placed near the chicken coop for a fox
may be on guard there. It must be put in the
woods or in a field where the fox is known to hunt.
Several days before the trap is set the trapper
coaxes the fox. He cuts a place in the frozen
ground and digs out three or four inches of earth.
He fills this place with ashes or dried leaves in
which are mixed bits of roasted cheese. For awhile
the fox won’t touch this tempting meal. But some
cold night, he pokes among the ashes and has a
delicious meal of cheese. Nothing happens, so he
tries it again. After awhile, the trapper hides his
trap in the bed of ashes and cheese. After all this
trouble, however, the chances are that the sly
fox will take a sniff or two, shake his head and trot
quietly away.
If a fox is caught, he will fool the trapper if he
can. Sometimes he plays that he is dead. There
he lies, one foot in the trap, frozen stiff. The dog
comes up and smells of him. The trapper may
poke and prod him. He keeps perfectly still. If
the trapper leaves him for a moment, there is a
dash, a flash of a red-gold tail far off toward the
woods and the fox is gone!
THE FOX AND THE HUNTERS
In no way does the fox show his cunning more
than in the way he escapes hunters. On a clear
crisp morning the hunters turn their dogs loose.
Soon they may be on the track of a fox.
About a half-mile ahead of them runs the fox.
He is so fleet of foot, so light of heart, so full of
bounding life from the tip of his pointed nose to
the end of his beautiful tail, that he leads the dogs
a rapid chase. Up hill, down hill, on and on for
miles they go with the fox eluding them at every
turn. He bounds across dry stones in the bed of
the brook, crosses and criss-crosses the field until
his tracks lead in and out, back and forth over
each other. Then he goes with long strides up the
hill, and mounts a high rock. There he watches
the dogs down below trying to unravel the puzzle
of his footprints. Far off the fox sees the hunter,
coming nearer with his gun.
The fox is up and away with nervous, nimble
leaps toward the woods. He crosses a piece of
ploughed ground, if possible. Then he walks
coolly along the frozen rut of the high road where
a sleigh or truck may have passed. He knows that
no scent of his feet will stay in frozen ground. Or
in warm weather he goes through a pasture and
walks in the footprints the cows have left. The
dogs have hard work tracing him in these places.
He walks carefully in these tracks for awhile.
Then he branches off, leaving the dogs to decide
when they come up which set of tracks belong to
him. Sometimes he is caught because he gets tired
out at last, but just as often he escapes.
A STORY ABOUT
A CUNNING FOX
I t was a cold, moonlit night with the snow lying white and
smooth over the ground. Jimmy walked fast. He was
whistling to show himself that he wasn’t afraid. Suddenly
he heard a sharp, short bark. It didn’t sound like a dog’s
bark. Jimmy bent his head to listen. There in the light snow,
he saw a track. He saw many tracks, small and sharp. Jimmy
stopped whistling. He knew they were fox tracks.
Jimmy had lived all his life in a little New England village.
He knew that to see a fox, a boy must use great caution and
cunning. So Jimmy crept to a clump of evergreens some dis-
tance from the path. He sat down on a rock to wait and listen.
Wary as a fox himself, he peered through the dark boughs.
Then he drew back scarcely believing his eyes. He looked
again and caught his breath. Then he sat as still as the rock
itself to watch.
Just beyond the evergreens was a cleared space. And this
is what Jimmy saw. One —two — three — six foxes! They were
beautiful, half-grown creatures with tawny tails flashing in
the moonlight. It was plain to see that they were out for a
grand frolic. They dashed round and round after their bushy
tails. They jumped and capered. They ran into each other
and fought play battles like merry school boys. They raced
and chased in and out of the soft yellow light. One fox was
ruddy red color. One was dark with thick, soft fur which
would make him run for his life some day.
Suddenly a thought came to Jimmy. He had heard some-
where that if one gave a short, sharp squeak like a wood-
mouse one could coax a fox to come close. Now there wasn’t
an animal anywhere around the village that Jimmy couldn’t
mimic. Often his mother thought she heard the cat mew to
come in and opened the door only to find Jimmy there. All
around the house in unlikely places, squirrels chattered, hens
clucked, and turkeys gobbled. Crows cawed at night. Frogs
chirped shrilly and k erchugged from high snow-banks. Now
the time had come when Jimmy could use his talent to great
advantage.
He shut his lips tightly and drew in his breath sharply and
quickly. “Squeak, squeak, squeak.” Surely that was a wood-
mouse!
The fleetest of the foxes paused in his play. He turned his
head, listening.
“Squeak,” said the little mouse again softly. The fox
bounded straight toward the clump of evergreen trees. He
paused. Jimmy waited. After a minute, “Squeak, squeak,”
said the mouse in a voice that trembled a little.
A few swift, graceful leaps, and the fox stood face to face
with Jimmy.
Jimmy sat very still. He was a little frightened. The fox
showed no surprise. He stood still, one foot lifted, his plumy
tail a graceful curve of light against the snow. His eyes were
fixed on Jimmy’s face a minute.
Then the fox slowly turned and trotted quietly away toward
the woods. When he was out of sight, though, a great change
took place. He jumped about and frolicked and capered
merrily. “I fooled that boy,” he thought. “I was frightened
half out of my wits. But I didn’t let him see it.” Then the
fox thought about that wood-mouse. With all his cunning,
he had not seen through Jimmy’s trick. He resolved that the
very next night he would go back and find the mouse.
Jimmy ran home as fast as he could go. “My! Wasn’t that
fox handsome?” he said to himself. Then he barked exactly
like a fox. Farmer Brown’s turkeys woke and tumbled off
their perches. They flapped their wings and cried so loud
that the farmer came out with his gun and dog. “I’ll catch
that fox this time,” he said. But we know there was no fox
there for him to catch.
47
Animals of the Arctic
Material for your Arctic Unit
JOHN WATROUS
For Primary and Intermediate Grades
W hether they live in hot, cold or temperate climates,
children the world over are interested and fasci-
nated by all that pertains to the Arctic regions.
Last January we gave you studies of the Eskimos. This
year we are going to focus our attention upon a subject
equally attractive to children of all ages, the study of the
animals of the Arctic, such as the whale, reindeer, bear,
seal and walrus.
MAKING CHALK DRAWINGS
The ijlustrations on this page are reproductions of black-
board drawings which may be used as borders, January
calendar designs, and the like.
Children always feel it is a special privilege to be al-
lowed to work with chalk at the blackboard so why not
let them try these and similar designs? The nature of
Arctic scenery makes it particularly easy and appropriate
for blackboard work.
Those who are not especially talented in free hand
drawing will find the outline for drawing with the squares
helpful. If this method is used, the size of the space to
be used must first be determined and then the lines drawn
to make the squares. Be sure that these lines are very
faint so they can be easily erased without smudging the
drawing. It is hoped, however, that many in your group
may be able to do attractive freehand chalk drawings of
these animals and their homes. The illustrations on these
pages may also be helpful to the teacher herself in her
blackboard work.
The aurora borealis may be done in colors and a slight
blue tinge given to the icebergs if desired, though the
scenes are very striking if carried out just in the black
and white.
THE ARCTIC ANIMALS
The study may begin with the whale which is one of the
most extraordinary animals iD the world. The children
may be surprised to learn that the whale is not a fish, for
although he lives in the water, he breathes with lungs and
not gills.
Whales are among the largest animals in the world,
some of them being about seventy feet long and twenty
feet wide. A whale must come up out of the water to
breathe. He can be easily located by fishermen and
whaling fleets by the long stream of water which he throws
up when he comes to the surface to breathe. Unlike fish,
the head of the whale is very large, being at least one-
third of the whole body. The tail extends horizontally
instead of vertically as in fishes. It is of great use in
swimming. Under the skin of the fore limbs are bones
and joints corresponding to the bones and joints of the
human hand and arm.
The eye of the whale is small and set far back in thei
head. The mouth is very large, sometimes 15 feet long
and 9 feet high inside. It is provided with plates of whale-
bone, which strain out the water and leave the small fish
on which the whale feeds. The nostrils are at the top of
the whale’s head. They are used for breathing and for
throwing out water. Whales travel quickly through the
water at the rate of six miles an hour, flapping the water
48
with their large tails, making a noise heard for miles.
The principal method of capturing whales is by the
harpoon gun. A harpoon consists of a long shank, with a
broad, flat head, triangular shaped, sharpened at both
edges, so as to more easily penetrate the body of the whale.
Generally two or three boats join in capturing a whale.
When the whale feels the pain of the harpoon, he swims
away at a rapid rate under the water. After a time, he
must come up to breathe. Then another harpoon is
thrown at him. The whale has great endurance and puts
up a long, brave fight. He succumbs finally to the pain
of the harpoon and his great body is dragged away by
the ships.
A single whale will sometimes yield eighty-five barrels
of oil and a ton of spermaceti. They are. found in largest
numbers along the western coast of Greenland and in
Behring Strait. They have grown scarce and the business
of catching them has decreased since the use of petroleum
for lighting purposes.
THE REINDEER
The reindeer has been called the Eskimo’s good friend
because it provides him with milk, flesh, and means of
transportation. Children in temperate zones usually
know little about the reindeer except the story of the eight
who are supposed to carry St. Nicholas around the world
on Christmas Eve.
The reindeer is found in Europe, Asia, Spitsbergen, and
in Greenland. It is not as graceful as other species of
deer. It is from four to six feet in height, with short
limbs and neck carried almost straight forward. It has
two toes on each foot, which are placed on the snow,
besides an extra pair higher and behind the others to keep
it from sinking deeply into the snow. ( Turn to page 58)
49
ADAPTABLE TO ALL GRADES
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEYSTONE
I NTRODUCTION — There are many avenues of ap-
proach for a unit on seals, especially now when there is
great interest in Alaska, Greenland, and the surround-
ing oceans.
This unit may be used in all grades, the teacher select-
ing activities and material within the comprehension of
her pupils.
In the primary grades, the family group is stressed,
through the use of stories poems, trips to museums, circus
or zoo. In the middle or upper grades, present conditions
as brought out in the Social Studies class may arouse
interest. There is excellent opportunity for dramatizations
and story writing.
OBJECTIVES
1. To acquaint pupils with the seal fishing industry.
2. To create interest in lives of men who catch seals.
3. To teach the life and commercial value of seals.
4. To develop knowledge of effect of these last wars upon
the seal industry.
5. To acquaint pupils with the code of ethics of these
seamen.
APPROACH
The study of seal fishing may be stimulated by:
1. Stories of seals, anecdotes in the lives of fishermen, etc.
2. Study of Newfoundland, Greenland, and Alaska.
3. War — relations between United States, Great Britain,
Russia, Japan. Refer to Treaty of 1911 between these
nations. What is its status now? (Write Department
of Interior. Washington, D.C., for information.)
OUTLINE OF STUDY
Furbearing Seals
These seals are located on the Pribilof Islands. Ninety
percent of all furbearing seals live here in rookeries, from
June to October. During the winter they live upon fish
in the Pacific Ocean, yet they always manage to find the
right route back to the Pribilof Islands.
The male seal, or bull, comes first and fights for a certain
stretch of rocks. Then the female, or cow seal, arrives
and is selected by the male to form his family. Some male
seals have as many as fifty cows in a family depending
upon his ability to fight Then come the bachelors, or
three year old males, who are not allowed to have a family
because they are not strong enough to fight for one. These
seals have the best pelts because they have not been fight-
ing and have not had cuts and tears to ruin the skin.
Here on land the cow seal has one baby, or pup seal,
which she feeds with milk. Although she may leave her
baby when she swims miles away in search of fish for food,
she always finds her own little seal when she returns, even
though they all seem to look alike.
All summer long, the bull seal does not eat or drink.
He just guards his family. Toward the end of the season,
he sleeps for a week and eats until he is strong again. A
bull seal weighs on the average of 500 pounds and the cow
seal about 100. Except for the male, seals are easily caught.
The bachelors are driven in herds a few miles away where
they are killed and skinned. In 1880 there were millions of
these seals but there was so much slaughtering and pelagic
sealing (which is killing on the high seas) that the number
decreased to 100,000 in 1910. In 1911 the United States,
Great Britain, Russia and Japan signed a treaty which
made pelagic sealing unlawful. Since then the seals have
increased at a tremendous rate. It is estimated that the
United States takes over 30,000 skins a year.
50
BABY SEAL ON ENGLISH COAST
"SANDY SEAL" PLAYS BASKETBALL
THIS HANDSOME SEAL SITS FOR HIS PICTURE
HARP AND HOOD SEALS
The law is off these seals March 14-May 1.
They live in Baffin Bay, west of Greenland.
In autumn they move south to spend the
winter at Grand Banks. In spring, they turn
north. At about the end of February the
young are born. These seals furnish leather,
oil, soap, medicine and perfume.
The Harp Seals are mostly white. The
young are called whitecoats and weigh about
seven pounds at birth. They are born on the
ice which is called whelping ice (thin ice).
The male and female make no attempt to de-
fend the pups. The young ones make a queer
noise like a combination of the bleating of a
lamb and barking of a puppy. Seal hunters
kill them by hitting them on the head with a bat. They
are skinned on the spot, and the sculp, or hide, is placed
on a rope, or ratline, and dragged to a marker (flag). The
ship stops at these flags to pick up the sculps.
The Hood or Saddle Seal has greyblue markings on his
back. He has a queer hood on his head which inflates
when he is angered. Only the male has this hood. The
Hood Seal will fight for his family and it is difficult to kill
him because of his hood. These seals prefer the heavier
ice and their young are born on this ice. These seal-pups
make no noise and are harder to locate.
Ships sail from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on seal hunt-
ing expeditions. Many steel ships are used instead of the
wooden ones. Today a plane is used to locate the seals.
Years ago, ships had to sail many miles before locating
seals.
The ship’s supplies usually consist of about eighty
barrels of potatoes, eighty barrels of flour, one hundred
quintals dried codfish, thirty-five barrels of pork, tea,
butter, biscuits, turnips, beans, etc.
VOCABULARY
dunnage bag — bag containing clothes
nunny sack — bag containing lunch
crop — money advanced before sailing (about nine dol-
lars) reDaid plus $3
oilskins — waterproof clothes
quintal — 112 pounds
whitecoats — young harps
steel gaff — stout shank divided into 2 parts, 1 straight
point and the other curving out into a nook
bat — sticks of mountain ash, placed together with gaff
to form weapon
sculp — seal hide
pan — ice sheet
brewis — boiled bread and codfish with pork gravy
duff — flour, water, shortening, currants, molasses;
stirred, then packed in bags and boiled
pinnacle ice — ice from which salt has drained, used as
drinking water
copy — skip lightly across small places of ice
nogg-head — motherless seal
chisels — nails on boots to prevent slipping on ice
Costume of Seal Hunters . — Canvas jumpers over
sweaters, breeches of moleskin or homespun; several red
or white flannel shirts, homeknit underwear, sealskin cap
and goggles.
1 .
2 .
3.
4.
5.
6 .
7.
8 .
9.
10 .
ACTIVITIES
Reading for information.
Giving oral reports on materials read.
Making maps showing location of seal rookeries.
Making illustrations of types of seals and their homes.
Making graphs, illustrating decrease and increase of
seal population.
Painting costumes of fishermen.
Making equipment necessary to catch seals.
Keeping an imaginary ship’s diary.
Learning to cook samples of brewis and duff.
Comparing steel ships with wooden (Turn to page 62)
mSSiR of
FOR PRIMARY GRADES
TlrSi ZOO
'*■' How
We Planned
Our Unit
EVELYN THURBER
OBJECTIVES
a. To study maintenance of a zoo.
b. To gain more knowledge about
animals in the zoo.
c. To teach the value of zoos.
d. To develop better community
spirit through a better concep-
tion of our Park Department.
e. To increase interest in animals.
f. To inculcate habits of courtesy.
g. To teach child to express him-
self in writing stories and
poetry.
h. To increase his vocabulary through dramatization and
story writing.
i. To develop ability to originate, plan and initiate ideas.
APPROACH
During a conversation lesson, a pupil told of seeing four
new lion cubs in Prospect Park Zoo. The children were
all interested and the suggestion made that we go to see
it. Letters were written to parents asking permission to
go on this excursion. It was necessary to go by train. This
led to discussion of the route to be taken. Each pupil
brought ten cents carfare. The money was counted by
the class and amount put on the blackboard. This was an
excellent opportunity to teach “dollars and cents.”
Before going on our trip, we discussed rules of conduct
on the train and at the zoo. Necess’ty of courtesy to those
in charge and to classmates was emphasized.
The trip to the zoo was quite a success. We arrived in
time to see the animals being fed by the keepers. This
was especially interesting to watch.
When we returned the children were full of stories and
things to tell. This was an opportune time to suggest
making our own zoo. The children were overjoyed at the
idea and started the activity with enthusiasm.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIT
1. Class Discussion . — Children discussed the classroom
zoo. A list of suggestions was written on the blackboard
as they occurred to the children.
2. Organization of Committees . — I explained what a
committee and its duties are. We listed committees nec-
essary to carry on the work. A chairman was selected by
me for each committee.
3. Activities.
a. Making the Cages. Due to lack of space in our room,
it was decided to make cages out of construction paper and
tack them on the walls. The children drew the cage fronts
on grey construction paper. This involved use of ruler
and inch measurements. They cut away spaces between
the bars with scissors. These cage fronts were then
52
It’s fun to visit at the 200
To see the tricks the seals can' do,
1 hear them when we reach the park
For they have such a deep, loud hark*
And when the keeper throws them fish
They make the water splash and swish*
I*m sure that I could swim and float
' If I had such a slickery coat*
— Violet Thomas Hartmann
pasted by their four edges on a black background. The
cages varied in size according to the animals for whose
use they were intended. During the making of the cages,
the children learned about the construction and mainte-
nance of real cages they had seen in Prospect Park Zoo.
Before making the cages, they had decided what animals
they were going to have in their zoo.
b. The Animals. The children drew some of the animals
and cut out pictures from magazines of the more difficult
ones, so as to have a large enough variety of animals in
the zoo. When the animals were ready, they were inserted
through and behind the bars and pasted there.
c. Making the Signs. Signs were made indicating the
occupants of the various cages. “Do not feed the Animals,”
“Do not annoy the Animals,” “To the Lion House,” “To
the Polar Bears” were some of the signs made.
d. Making the Food Chart. The committee listed all the
foods needed for animals of their zoo. They secured in-
formation from books in the “Zoo Library.” When this
was completed, two of the children printed the informa-
tion on a chart.
e. Making Booklets. Ten children chose this committee
to work on. A different animal was studied each day by
the entire class. The children learned about the size,
shape, appearance and habits of the various animals.
Children on the booklet committee then wrote stories
about the animals and pasted them in their booklets. The
completed booklets contained compositions of all the ani-
mals in the zoo. These booklets were to be given to the
visitors of the zoo. The following story is typical:
The Polar Bear
The polar bear is taller than other bears. He is
covered with thick white fur. He has a sharp
pointed head with a jet black nose. His sides are
VIOLET THOMAS HARTMANN
flat. He likes to eat meat and fish. We call our
polar bear “Snowball.” He likes to go swimming
in the cold water.
f. Covering the Booklets. Three boys made all the
covers for the booklets. Each cover was decorated with
an appropriate animal picture and the printed words,
“The Zoo.”
g. Making Posters. Several children made posters about
the zoo. These announced the opening of the zoo and
were displayed in the class room and outside corridor.
h. Zoo News. A bulletin board was constructed and an
envelope for “Zoo News” contributions tacked on the wall.
The children wrote riddles and stories and brought in
pictures and newspaper clippings pertinent to zoos. These
were deposited in the envelope on the wall. A child was
selected to edit the above contributions. She also recorded
the progress of the different committees from day to day
and posted this on the bulletin board.
i. Making Hats. It was decided to make hats for the
keepers. They were made of green construction paper —
a round band for the head with a visor fastened in front.
“Keeper” was printed on the front of the caps. During
the course of the activity several repairs were necessary,
so a hat was made for the repairman.
3 . Information Booth. While the children were making
the booklets, the question arose as to where they should
be displayed and distributed in the zoo. A suggestion was
made to build a stand or booth. The children used three
orange crates to build the booth. It was finished with
aluminum paint and an awning with the word “Informa-
tion” tacked to the top. This was made out of yellow con-
struction paper. A chair was made out of another orange
crate and placed behind the booth. A child attendant was
selected to answer questions and show booklets to visitors.
k. Zoo Dictionaries. The entire class made lists of new
words that came up in the development of the activity.
These lists were referred to in writing stories for the
booklets and contributions for “Zoo News.”
l. Zoo Library. Stories of animals and references were
in the library books in the room. The children were
allowed to read these books when they finished tasks or
to refer to them for information.
m. Feeding Time Clock. A sign “Feeding Time” was
made and tacked across the top of a clock dial. One of the
keepers was assigned to set the clock and indicate the next
feeding time. The children learned to tell time through
the use of this indicator.
n. Naming the Animals. One day a child told of a story
he had read about a zoo. The animals had pet names
given to them by the keepers. The suggestion was made
that we christen our animals. This met with a delightful
response. The class
voted on names sug-
gested by the children.
In each case, the most
appropriate name was
the choice, such as:
Elephants — Jumbo
and Samson
Polar Bear — Snowball
Zebras — Blazer and
Peppermint
Tiger — Ginger
Giraffes — H i g h Boy
and Dot
Brown Bears — Teddy
and Browny
Leopard — Spotty
Lion — Leo.
o. The Peanut Stand.
The children had pur-
chased peanuts when
they (Turn to page 63)
53
FOR ALL GRADES
A Science Shelf
for Your Classroom
A science shelf on which children place cocoons, fossils,
tadpoles, and other treasured “finds” fills an impor-
tant need of children in almost any classroom.
Teachers are finding such a shelf a means of teaching not
only science but also of promoting learning in other fields
as well.
A broad shelf or small table, available in most schools,
provides sufficient space for science materials usually on
hand at one time. This shelf is a special place where
science articles are safe and where they may be shared
with classroom friends. It is an interesting place to spend
odd moments before school or during the day.
If a science shelf is started early in the school year
and continued until the last spring wild flower finds a
place on it, the shelf is an almost constant source of
interest.
Although it starts as a convenient place on which to
deposit a variety of science objects found at home, on the
way to school, or on the playground, it grows, under the
guidance of the teacher, to be a center of learning from
which many valuable educational outgrowths develop.
First of all, of course, is learning in the field of science.
Children learn many new science facts, develop science
interests and scientific attitudes as they observe and work
with the objects on the shelf. Occasionally an interest
leads to a science unit.
Another important outgrowth is that of reference read-
ing which results from the children’s curiosity about
objects on the shelf. Most children are not content with
merely looking at these objects. They demand answers
to questions about them, such as, “What is it?”, “Where
did it come from?”, and so on.
Of course, the best answers to these queries are usually
found in science reference books. So, if a few single
copies of well selected science references are placed on or
near the shelf, the children will read widely in many
sources to find satisfying answers to their questions. This
increases the amount of purposeful reading they do and
also affords practice in the use of the index, table of con-
tents, reading graphs and other reference reading skills.
MATERIAL
If the books are of varying reading difficulty, they pro-
vide for the wide range of reading ability usually found
among any group of children — easy material for the poor-
est readers and difficult material to challenge the best.
Copies of Nature Magazine and National Geographic in-
crease the range of reading difficulty and enrich the in-
formation available in the usual science references.
A small bulletin board placed back of the shelf provides
a space for pictures, newspaper clippings, and diagrams
related to objects on the shelf.
A small hand lens is a valuable piece of equipment for
a science shelf. With it children “see the unseen.” It
magnifies the marvels of nature too minute to be seen
clearly or in their full beauty with the naked eye. The
contents of a mud wasp’s nest, the barbs on a porcupine’s
quill, the eye of a bee are but a few of the unseen wonders
revealed by a hand lens. The science department will
BY IDA K. BRINK
sometimes loan a microscope for the still more invisible
in science.
Other important outgrowths lie in the values resulting
from the expression of ideas either during free time in-
formal conversation around the shelf or in organized
science or conversation periods when children pool in-
formation discovered in examining the objects or in read-
ing about them. Critical thinking, use of correct English,
crips- to -the- point expression of ideas are all practiced
when children talk science. It is a stimulating experience.
The science shelf also arouses definite needs for making
use of the manual arts for living things, as tadpoles,
insects, pets must be taken care of. This calls for con-
struction of aquaria, terraria, screened cages and similar
structures. Such building requires planning and measur-
ing to conserve materials and to get satisfactory results.
It requires building structures in which it is possible to
duplicate closely the natural habitats of the various living
things that occupy each structure. Mounting boards are
needed for moths that emerge from cocoons. Glass
covered cases are required for collections. These are
challenging problems that keep children alert and oc-
cupied at worth-while jobs.
A science shelf may also arouse leisure time hobbies,
such as collecting fossils, mounting butterflies, pressing
specimens of wild flowers, making leaf prints.
ARRANGEMENT
There is one problem that frequently arises with a
science shelf, i.e., how to so arrange the objects to keep
the shelf always orderly and attractive. Too many things
give a cluttered appearance, too few make it barren and
uninteresting. A class discussion of how to organize ma-
terial brought in from time to time will result in a work-
able plan, such as the following evolved by one group of
children.
1. Form committees to keep the shelf dusted and in
order.
2. Group like objects together on mats of 9x12 colored
paper, as all clam shells on one, all wasp nests on another.
3. Label each object with a small neat card bearing the
object’s name and the name of the child who brought
it in.
4. Make space for new things by removing old ones
when no longer of particular interest.
5. Make exhibits of things removed by placing them in
a hall showcase or science room where children of other
rooms may see them.
Following such a plan results in another important edu-
cational outgrowth, i.e., practice in keeping materials so
organized to make them usable and attractive.
So, if the science shelf is conducted as a learning center,
it becomes not merely a place where objects are left and
soon forgotten. It develops into a classroom opportunity
for enlarging children’s knowledge of the outdoor world,
for utilizing reading, language, and manual skills with
definite worth-while purposes, and for directing children’s
curiosity toward enriched, educative channels.
54
Nature Study Club
( Continued, from page 6)
bles must be planted and must grow to
maturity. (2) Five kinds of flowers
must be planted and must grow until
they blossom. (3) A tree must be set
out either in April or in October and
must grow until it puts forth leaves.
(4) A bird house must be made and
kept up at least a month. (5) Five new
butterflies or other insects must be
mounted and labeled.
During the fall and winter months,
instead of (1) members may start a
little nursery of five seedlings, or may
present five kinds of wood with their
bark, each correctly labeled. Instead of
(2) five potted pi tints may be started
and cared for at least a month.
Purple ribbon members receive a
package of colored bird pictures.
For an orange ribbon, the child is re-
quired: (1) To have some part in put-
ting up or caring for a bird bath. (2)
To see that a feeding trough for birds is
put up, preferably one made by the
member himself. (3) To pull at least
five hundred rag weeds to help prevent
hay fever. (4) To submit a list of twen-
ty-five additional names of living things
which the candidate has seen.
Ants
(Continued from page 12)
(7) The ants build barns for their
cows.
(8) Ants cross feelers when they
meet.
(9) Ants have six legs.
(10) Ants never work.
Key for scoring
X — Yes; O = No.
1. X 6. O
2. O 7. X
3. O 8. X
4. X 9. X
5. X 10. O
SECOND GRADE NEWSPAPER
The following sentences were dictated
by our pupils during their study of ants.
There are five thousand different
kinds of ants.
The Queen ant takes care of the eggs.
When the ants have battles, the ant
nurses try to save the babies.
The male ant has the best eyes.
The workers have the poorest eyes.
Some workers are blind.
The ant's head may be round, tri-
angular, square, heart- or pear-shaped.
Ants use their tongues just as cats do.
Ants live for ten or fifteen years.
Ants eat seeds and grains of wheat.
Some ants form ladders, or bridges,
so that others can cross rivers.
Ants tunnel under railroad tracks.
The mother feeds the baby ants with
a juice she has in her mouth.
Ants have a secret passage leading
out of their homes.
Turning White
( Continued from page 44)
their coat twice a year, acquiring a
thicker fur in winter and a thinner one
in summer and, in the varying hare, the
winter coat is white while the summer
one is brown. The individual hairs never
alter their color from the time they
appear until they fall out. The change
from brown to white occurs in the au-
tumn and for a short time the animal is
somewhat ‘mottled.’ Then, in March, as
the weather gets warmer and the snow
gradually disappears from the woods,
the fur of the northern hare, probably
by reason of the wearing away of the
tips and the shedding of the long hairs,
gets more and more mottled with brown.
The change, in most cases that have
come under my notice, commences at
the back of the neck, on the feet, and
the under surface of the body and, in
an astonishingly short time, the dark
summer coat is fairly resumed. Al-
though belated snowstorms must often
give them occasion to regret the loss of
their winter coats, taking one year and
another, the change seems to be won-
derfully well timed, and at most they are
really no worse off than those other in-
habitants of the woods that wear their
dark coats throughout the winter.”
Animal Life
Worksheets
( Continued from page 31)
4. A puppy is whose name?
5. What is the name of a baby chick-
en?
6. What is a sheep’s baby called?
7. What is a baby pig called?
8. What is a mare’s baby called?
9. What is a baby duck called?
10. A gosling is whose baby?
11. What is a baby deer called?
12. Whose baby is a kid?
13. What is a baby bear called?
14. What is a seal’s baby called?
15. What is a wolf’s baby called?
16. What is a reindeer’s baby called?
KEY
1. poult
9. ducklinj
2. cow
10. goose
3. kitten
11. fawn
4. dog
12. goat
5. chick
13. cub
6. lamb
14. puppy
7. piglet
15. cub
8. colt
16. calf
1 Heard a
Bluebird
Out in our leafless apple tree
I heard a bluebird sing,
To say that winter’s past and fnne,
The world belongs to spring,
While March winds blow and from
the sky
Fall flakes of drifting snow,
I know that Spring is near,
The first bluebird tells me so.
— Laura Emily Mau
Frogs
( Continued from page 18)
nearest shore. He usually selects a dry
spot on or near the bank on which to
sun himself and from which, if dis-
turbed, he can jump into the water. His
memory, however, seems to be a short
one since, if the intruder remains still,
he will soon return to his place and
resume his song.
CORRELATIONS
1. Language.
a. Give a program for another first
grade and have the children tell
what they have learned about
frogs.
b. Compose a group story about
frogs.
2. Music.
a. “Frogs at School”.
b. “Early Spring”.
(Music Hour in Kindergarten and
First Grade, Silver, Burdett &
Co., Boston, Mass.)
3. Art.
a. Have the children make draw-
ings of a pond and include the
various plants found around
swamps.
b. For free work have them make
sketches of frogs and pollywogs
swimming.
4. Writing.
a. For group work develop sen-
tences and illustrate them such,
for example, as the following:
Carleton and Richard brought
some pollywogs.
The turtle ate the tadpoles we
put in his bowl.
The pollywogs in the goldfish
bowl are the biggest.
5. Reading.
a. Charts.
b. Stories: “Little Tadpoles”, Rand
McNally, Chicago.
“Blue Pond”, “Round About"
Row, Peterson Co., New York.
c. Poems :
(a) “The Frog”, by Hilaire Bel-
loc,
6. Multiple Choice Test.
a. The pollywog comes out of (a)
shell; (b) egg; (c) cup.
b. We find frog eggs (a) in the
bottom of a pond; (b) in the
grass around the edge; (c) on
top of the water.
c. Pollywogs like to eat (a) scum;
(b) flies; (c) insects.
d. Frogs like to eat (a) scum; (b)
flies; (c) fish.
e. How many legs does a frog have ?
(a) one; (b) two; (c) three; (d)
four.
f. How many years does it take an
egg to grow into a frog ? ( a ) one ;
(b) two; (c) three.
g. How many legs does a tiny polly-
wog have? (a) one; (b) two;
(c) none.
Key: a, (b); b, (b); c, (a); d, (b);
e, (d) ; f, (c) ; g, (c).
55
How Animals Keep Clean
(Continued, from page lfl)
Honeybees
(Continued from page 11)
which are especially cleanly animals,
also use their tongues for blushing
and cleaning their fur. Few wild ani-
mals have a disheveled coat. Various do-
mestic animals, such as the ruffled
guinea pig and some fowls, have been
purposely bred with roughed-up coats,
but nature seems to have little liking for
such costumes.
How beautifully bright and neat the
birds in general keep themselves! How
smooth and spotless is the soft plumage
of the ring-dove! The elaborate plumage
of the wood-duck is spread out so
smoothly and in so beautiful a pattern
that the slightest disarrangement would
spoil it. Domestic fowls spend consider-
able time in oiling and smoothing their
feathers, doing it all with their bills.
Even the awkward-looking bill of the
pelican performs a similar task. Birds
with very long beaks are unable to
reach parts of their necks with them,
but their neck feathers are usually short
enough to stay in place without much
care. If the neck feathers hre long, the
bill can usually get hold of the ends and
so straighten them out.
Birds often bathe. No doubt you have
often seen the English sparrow splash-
ing in the water after a rain, or even
in a little pool in the gutter. Some
birds will dash, for a moment, against
the surface of a pond and so give them-
selves a superficial washing. Often, when
I have been using the hose to sprinkle
my garden early in the morning, with
the water broken into spray, I have
seen a robin look with longing eyes at
the tempting mist, running nearer and
nearer, and becoming bolder and braver,
until he finally stood under the falling
drops. Every owner of a canary knows
how the bird rejoices in his daily bath
and what an active, splashing perform-
ance he makes of it. One of the most
delightful ways of attracting birds to
one’s lawn or garden is to provide a
good-sized bird bath and keep it filled,
during the spring and summer months,
with clear cool water. On a warm sum-
mer’s day I have seen a kingbird, a
Baltimore oriole, and two bluebirds tak-
ing advantage of a bird bath within a
few minutes of one another. Standing in
the shallow pool, they repeatedly dashed
their bodies under the surface, fluttered
their wings to shake off the surplus
moisture, and then flew away to a near-
by tree to dry themselves in the sun,
serenading me, meantime, with a burst
of joyous song.
Even the insects, as far as the naked
eye can observe, keep “slicked up”.
Wasps, mud-daubers, flies, and mos-
quitos brush themselves with great care,
using their forelegs for head brushes
and their hindlegs for their wings. Af-
ter a fly has brushed his head and face,
he always rubs his feet together as if
he were rolling the dust into a ball ready
to be dropped and thrown away.
QUESTIONS
1. What mistaken idea do people have
about pigs?
2. Why is a pigpen usually a dirty
place? Is it possible to have it more
cleanly? How?
3. If you see cows which look dirty,
what do you think about the farmer
who owns them ? Would you buy milk of
him ? Why not ?
4. How do horses help to keep them-
selves clean if they are allowed the free-
dom of a pasture?
5. How do cattle keep themselves and
their offspring clean ?
6. Tell how you have seen your cat
slicking herself up after eating.
7. How do squirrels and rabbits wash
their faces ?
8. What proof cap you give that na-
ture does not like roughed-up coats and
uncleanly-appearing animals?
9. How does the pelican look after his
toilet?
10. Did you ever see an English spar-
row splashing in the water after a rain-
storm? Describe what it does.
11. If you have a canary bird for a
pet, what should you do to help him in
his daily bath ?
12. Have you ever seen an outdoor
bird bath ? Have you one in your lawn
or garden? If so, describe it and tell
what birds you have seen bathing in it.
13. Describe a peculiar habit of the
fly which shows him to be a cleanly in-
sect.
14. What do you think about the neces-
sity of cleanliness for hens and chick-
ens ?
15. If you have pets of your own, tell
some of the things you should be par-
ticular about.
16. If our animal friends have such
neat habits, what do you think should
be true about the habits of their owners ?
ACTIVITIES
1. Draw a picture of a cat washing his
face after eating.
2. Draw a picture of an English spar-
row splashing in the water.
3. Draw a picture of a canary in his
cage, showing his little bathtub.
4. Draw a picture of a clean pig and
four little ones in the right kind of
a pigpen.
5. Write a little story telling about
experiences you have had with
your pets, like rabbits or canaries,
showing how keeping clean adds to
their health and well being.
6. Draw a picture of the right kind of
hen-coop, showing the hens and
chickens enjoying the henyard.
7. Draw a picture of a bird bathing
in an outdoor bird bath.
8. Draw a picture of your dog enjoy-
ing a swim in a pond.
is like a fine, sharp
i. Bees always make their cells
j. A bee has
(a.) six sided
(b.) winter
(c.) trees
( d.) needle
(e.) pollen
Key for Scoring:
a (c) c (b)
b (f) d (h)
legs.
(f. ) work
(g) fly
(h.) royal jelly
(i.) smallest
(j.) six
e (e) g (g) i (a)
f (i) h (d) j (j)
4. Matching Parts.
Match the beginnings of the sentences
in Column I with their proper endings
in Column II.
Column I
a. Nectar comes
b. Baby bees
c. Bees carry
d. The workers
e. Each worker
f. The queen bee
g. The bees’ home
h. The nurses
Column II
(a) eat beebread
(b) from flowers
(c) care for the baby bees
(d) lays eggs
(e) has two pollen baskets
(f ) honey in a honey sac
(g) is called a hive
(h) chew wax to soften it
Key for Scoring:
a-(b) b-(a) c-(f) d-(h) e-(e) f-(d)
g-(g) h- ( c)
5. Choosing the Right Word.
Draw a line under the appropriate
word to complete the sentences.
( 1 ) Bees give
a. honey, b. hats, c. houses
( 2 1 Bees can
a. sting, b. swing, c. sing
(3) Bees make
a. coats, b. cells, c. caps
(4) Bees get nectar from
a. fruit, b. fish, c. flowers
( 5 ) Bees carry
a. pollen, b. pins, c. paints
(6) Bees can
a. bleat, b. buzz, c. bite
(7) Bees have six
a. lungs, b. lumps, c. legs
(8) Bees live in
a. huts, b. hives, c. homes
(9) At the door of the hive you find
a. giants, b. girls, c. guards
(10) Bees keep their homes
a. close, b. clear, c. clean
Key for Scoring:
(1) a (3) b (5) a (7) c (9) c
(2) a (4) c (6) b (8) b (10) c
The Squirrel Unit
(Continued from page 40)
A. Red squirrel B. Gray squirrel C. Fly-
ing squirrel.
A | B | C |
1. He is easily tamed.
2. He gnaws the tree to get sap.
3. He is very beautiful.
4. He likes to chatter.
5. He looks like a ball of fur when he
sleeps.
6. He likes a roomy nest.
7. He has large eyes.
8. He is very fond of pine seeds.
9. He has a broad tail.
10. He lives in city parks.
56
The Cat and the Dog
( Continued, from page 33)
F. Recognizing Tracks of Animals
Peter went into the garden.
He saw some tracks in the snow.
Here are the tracks.
Do you know who made them?
a. cat b. bird c. dog d. rat e.
Key
1. c 2. e 3. b
1.
ft n
*A
tt
Tt
4. d
2
rabbit
5. a
I I
M
; 'fit'
[
»•*.
G. Blank Filling and identifying parts o!
dog by writing in letters.
1. I am a .
I see with my —
I smell with my
I hear with my -
I eat with my —
I run with my —
I can wag my —
I made these
(a) tail
mouth
(b)
(c)
(d)
nose
feet
k A
to
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
Key
ears
eyes
puppy
tracks
2. f
6. d
3. c
7. a
4. e
8. h
to
to
Queer Flying Things
( Continued from page 17)
spiders avail themselves of breezes and
currents of warm air to carry their light
and naturally buoyant balloons.
QUESTIONS
1. Which of the flying animals most
perfectly illustrates the principle of the
airplane ?
2. What fisn flies in a similar way ?
3. Where are they most often found?
(See Compton’s Encyclopedia and the
World Book.)
4. Who was Henry David Thoreau?
5. Explain the difference between the
flight of a bird and that of the flying
squirrel.
6. Where is the flying tree frog most
commonly found?
7. What is a chameleon ? In what re-
spect is the flying frog similar?
8. What other name is often given to
the flying tree frog? (The flying tree
toad.)
9. How does this little animal hold his
place on the trunk of the tree?
10. What peculiar flying insect do we
find in Texas ?
11. How far can she fly? How does
she carry her young ones ?
12. How did the aeronautic spider get
its name? (Look up the meaning of
aeronautic.)
13. Describe how this spider goes to
work to manufacture her aircraft. ( See
The Grade Teacher for June, 1937.)
14. Draw a picture of the aeronautic
spider.
15. Have you read in the newspapers
about the Black Widow spider? Why
does it have that name ?
16. Why should children not handle
spiders? (One may be bitten by a poi-
sonous spider and made very ill. Death
may result from the bite of the Black
Widow spider.)
17. Why is the operator of an air-
plane called an aviator? (The name
comes from the Latin word “avis”, a
bird, so that the word "aviator” means
a man bird or a man who flies.)
18. The term aviator — man bird — is
not entirely appropriate, since the move-
ments of an airplane have only a remote
resemblance to the movements of a bird
in flight. Explain some of the differ-
ences.
19. Why does the author* say that nei-
ther airplanes nor flying animals, other
than birds and bats, are true flying ma-
chines ?
20. Do you suppose our aviators real-
ize what interesting little rivals they
have in the art of flying? Why?
21. Are you more interested now in
studying the airplane, man’s flying ma-
chine? Why?
THINGS TO DO
1. Select any of these flying animals or
insects which you have seen and write a
little story about your experience, draw-
ing a picture of the animal or insect
which you are telling about.
2. Look up the life of the Wright
Brothers and see if you can find out to
what extent they studied the objects of
nature in developing their invention of
the flying machine.
3. Write a paragraph explaining the
difference between the terms “flying”
and “soaring”. For example, we often
hear the hawk spoken of as soaring,
rather than flying. (Briefly, we think of
flying as passing through the air by the
aid of wings in motion, as the ordinary
bird flies. When the wings are not in
57
motion, as is often the case with the
hawk, and the bird’s body is sustained
only by the current of air through which
it is passing, we say it is not in flight
but is soaring.)
4. Make a list of the most famous avi-
ators of whom you have read, including
both men and women.
5. Now we are ready to begin our air-
plane unit. Make a little outline of the
way in which you would like to begin
your study.
Crusty, the Hermit
Crab
( Continued from page 22)
He dragged his roommate and the old
homestead behind him searching for a
new home. He looked behind stones and
under tree roots. He looked everywhere
but each suitable house was filled. Finally
he found the very thing, a fine snail shell
house, on the edge of a tidepool.
It was a splendid place to live. He had
a good view overlooking the water. Any
Hermit Crab would like that house, so he
slipped out of the old shell. But he for-
got to be careful. He did not look first
to see if Mr. Sandpiper was anywhere
around. Before he could back into his
beautiful new house the Sandpiper hopped
into sight not far away. Crusty took one
look and dived into the pool. He did not
so much as move a claw after he got
under a rock on the very bottom. He
was frightened.
Mr. Sandpiper waited and waited. He
hopped from one side of the tidepool to
the other. He cocked his head this way
and that but he couldn’t fool Crusty who
lay very still. Finally a sand flea jumped
and the Sandpiper rushed off to capture
it. He forgot all about Crusty.
But Crusty did not forget about Mr.
Sandpiper. Nor was all danger over for
him. Just as he was about to come out
of the water a small fish darted close to
him. Crusty shrank back.
After awhile he arose to the surface
An unhappy sight met his eyes. There
was his beautiful moon shell house disap-
pearing down the sand. He would be
homeless again if he didn’t get his house
back. Crusty was a brave little fellow.
He hurried after his house as fast as he
could go. Finally he caught up with it.
There inside was another Hermit Crab,
bigger than Crusty. But, by pulling and
tugging, Crusty pried the Hermit Crab
loose. Out he came with a jerk! He lost
one leg in the fight, but he didn’t mind,
for a new one will grow right back, in
the crab family. He bounced away angrily
as Crusty backed into his lovely house.
Many times after that as Crusty grew
larger, he was obliged to change houses.
He seemed to like moving. He grew into
a great fighter. Nowhere on all the beach
was there a crab that was his match.
little parents. Then come busy times.
The babies must be fed and cared for.
So an all-day scamper and scramble for
food begins. And all the time one must
watch out for sounds and scents that
mean “A dog is coming.” “There is a
boy with a gun! Run! Run!”
Busy as they are, chipmunks have
plenty of time for play. Did you ever
see two or three of them have a game
of tag ? Round and round they scamper,
first one ahead, then another. Mean-
while they chatter and scream, and
seem to have as good a time as school
children out at recess.
The gray squirrel is much larger than
the red. He is an elegant little fellow.
The upper parts of his body are gray,
the under parts are white, and there are
yellowish-brown dashes of color on his
back and sides.
His ears are high, narrow, and
pointed. He has a magnificent bushy
tail, of which he is very proud. His tail
is more than an ornament. When he
takes a leap from some tall tree, he
arches his great tail and this helps to
break his fall. When he goes to sleep,
he wraps it about him, like a warm,
furry blanket. A story is told of a gray
squirrel who once lost part of his tail.
He was heart-broken. He went away
The male reindeer has branching antlers.
These fall off in the month of November
and new ones grow in the spring.
The reindeer lives on moss, twigs, and
lichens. It constitutes the chief wealth of
the Laplander, some having herds of two
thousand or more. The milk is used for
cheese and the flesh for food; the sinews
for thread; the fat for oil and the bones
for needles and tools. The reindeer is
especially valuable as a draught animal
for which purpose it is harnessed to
sledges. He travels about ten miles an
hour and can draw a weight of two hun-
dred pounds besides the sledge.
THE WHITE POLAR BEAR
The great white polar, or ice bear, is
recognized as belonging to a distinct class
of bears. Its features are unlike those of
other bears. The head is long and pointed,
the body elongated, the limbs slender,
the feet hairy-soled, and the coat cream-
white. They are large animals, sometimes
ten feet in length and very strong. They
are numerous in Arctic regions. They
feed upon fish, young walrus, and young
seals, sometimes swimming for miles in
search of food. Often the food is found
in the surf and in the coast rivers where
the fish come to spawn.
THE WALRUS
The walrus is distinguished from other
Squirrels
( Continued from page 43)
and hid, and nothing could coax him
from his hiding place.
The gray squirrel lives in the trunk
of some old tree. The entrance is far
up among the branches. When spring
comes, the little fellow seems to feel
the need of a summer home. So he se-
lects a new and pleasanter location —
usually in a tree not far from his winter
residence.
Here he builds a pretty cottage of
small, leafy twigs. To this home he
brings his mate, and here the baby
squirrels are bom and brought up. The
old home is not forgotten. The squir-
rels often visit it. And when they are
in danger, it is to the hollow tree
trunk that they scamper for safety.
Gray squirrels are easily tamed. In
some cities they play about the paths
of public parks and along the road-
sides and seem quite as much at home
as the children who pet and feed them.
In these cities, laws are made to keep
people from killing or harming the tame
squirrels.
A little girl who lives in New York
City once told me how she plays with
the squirrels in Central Park. When she
goes to the park, she always carries
a bag of peanuts for them. She sits
down on the walk and they gather all
Animals of the Arctic
( Continued from page 49)
polar animals by its tusks which grow
from the upper jaw as largely developed
canine teeth, downwards and slightly in-
ward fifteen inches or more in length.
These tusks serve the animal as weapons
and as tools in digging mollusks, upon
which it mainly lives, or in climbing rocks
on the shore. The walrus is a large
animal, often twelve feet in length with a
girth nearly as much. The eye of the
walrus is small; the external ear is lack-
ing though the orifice is visible.
The walrus is yellow-brown in color.
The hide is very tough and thick so that
it can be penetrated by a bullet only with
great difficulty. It is used by the Eskimo
for dog harnesses. The walrus is abun-
dant along the seashore. It is a quiet,
inoffensive animal unless it is attacked or
when its young are in danger. Then it
fights desperately. Owing to reckless
slaughter of years past, they are greatly
decreased in number.
THE SEAL
Seals are found in the North Pacific
Ocean and in Behring Sea; on the shore
of Eastern Labrador and Western Green-
land. There are two great types of seals:
the fur seal, which yields the sealskin of
commerce, and the hair seal, which yields
a valuable oil and leather.
The hair seal is the one seen in the
circus. The face is small and short; the
58
about her for the nuts. Some of them
come and eat out of her hands. Others
wait until they think she is not looking,
run up, grab a nut, run away, and eat
it at a safe distance. Some of them,
however, will never come near her, no
matter how much she coaxes them. For
these timid ones she always leaves
some nuts nicely shelled.
THE FLYING SQUIRREL
There is one squirrel who is up and
doing only at night. All day he is rolled
up in a small furry ball. But at night
how he flies about, building his house
or storing up nuts. This is the flying
squirrel. Unlike other squirrels, he has
a strong, elastic fold of skin between
each fore and hind leg. These folds are
partly held up by the bony part of the
feet. When the squirrel leaps, they
spread out, something like wings, and
break his fall.
Although this squirrel is called a fly-
ing squirrel, his way of getting through
the air is not like that of a bird. He
cannot fly upward. His flight is only a
long-drawn-out descent. He drops quick-
ly in a slanting direction, holding out his
legs straight and stiff from his body and
making his body itself broad and flat.
His tail acts something like a rudder.
ear is small. He has feet with long claws.
The posterior limbs only - are used in
swimming and do not bend forward at
the knee. The seal swims through the
water quickly. When on land he cannot
walk or rim, but wriggles along. The
head and neck can be raised as in the
bear. They have five toes on each limb,
joined together by webs. They have a
short tail joined beyond the middle to the
hind legs by the skin.
For some reason seals sometimes
swallow large sto ies. They breathe slowly,
having only about thirty respirations per
hour. They have the most curiosity of
all polar animals. They will come quite
close to ships, as if curious to see them.
They are particularly attracted by mus-
ical sounds. Often they will gather on
shore in large numbers at the sound of
ringing bells or other music. They take
good care of their young. They prepare
for them a small igloo in the ice near the
shore. The baby seal makes a curious
noise when hungry or frightened. By
imitating this noise, the Eskimo hunters
catch many. The mother seal rushes forth
at the sound which she thinks is made by
the baby seals, and so is easily captured
or shot.
The fur of the seal is valuable. Every
year thousands are killed by hunters to
satisfy the demand of commerce.
Preparing for Winter
Rabbits, Squirrels, Turtles
( Continued from page 28)
He likes to climb.
He likes to play.
He likes pecans.
He lives in this cage.
His name is Bobbie.
Our Rabbit
Our rabbit is pretty.
He is white.
He has pink eyes.
He has long pink ears.
He likes to hop, hop, hop.
He lives in this hutch.
His name is Joe.
Our Turtles
Our turtle is pretty.
He likes to crawl.
He pulls his head into his shell.
He pulls his legs and tail into his shell.
He likes meat and lettuce.
He lives in this glass bowl.
His name is Tim.
Peanut is a turtle, too.
He lives with Tim.
HOW IT HELPED OUR READING
PROGRAM
The making and reading of these charts
were delightful experiences, as they were
the results of actual observations of the
live specimens. This work greatly mo-
tivated our reading program. The chil-
dren learned to read the little stories
quickly as they were simple, meaningful,
and interesting
Now we were ready for the next step
which was to get pictures of foods and
enemies of the pets. As a result, attrac-
tive charts were made with the pictures
and word labels bearing titles such as:
“What Tim Eats,” “Enemies of Our Pets.”
Many other facts were learned other
than the ones listed by the groups, such
as:
How the pets live in their woodland
homes
How they live in winter
Their use to man
The damage they do to man
The irnit can go on and on, as the child’s
interest in animals is ever constant. Daily
they observe something new. We brought
the study to a close after four months.
It culminated with the group giving an
assembly program in the form of a playlet
in two scenes. During the first one, the
children introduced our pets to the audi-
ence. They then gave a resume of the
things which they had learned and the
experiences enjoyed.
The second scene carried the audience
on an imaginary trip to the woods to see
the pets in their natural environment.
Here they dramatized in song, speech, and
dance the activities of the pets with their
animal friends in the woods, assisted by
Sun, Rain, and Spring, which were all
necessary to help awaken the animals
from their winter sleep.
OUTCOMES AND ACTIVITIES
1. Stories were read to the children
and before the close of the unit they were
able to read short simple stories them-
selves. Some of these were read for en-
joyment, dramatization, some for retell-
ing, while others were purely informa-
tional.
2. They learned many songs and poems.
3. They studied the painting, The Boy
and the Rabbit.
4. They played games: Squirrel and
Trees, Squirrel and Nuts, Animal Imita-
tions.
5. They made folders for their work
which were displayed at the P. T. A.
meeting. Each folder had the picture of
a pet colored and its name written under
it.
6. They made freehand drawings, book-
lets, and clay models.
7. They saw the sound film, “Adven-
tures of Bunny Rabbit;” film strips,
“Peter Rabbit” and “Farm Animals;”
slide, “A Rabbit.”
They listened to a recording of “Peter
Rabbit.”
8. They did the following types of
checks:
(a) Match names with pictures.
(b) Interpret action sentences. (Ex-
ample: Crawl like a turtle.)
(c) Read, guess and make riddles.
I am little.
I can hop.
I have pink eyes.
Draw me.
(d) Read and answer yes or no.
Is Tim a turtle?
Is Bobbie a rabbit?
Does Joe eat meat?
Does Tim have a shell?
Does Joe have strong legs?
Does Peanut hop?
INTEGRATED SUBJECTS
Opportunities for language learnings
were ever present.
The importance of health in caring for
our pets was stressed and compared with
the good health habits the children them-
selves should have: cleanliness of homes,
proper food, clean fresh water, regularity
of meals.
Experiences in art were enjoyed
through coloring, drawings, and modeling
animals.
Painting boxes for assembly program
and for turtles’ house.
Cutting out covers for turtles’ stand.
The children’s vocabularies were con-
stantly enlarged.
Association with an observation of
these pets made a far more lasting im-
pression than any amount of mere read-
ing would do. A very convincing event
took place almost a month after our as-
sembly program. Our turtle awakened
from four months of slumber in his bed
of mud. The children immediately rec-
ognized what was happening. They knew
what food was necessary and how to care
for him. Two boys purchased some beef,
and what a thrill it gave them to see the
turtle eat his first meal since October.
59
( Continued from page 30)
viewed the discussion of animals and
recalled the discussion of grasshoppers
and crickets. First it was understood that
while these creatures are called insects,
they are really little animals. The chil-
dren knew that many grasshoppers and
crickets die, but did not know that many
of these had laid eggs. It was explained
that the eggs did not have to be kept
warm and that they were laid near food.
Everyone knew the story of the cater-
pillar and was eager to talk about its
long sleep.
The picture of the beetle was new to
them. A few children had seen beetles
but no child had any idea of what hap-
pened to them. The fact that beetles and
similar insects crawl into the ground and
sleep caused one boy to remark, “Maybe
they think they’re bears.”
To vary the lesson, the book “Do You
Know” was used. As teacher showed
pictures, children discussed them.
PART III
How Plants Get Ready for Winter
In line with the main thought the ob-
jective here was to see what had hap-
pened to things we had seen, plants in
our gardens, wild flowers, trees.
The lesson started by playing a game
which reviewed the first two parts of the
unit. The teacher had printed riddles on
small cards. A child read a riddle to the
class and chose someone to answer it.
Sample riddles follow:
I am little.
I have a long bushy tail.
I store nuts for winter.
Who am I?
and
I am very small.
I curl up inside a cocoon.
I sleep until spring.
Who am I?
Then the teacher remarked that the chil-
dren now knew about animals, but that
we had not talked about plants. Most of
the class thought all plants died. How-
ever, one little girl said she thought some
plants must just sleep because she had
seen people covering them up. Another
child told about the iris in her garden.
The children decided that leaves and
stems of some plants do die, but that the
roots are alive and, in the spring, new
stews and leaves will grow.
In thinking about wild flowers, it was
decided that these do die, but before this
happens, the flowers have made seeds
that will grow into new plants in the
spring.
The children were amazed that a tree
is a plant. When proof had been estab-
lished, they were eager to talk about
the changing color of the leaves and their
falling off. Most of the class thought that
trees died and then by means of some
magic trick came alive in the spring.
Further discussion of the tree as a plant
cleared this up. They saw that the
branches, trunks and roots stay alive all
winter. It was pointed out that some
trees did not lose their leaves and stayed
green all winter. They were told that
these were evergreen trees.
The Spinning Lady of Spiderland
she adds other spokes and many cross-
ings at the center so as to make a stout
hub in the wheel-like structure. Starting
at the hub, she spins about it a series of
spiral lines, each time widening her cir-
cle. These lines form the scaffolding for
her structure.
Starting at the outer rim of her cir-
cle, she then begins to spin with a new
brand of silk which is much finer and
is well coated with a sticky substance.
This thread catches and holds unwary
insects. Round and round she spins, un-
til she reaches the center. Sometimes,
she runs out beyond her web a taut tap
line and hides herself behind a leaf or
other convenient screen. The slightest
disturbance in the web is carried to her
through this line.
THE SPIDER'S ANATOMY
This interesting creature is not, as is
often thought, an insect, but belongs to
the/ class Arachnida. The spider has
eight legs, while the insect possesses but
six. The four pairs of legs afe attached
to the thorax. Each leg consists of seven
segments, terminating in two or three
claws. The head and thorax of the spider
are in one segment and are connected
to the abdomen. The spider has two
claw-like appendages, called chelicerae,
extending from the head, instead of the
antennae of the insect. Near the top of
each claw is the opening of the poison
glands.
The organs with which the spider does
its spinning are located at the rear of
her sack-like abdomen. Most spiders
have three pairs of these spinnerets. A
view of these organs through a micro-
(Continued from page 7)
scope would reveal perhaps a hundred
tiny spinning tubes over each spinneret,
from which the silk threads are ex-
pelled.
OTHER KINDS OF SPIDERS
Mrs. Aeronautic Spider finds many
other uses for her silk besides weaving
it into webs. Sometimes she wishes to
catch insects that are floating about in
the air. This wise lady knows just how
to go about manufacturing her own air-
craft. She crawls to a high, wind-swept
position, spins out silk, and weaves it
into a sort of parachute. The wind
catches this and bears the lady flier up
and away, sometimes for miles. How
does she get down? Easily enough, for
she has but to spin a drop-cable and
lower herself upon it.
The Trap-door Spider digs tunnels in
the ground and, with her silk and a mix-
ture of mud, fastens over her home a
neat, close-fitting door. Some of these
tunnels act as traps. They are held shut
only by a gossamer thread which breaks
the instant a hapless victim touches it.
Then the prey is plunged into the tun-
nel to be devoured. Others have doors
which are carefully widened at the top
and fitted so securely as not to allow
any intruder — such as the centipede,
the cousin and asch-enemy of the spider
— to enter.
Perhaps the species of spiders most
feared by the human race are the Taran-
tula and the “Black-Widow” Spider.
Both are said to have caused death by
their bites. Certainly the bites of some
spiders cause much suffering and dis-
tress, so it ia well for children to let
them all entirely alone, and to admire
their peculiar talents at a distance.
QUESTIONS
1. Which is the most energetic and
important member of the spider house-
hold?
2. Why is Mr. Spider not as independ-
ent as his wife ?
3. Is a spider an insect ? Show some
differences between insects and spiders.
4. How does Mrs. Spider know at once
when she has caught an insect in her
web?
5. How many eyes has a spider?
6. Tell what you think is wonderful
about the spider’s method of making her
home.
7. Draw a picture showing how the
spider begins to spin.
8. Tell how Mrs. Spider is something
like the “Man on the Flying Trapeze.”
9. Have you ever seen a spider web
that seems to hang in mid-air? Where?
10. Tell why some spiders are called
“trap-door” spiders.
11. What are some of the most dan-
gerous spiders?
12. Tell* why it is best not to handle
spiders.
13. Should you admire their lacey
webs? Why?
14. Read the old poem “The Spider and
the Fly” and draw a picture to illustrate
it.
es himself with
a. tail b. paws c. tongue
8. He likes to drink
a. water b. oil c. gasoline
3. Directions to follow.
Read the story “The Little Old
Woman and Her Rabbits."
1. Draw the little old woman.
2. Color her dress blue.
3. Draw her garden.
4. Color the vegetables.
5. Draw Mrs. Rabbit in her garden.
4. Yes and No questions.
1. Are cottontails wild rabbits?
2. Do they have brown fur in win-
ter ?
3. Do they have short ears ?
4. Are their hind legs a great help
to them ?
5. Are their noses always in mo-
tion?
6. Do they like the briar patch for
their homes?
5. Matching sentences to pictures.
Place pictures on the chalk tray.
Write informational sentences
about these pictures. Number
Rabbits
( Continued from page 39)
pictures and sentences and
match them.
6. Matching words. Descriptive
words.
1. fur 1. pads
2. nose 2. stumpy
3. mouth 3. three-cornered
4. tail 4. brown
5. ears 5. strong
6. feet 6. wild
7. legs 7. sensitive
8. cottontails 8. long
7. Completion sentences.
1. Rabbits have many
2. A rabbit freezes when he is
in
3. Rabbits are sometimes killed
by
4. Rabbits are sometimes run over
by
5. Rabbits are sometimes caught
in
6. Rabbits are sometimes eaten
by
7. Rabbits are sometimes killed by
bad
8. Rabbits are very good
1. dodgers 5. automobiles
2. traps 6. weasels
3. danger 7. enemies
4. hunters 8. boys
8. Free story illustration.
Read a rabbit story to the pupils.
Let them illustrate it with their
crayons.
9. Matching parts to make them true.
1. A wild rabbit is
2. A tame rabbit should be
3. Rabbits have
4. When an enemy is near
5. A baby rabbit follows
6. A rabbit keeps
7. A rabbit’s flesh is used
8. A rabbit learns
1. many enemies
2. very clean
3. a rabbit freezes
4. his mother’s cottontail
5. always in danger
6. fed three times a day.
7. to keep out of danger.
8. for food.
60
The Frog Unit Wild Animals
(Continued from page 19) ( Continued from page 42)
Tree frogs
1. A tree frog is very a.
small b. clumsy c. large
2. His color may be a. yellow
b. gray c. pink d. brown e. green
3. On the bark of a tree he looks
a. green b. brown c. yellow
4. For hours a day he a.
jumps b. sits c. climbs
5. On the bottom of his toes is a
pad. a. round b. big c.
sticky
6. Tree frogs can and
a. dance b. climb c.
laugh d. swim
5. Yes or no
1. Tree frogs change colors.
2. Tree frogs are large.
3. Tree frogs are good jumpers.
4. Tree frogs work all day.
5. Tree frogs are good swimmers.
6. Tree frogs are six inches long.
7. Tree frogs have sticky pads on
their feet.
8. Tree frogs could walk on window
panes.
9. Tree frogs like cool, damp places.
10. Tree frogs are larger than
leopard frogs.
V. INFORMATION GIVEN TO PUPILS
A. Frogs in general.
Frogs are found in all parts of the
United States except where it is hot and
dry. They are first cousins to toads. They
have a moist, clammy skin without
scales. All lay their eggs in water in
jellylike masses. All pass through a tad-
pole stage.
B. Leopard frogs.
The common leopard frog is found
throughout the country. It has rows of
black spots on back and legs. The under
side is light, like that of all frogs. Its life
is an example of frogs in general. The
eggs are found in water a foot or less
deep. The female lays her eggs in a single
mass of jelly. A small frog may lay
from two thousand to three thousand
eggs. A large frog lays six to eight
thousand eggs. Each egg is black above,
light below, and one-sixteenth inch in
diameter. When first laid, the mass is as
large as a teacup, but swells up in the
water.
The egg hatches out into a pollywog.
In a few days it has gills for breathing,
a tail for swimming, and a pair of horny
beaks with which it nips off bits of vege-
tation. A tadpole grows to be three or
four inches long. Then he begins to sniff
air into his lungs. As he sniffs, his lungs
grow larger, his gills get smaller. His
tail gets shorter and shorter until it is
absorbed. His arms and legs have grown.
He is prepared for life on land.
A frog has moist skin, large, promi-
nent eyes, smooth drumheads of the
ears back of the eyes; a mouth with a
wide gape; a long tongue, loose behind
and capable of being flipped out to catch
his prey. He has small arms and hands
with four fingers each, large, powerful
legs and feet with five webbed toes. A
frog lives in marshy places. He absorbs
water through his skin. He hibernates
all winter. In the spring, the eggs are
laid by the female. A frog is not full
grown until he is five years old.
He may live from ten to
twenty years. A frog captures mosqui-
toes and insects that pester man and
animals. Frogs’ legs are a great delicacy.
C. Tree frogs.
Tree frogs are small. They are never
more than two inches long. They may be
gray, green or brown. If they rest on a
leaf, they may be green. If they cling to
the gray bark of a tree, they are gray.
They sit for hours and never move. A
true frog hunts for food at night. The
tree frog catches ants, gnats, flies, and
lightning bugs. The bottom of each toe
has a sticky pad, which catches and
holds whatever it touches. A tree frog
is a good jumper and is not afraid of
falling. Tree frogs are good swimmers.
Their toes are webbed. They look for
cool, damp places.
D. Peepers.
The singing of spring peepers is one
of the first signs of spring. Some peepers
seem to be gray, some yellow, some
brown, some almost black. They change
their colors to match what they are
sitting on. Because of this, it is hard to
find them. A peeper is about one inch
long. To see one of these frogs peeping
is a funny sight. He begins by puffing
out his throat like a bubble. Bigger and
bigger the bubble grows until it is half
as large as he is. Then it begins to get
smaller again and you hear the frog’s
sweet little call. When the bubble is
gone, the peeping stops.
The eggs of a peeper are tiny. They
look like small seeds. The mother fastens
them to stems in the water. Soon the
tadpoles are swimming about. These lit-
tle frogs hide in all kinds of places. Some
hide and hunt in heavy vines. Others
climb tall ferns. Some of them climb
to the tops of tall trees. Spring peepers
are quiet in midsummer — but late in fall
you can still hear them peeping.
long neck
hump
two stomachs
tusks
stores fat
roars
strong tail
wicked
hang by his tail
jungle
long trunk
desert
afraid of water
lioness
do tricks
cub
climb trees
paws
tough skin
catlike
lonely
tallest
graceful
strongest
Spotted
playful
3. Seatwork.
a. Match animal names to pictures.
b. Yes-No question. A lion has a
heavy mane.
c. Blank Filling.
The has a long trunk.
d. Multiple Choice.
( wicked.
A giraffe is < wise.
I lonely.
7 desert.
A camel lives in the < jungle.
V farm.
e. Classification— wild — tame
cow lion giraffe
pig horse tiger
f. Match descriptive word or phrase
to animal’s name.
1. lonely camel
2. roars giraffe
3. wicked tiger
4. hump lion
g. Matching. Which one ?
1. has cushions on his feet camel
2. gets fruit from tall trees monkey
3. is afraid of water giraffe
4. Art.
a. Draw pictures of animals for
booklet.
b. Draw large pictures for easel.
c. Make a merry-go-round.
d. Make clay and plasticine animals.
e. Make cages for animals.
Animals and Flowers
(Continued from page 45)
e is a preacher.
f. A has little curly
leaves on its stem.
g. We do not like on our
lawns.
h. The
i. The
wet place.
j. The
flower.
marsh marigold
dandelion
Jack-in-the-pulpit
trillium
rose
Key
rose
pansy
trillium
arbutus
jack-in-the-pulpit
is like a cup.
grows in a very
is a tiny purple
violet
tulip
carnation
arbutus
pansy
carnation
dandelions
tulip
marsh marigold
violet
Write in the spaces at the right of each
sentence the word “yes” if the state-
ment is true, or “no” if it is false.
1. A rose has just three white petals.
( )
2. A tulip has a little face. ( )
3. Pansies have many colors. ( )
4. Arbutus grows on a tree. ( )
5. A trillium has prickers on its stem.
( )
6. Flowers need sun and water. ( )
7. The roots get food for the plant
( )
8. We like to have dandelions on our
lawns. ( )
9. Jack-in-the-pulpit likes a shady
place. ( )
10. Pansies grow in the woods. ( )
11. Violets are big flowers. ( )
12. The leaves take air to the plant.
( )
Key
1. False
7. True
2. False
8. False
3. True
9. True
4. False
10. False
5. False
11. False
6. True
12. True
61
very sharp claws on all four feet.
h. Only father toad can sing.
i. As soon as a toad can hop he
lives on the ground.
j. A toad likes to live in a garden.
k. He eats our vegetables.
l. A frog likes to live near the wa-
ter.
2. Completion.
Can you put in the missing letters ?
a. Something that hops. - - og
(frog)
b. Where a frog often sits. - og
(log)
c. A Spring month. Mar -
( March )
d. Something bees like. - - owers
( flowers )
e. Something that helps flowers to
grow. --owers (showers)
f. Where the birds have been all
winter. Sou-- (South)
g. What the wind does. - - ows
(blows)
h. Where some frogs live. - - ee
(tree)
i. All frogs can sw - -.
(swim)
3. Matching.
Do you know which animal each
sentence tells about?
List the number of each sentence
under its proper heading.
I. Frogs II. Rabbits
a. My eyes are on top of my head.
b. My hind legs are good for jump-
ing.
c. My tail is like white cotton.
d. I like the water.
e. I eat bugs, flies, and insects.
f. I eat garden vegetables.
g. My coat changes color in the
spring.
h. I lay my eggs in the water.
i. I thump with my hind legs.
Spring's Awakening
(Continued from page 25)
j. My throat looks like a bubble
when I sing.
4. Yes and No Questions.
a. Are baby toads called tadpoles ?
b. Does mother toad lay eggs in the
water ?
c. Do frogs sometimes freeze in the
winter ?
d. Is a frog’s tongue like our
tongue ?
e. Is the wind always from the
North?
f. Do rabbits change color in the
Spring ?
g. Does sap for maple syrup come
from oak trees?
h. Will people who handle frogs and
toads have warts?
5. Classification.
Write the numbers of the sentendes
in the right columns.
bear | toad | rabbit | cub | frog |
1. He will climb trees to get honey.
2. He uses his eyes, ears, nose, legs,
and wits to save himself.
3. He thumps on the ground to let
his babies know when danger is
near.
4. He keeps the garden clean from
insects.
5. Eats his skin when he changes it.
6. His foot tracks look like a man’s
tracks.
7. They are always born in pairs.
8. His tongue flaps like a rubber
band.
6. Multiple Choice
Pet Rabbits.
a. A rabbit is a 1. good pet. 2.. good
playmate. 3. good animal.
b. 1. A hollow tree
2. A hole in the ground
3. A big box
makes a good home for a pet rab-
bit.
c. A pet rabbit needs 1. one meal a
day. 2. two meals a day. 3. three
meals a day.
d. A pet rabbit needs 1. little care.
2. no care. 3. much care.
e. A rabbit should get fresh water
1. three times a day. 2. once a
day. 3. once a week.
f. Rabbits should have 1. food that
is cooked. 2. food that is not
cooked. 3. food that is hot.
Rabbits
7. Questions.
Read the story, then answer each
question with one or two words.
Wild rabbits have to take care of
themselves. They live in the fields
and near the woods. Animals try to
catch them because they are good
to eat. Rabbits can not fight very
well. They use their eyes, ears,
nose, legs, and wits to save them-
selves.
They eat roots, berries, fish, bark
and green leaves.
A briar patch is most always a
safe place for a rabbit.
a. Who takes care of the wild rab-
bits?
b. Where do they live ?
c. Can a rabbit fight ?
d. Write the name of one thing he
uses to save himself.
e. Write the name of one thing he
eats.
f . Where does a rabbit find safety ?
g. Why do animals try to catch
them?
Turtles
1. Are all turtles alike ?
2. Do turtles have teeth ?
3. Can a snapping turtle bite ?
4. Are snapping turtles small ?
5. Does his shell protect him ?
6. Is his shell big enough for his body?
Seals
Teaching Geography
( Continued from page 26)
( Continued from page 51)
ones showing which are best fitted for
seal hunting.
11. Solving problems, such as: If there
are 300 men on board ship and they
catch 1400 sculps, how many does
each man get when they are divided?
If a quintal is 112 lbs. and a ship
carries 110 quintals of dried codfish,
how many lbs. of it are on board?
12. Reporting on methods of workin
ship through the ice.
13. Comparing:
(a) catching of fur seals
(b) catching of harps
(c) catching hood seals
14. If possible, visiting a circus or zoo to
watch seals.
15. Modeling seals, ships, weapons.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia. F. E
Compton Co., Chicago, 111.
Encyclopedia, World Book. World Book
Co., Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York.
Distance
Develop concepts of inch, foot, yard,
mile. Develop this study through activ-
ities, such as building the playhouse.
Direction
Right-hand, left-hand. Teach cardinal
points of compass. Then teach the semi-
cardinal points as needed. (Note: At
this point have little exercises or games
to teach children how to apply what they
have learned about direction. For ex-
ample: Let a child pretend that he is
standing in front of the post office. A
stranger asks the child to direct him to
the schoolhouse, which the child does.
The teacher at the schoolhouse wishes
to visit the child’s home on Saturday.
Ask the child to give her the directions
for finding it.)
It is important for small children’s
safety that they get a good idea of direc-
tion as soon as possible.
62
Some good nature myths (Consult
bojks of myths at library). Hermes,
Apollo, Arachne, Ceres, Clytie, Iris, Snow
Maiden, The Poplar Tree, Golden Rod and
Aster, Baucis and Philemon, Aeolus and
the Winds, The Wind and the Sun, The
Red-headed Woodpecker, The Wise King
and the Bee, How the Robin’s Breast Be-
came Red, How the Chipmunk got the
stripes on his back.
Typical Poems:
“Sweet and Low” — Alfred Tennyson.
“Seven Times One” — Jean Ingelow.
“Bed in Summer” — R. L. Stevenson.
“The Brook” — Alfred Tennyson.
“The Brook and the Wave” — Henry W.
Longfellow.
“Lady Moon” — Lord Houghton.
“The Stream” — Eugene Field.
“If I Were a Sunbeam” — Lucy Larcom.
We Study Bees
3 Are bees an injury or a benefit
to the flowers they visit?
4 Tell about the three classes of
honey bees.
5 What is a drone? Why is it
given this name?
6 Who rules the hive?
7 What is the queen’s special
function?
8 How many queens does one
swarm have?
9 How long does a queen bee
live?
10 How long does a worker live?
11 How many eggs can a queen
lay in a day?
12 How long does it take the eggs
to hatch?
13 How are the hives ventilated?
14 How long after the egg is
hatched, does the fully developed
bee appear?
15 Why do bees swarm?
16 Will they swarm without a
queen?
17 What happens to honey bees in
winter?
18 Is bumble bee honey good to
pat?
19 What uninvited guest does the
bumble bee have?
20 Name the solitary bees.
Answers
1 Nectar of pollen
2 Bee bread
3 Benefit
4 Queen-ruler lays eggs, drones
do nothing, workers find and bring
back food, guard hive and queen.
5 Male bee — Never does any
work
6 Queen bee
7 Laying eggs
8 One
9 Five or six years
( Continued from page 10)
10 Six weeks
11 As many as six thousand
12 About five days
13 By workers flapping wings
14 About two weeks
15 Hive crowded
16 No
17 Drones driven out and die —
Queen and workers rest
18 No
19 Parasite
20 Carpenter bee, Mason bee
II True False
1 Bees are a benefit to the flowers
they visit.
2 Each hive has one queen.
3 Workers are not permitted to
sting queens.
4 Drones are cared for all winter.
5 Bees sting everybody.
6 Workers flap their wings to
ventilate the hives.
7 The stinger is the bee’s weapon
for attacking enemies.
8 Every bee colony has three
kinds of bees workers, drones
and queen.
9 The workers feed the queen
and keep her clean.
10 Workers take turns acting as
guards.
11 Many people make a business
of raising bees and selling honey.
12 The wax that bees make for
their combs is not useful.
Answers
1...
. . .true
5...
9...
2 ...
6 ...
. . .true
10...
3...
7...
11 ...
4...
8 ...
12 ...
HI Complete the following
1 Honeybees live in
2 The leader of a swarm of bees
is called a
3 The lays the eggs.
4 is an excellent food.
5 Many bees in a hive are
6 is the way bees protect
themselves.
7 bees may live as long as
five years.
8 A bee is stung to death
when she can no longer lay eggs.
9 Bees are guided to flowers
chiefly by
10 A bee community is a perfect
example of
Answers
1 hives
2 queen
3 queen
4 honey
5 workers
6 stinging
7 queen
8 queen
9 smell
10 cooperation
IV Fill in the blanks with the fol-
lowing words.
community hobby cooperation
pollen bees nectar
crops honey queen
Besides making honey and wax 1
help farmers and gardeners in other ways.
The carrying of 2 about from one
plant to another is often done by bees as
they gather 3 . Many of the farm-
er’s 4 would not produce if the
bees did not carry 5 from one
plant to another. Bees are such useful
and interesting insects that some people
make a 6- of raising them. Bee
life is a study in 7 and 8
life.
Answers
1 bees
2 pollen
3 nectar
4 crops
5 pollen
6 hobby
7 cooperation
3 community
The Zoo
(Continued from page 53)
visited Prospect Park Zoo. So they were
anxious to have a stand in our zoo. They
made a small stand out of two wooden
boxes. One child brought some small
paper bags for the peanuts. Several chil-
dren printed the words “Jumbo Peanuts”
on them. They filled the bags with tom
newspapers and then placed them on the
stand. An attendant was selected to “sell”
the peanuts. An appropriate hat was also
made for him. Many problems in arith-
metic were developed in this phase of the
activity.
CONCLUSION
When the zoo was completed, a head
keeper, several keepers and guides were
selected to operate it. Invitations were
written by the children and sent out to
guests. The head keeper welcomed visi-
tors and the guides conducted them
through the zoo. The keepers were sta-
tioned at various cages to tell about their
animals and answer questions. The at-
tendant at the Information booth distri-
buted the booklets and answered- ques-
Signs of Wild Life
( Continued from page 35)
ed up on a branch close against the side
of a tree, their tails close over their
backs, and their feet tucked well in un-
der them.
Bobwhites, redpolls, and goldfinches,
on sunny days, leave their tracks in
weedy fields. A storm drives them to the
shelter of the woods or to some other
protected place. The bobwhites, or quail,
snuggle close together under tall grass-
es, or in some thick vegetation, to spend
the nights and to weather out rough
winds. When there is snow in such
places, you will find it fairly trampled
down by their numerous little feet. The
bobwhite’s track is exactly like that of
a ruffed grouse, only smaller.
b. eggs carried from room to room
4. development of the young
a. egg
b. larva (fed honeydew by workers)
c. cocoon
d. young ant
5. war-like methods between different
species of ants
E. Problem: Are ants useful or harm-
ful?
1. farmer ants make gardens in their
underground homes
2. carpenter ants destroy wood
3. red and black ants make the ground
porous
Wasp
A. Hornet
1. Problem: How would you recognize
a hornet?
a. brown in color
b. looks like an enlarged ant with
wings
2. Problem: What do hornets eat?
(fruit juices)
3. Problem: What kind of nest does
the hornet build?
a. pear-shaped with an opening at
the bottom
b. material (paper) — wasps were
the first paper makers
c. location (branch of tree)
4. Problem: What is their mode of
life?
a. development of the young
(1) egg; (2) larva; (3) cocoon;
(4) young wasp
head and legs into this shell, it is prac-
tically immune to attack from its
enemies.
Turtles are cold-blooded. This means
that their temperature does not remain
constant but that it fluctuates with the
temperature of the water in which they
live. The turtles’ temperature usually
remains about one degree above that of
the water. Thus, if the water were 40°
F., the turtles’ temperature would be
about 41° F. When the water is warm,
the turtles are very active. When it is
cold, they do not move about much.
All turtles have a similar life history.
The females begin to lay eggs when they
are eight to twelve years old and con-
tinue to do so for many years. In fact,
it has been said that turtles may live
more than 100 years.
The female lays her eggs on the land
and immediately forgets them. The heat
of the sun hatches the eggs in a few
weeks and the baby turtles dig to the
surface and make their way to the water.
They spend most of their first year
seeking food among the dense water
plants along the shore.
Baby turtles have many enemies.
Most predacious animals eat them. Since
their shell is tender and soft, . skunks,
'possums, fish, frogs, snakes all find
them delicious tidbits.
Insects
(Continued, from page 8)
b. queen alone survives the winter
5. Problem: How is the hornet useful
to us? He showed us how to make
paper.
6. Problem: How does the yellow
jacket compare with the hornet?
a. appearance
(1) smaller
(2) color — yellow and black
b. home and mode of life
(1) also social
(2) nest of paper — hexagonal
celled combs
(3) nest underground
(4) irritable: have painful stings
B. Mud dauber
1. Problem: Where and how does this
wasp construct its home?
a. material — mud mixed with juice
from her mouth
b. four rooms
c. location
(1) fastened to flat stones on
ground
(2) along a stream
2. Problem: What is work and mode
of life of the mud dauber wasp?
a. solitary
b. puts poisoned caterpillar or
spider in each room for home-
food for young
c. development of young
(1) egg laid on top of caterpillar
or spider
(2) larva eats caterpillar or
spider
The Turtle
( Continued from page 27)
Turtles grow rapidly the first sum-
mer and almost double their size. They
eat tremendous quantities of fish and
frog eggs, algae, and water insects. By
the end of the second summer their shell
has hardened and they become more
active.
Turtles move about the lake and feed
on injured fish and lazy cray-fish. They
become scavengers of the lake. Al-
though they relish an active healthy
fish, they can not move fast enough to
catch thebe fish and so must be content
with' those that are sick or injured, and
the ones they can steal from the fisher-
man’s line.
Turtles grow slowly after the first
two summers, and become mature after
eight to twelve years.
In parts of the country where the wa-
ter becomes extremely cold during the
winter, turtles seek a warm place deep
in the mud and remain there throughout
the winter.
Although most fishermen consider
them pests, turtles probably do much
less harm then they are accused of, and
are undoubtedly of value as scavengers.
In many parts of the country, turtle
meat is considered a delicacy. Some per-
sons earn their living catching turtles
for city markets.
(3) cocoon
(4) young wasp
Gall Fly
A. Problem: How would you recognize a
gall fly?
1. an insect,
2. color — grayish black with dark
wings
3. wings, two in number
4. similar in appearance to ordinary
house fly
B. Problem: What is the gall fly’s mode
of life?
1. solitary
2. development of young
a. eggs laid on stem (may be a
goldenrod)
b. maggot within gall
(1) gall-swelling of the stem
(2) food — inside of gall
c. cocoon
d. young gall fly
3. grown fly leaves the gall
SUMMARY
A. Comparison of the insects (Oral)
1. appearance; (2) food; (3) home;
(4) development of young; (5)
work; (6) usefulness
B. Observatioh of beehive preceded by
questions to guide observation.
C. Correlate study of insects with art,
reading, English (oral and written)
and writing.
D. First hand observation of insects in
school room and on school grounds.
QUESTIONS
1. In making a home (aquarium) for
turtles, should you plan to have the tur-
tle stay in water all the time ? Why not ?
2. Tell how you will provide for this.
3. What do turtles eat when in their
native environment? What can we feed
them in the aquarium ?
4. What is meant by saying that tur-
tles are scavengers ?
5. What is meant by saying that tur-
tles are predators?
6. Do turtles do more harm than good
to man ? Why ?
7. How many kinds of turtles are
there ? Describe them.
8. How do turtles protect themselves
from attack ? Have you ever seen a tur-
tle do this? Describe?
9. In cold climates, how do turtles
spend the winter?
10. How old have turtles lived to be ?
11. What kind of feet have turtles ?
12. How could you tell by their ap-
pearance that turtles can catch and eat
heavy food?
13. Are turtles ever used as food for
man ?
14. Why do we sometimes hear a per-
son called, "As coldblooded as a turtle” ?
64
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBAN A
372.3 G75N C001 * 2
Nature studies lessons units and
3 0112 105666157
EDUCATIONAL. PUBLISHING COHFOIt ATION
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