824 Handbook of Nature-Study 



(a) Does the mud begin to settle while the water is in motion; that is, 

 while it is being shaken? 



(b) As soon as it is quiet, does the settling process begin ? 



(c) Which settles first the pebbles, the sand or the mud? Which 

 settles on top that is, which settles last ? 



(d) Notice that as long as the water is in the least roily, it means that 

 the soil in it has not all settled ; if the water is disturbed even a little it 

 becomes roily again, which means that as soon as the water is in motion it 

 takes up its load. 



Observations i. Where is the current swiftest, in the middle or at the 

 side of the stream ? 



2. What is the difference, in the bottom of the brook, between the place 

 below the swift current and the edges ? That is, if you were wading in the 

 brook, where would it be more comfortable for your feet at the sides or in 

 the swiftest part of the current? Why? 



3 . Does the brook have a more stony bed where it flows down a hillside 

 than where flowing through a level place? 



4. Place a dam across your brook where the bottom is stony, and note 

 how soon it will have a soft mud bottom. Why is this? 



5. Can you find a still pool in your brook that has not a soft, muddy 

 bottom? Why is this? 



6. Does the brook flow more swiftly in the steep and narrow places 

 than in the wide portions and where it is dammed ? 



7. Do you think if water, flowing swiftly and carrying a load of mud, 

 were to come to a wider or more level place, like a pool or millpond dam, 

 that it would drop some of its load ? Why ? 



8. If the water flows less swiftly along the edges than in the middle, 

 would this make the bottom below softer and more comfortable to the feet 

 than where the current is swiftest? If so, why? 



9. If you can see the place where a brook empties into a pond or lake, 

 how does it make the waters of the latter look after a storm ? What is the 

 water of the brook doing to give this appearance, and why? 



10. What becomes of the soil dropped by the brook as it enters a pond 

 or lake ? Do you know of any points of land extending out into a lake or 

 pond where the stream enters it? What is a stream delta? 



"In the bottom of the valley is a brook that saunters between oozing banks. It falls over 

 stones and dips under fences. It marks an open place on the face of the earth, and the trees 

 and soft herbs bend their branches into the sunlight. The hangbird swings her nest over it. 

 Mossy logs are crumbling into it. There are still pools where the minnows play. The brook 

 runs away and away into the forest. Asa boy I explored it but never found its source. It 

 came somewhere from the Beyond and its name was Mystery. 



The mystery of this brook was its changing moods. It had its own way of recording the 

 passing of the weeks and months. I remember never to have seen it twice in the same mood, 

 nor to have got the same lesson from it on two successive days: yet, with all its variety, it always 

 leftthat same feeling of mystery and that same vague longing to follow to its source and to know 

 the great world that I was sure must lie beyond. I felt that the brook was greater and wiser 

 than I. It became my teacher. I wondered how it knew when March came, and why its 

 round of life recurred so regularly with the returning seasons. I remember that I was 

 anxious for the spring to come, that I might see it again. I longed for the earthy smell when 

 the snow settled away and left bare brown margins along its banks. I watched for the suck- 

 ers that came up from the river to spawn. I made a note when the first frog peeped. I waited 

 for the unfolding spray to soften the bare trunks. I watched the greening of the banks and 

 looked eagerly for the bluebird when I heard his curling note somewhere high in the air." 



"The Nature-Study Idea," L. H. BAILEY 



