420 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [11:9— Dec, 1915 



During the spring we continue the study of insect homes and 

 before the leaves are out we make a thorough hunt for cocoons. 

 Last spring we found a few which had been punctured. These 

 we opened so that the children might have the opportunity of 

 studying their construction; and they were much interested in 

 examining the form of the creature which had made its home in the 

 cocoon during the winter. 



Fourth Grade 



Here we take up the subject, How Insects Live? By the end of 

 this year the children know something of the anatomy of the insect ; 

 how it breathes and eats and some of its habits. By keeping the 

 larvae in breeding cages we are able to study the whole life history 

 of such insects as the black swallow tail and monarch butterfly, 

 and the moths of the tomato worm and cecropia caterpillar, and 

 many others. We watch the various molts of the larvae when we 

 succeed in securing them in the early stages ; the manner in which 

 the larva prepares for pupation; the varying length of time 

 required before the adult insect emerges from the pupa case ; and 

 the laying of the eggs. 



We also study wasps ; making a special study of the mud dauber 

 and its nest ; the purpose for which the nest was made ; the larvae 

 in the nest ; and the manner in which the nest is provisioned by the 

 adult wasp for its young. 



In this grade we begin making a collection of moths, butterflies 

 and insects. 



Under weeds, flowers, trees, and birds we add a few new ones to 

 the list already learned in the third grade, beginning the study in 

 the fall and carrying it through the winter and spring. 



Fifth Grade 



In the fall we begin the study of the ant. We find an ant's 

 nest, dig it up and place it in an artificial nest which we have ready 

 to receive the ants. (For description of such a nest, see "Insect 

 Life" by Comstock, page 278). After some time spent in observing 

 these ants and those which we find on our trips, and the children 

 find out all they can in this way, we read many stories of the var- 

 ious kinds of ants. 



While studying the ant we also study the aphid and its relation 

 to the ant. 



