8 



Biologists Study Animals and Planzs 



Fig. 6 An outdoor museum, part of the Nature Trail at Tuxedo, New York. Could 

 you build a simple nature trail? What besides names might be given on the various 

 tags that you see? (American museum of natural history) 



the French so that you can read them. 



Other stay-at-home observers may 

 study birds, or snakes, or other animals. 

 Such study can satisfy a love of the out 

 of doors and add to the store of bio- 

 logical knowledge. 



Backyard exploration for you. Equipped 

 with a pad and a pencil, you too can 

 start on a tour of exploration. You may 

 fill notebooks with your observations of 

 the wild things in a park, in a field, or 

 in a city lot. You can collect specimens 

 and lay out a museum of your own. 



Or you may choose to mark off a 

 small plot on the bank of the creek 

 flowing by your house, the edge of a 

 nearby wood, or a city yard. If you 

 study this with care you w ill be amazed 

 at the many organisms you will find. 

 One biologist collected several hundred 

 different kinds of insects from his own 

 small backyard in three years. 



Your backyard may be only a roof 

 or a window sill. A sheltered board 

 regularly supplied with bread crumbs 

 will bring passing birds, A piece of sod 

 brought in from out of doors and 

 watered carefully will grow into a 

 miniature jungle. There will be much 

 for you to observe and many experi- 

 ments for you to try. With a camera 

 you can add to the pleasure of backyard 

 exploration and provide a treasured 

 album. 



A study of biology can lead to many 

 outdoor hobbies: the collecting of in- 

 sects, fossils, shells, or plants; the raising 

 of pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits, and 

 white mice; the studying of insects in 

 their homes; the planting and care of a 

 oarden. 



The biologist's laboratory. While some 

 biologists explore, many more work in 

 the laboratory — the workshop of the 



