OUTLINE STUDY OF SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS. 211 



( I ) the halves of the seeds as they were placed at first, only 

 with the seed-coat removed; (2) only the peg with the leaves 

 attached. Write a paragraph describing all you have learned 

 concerning the inner parts of the bean seed. 



A^ofc. — This exercise teaches the importance of little things and 

 the need of care and accuracy. The pupil should be made to feel 

 that the bean seed must not be handled carelessly or picked to 

 pieces merely because it is a common object. The children must 

 not be permitted to poke the specimen with pencils, knives or 

 pins. 



Insist that the drawings be enlarged by the amounts indicated. 

 Allow no shading. Every line in the drawing must represent 

 some structure of the seed. 



The pupil should have observed : 



I. The relatively tough character of the seed-coat. 2. The 

 fact that all the external features belong to the seed-coat. 3. 

 The more or less conccvz'c inner surfaces of the two halves of the 

 seed, giving room for the peg and especially for the tender leaves 

 at its end. 4. The position of the tip of the peg ahi'ays directly 

 under the little opening or Iiole. 5. The peg curved and the 

 leaves at the end making a little arch with the peg. The attach- 

 ment of the peg to both halves of the seed. 6. The leaves, two 

 in number, and folded one within the other. 



Each half of the bean seed being roughly cup-shaped is termed 

 a cotyledon (little cup). The leaves at the end of the peg form 

 the pluninle. 



The Structure of the Pea Seed. 



With this exercise the teacher will doubtless meet such ques- 

 tions as : " What ought I to find ? " " Ought there to be a little 

 knob on the pea seed?" etc. The treatment of such cjuestions 

 in observational work marks the difference between the wise and 

 the foolish teacher. In observation it is not a question of 

 " ought," but a question of fact. Not " ought " there to be a 

 little knob, but is there one. 



This point is dwelt on because there is none more important in 

 observational science than this. From the standpoint of ednea- 



