364 Home Nature-Study Course. 



7. Give approximately the length and the width of the largest 

 leaf that you happen to see; of the smallest leaves on the same tree. 



8. Are the other leaves of the tree the same size and shape as the 

 one you are studying? 



9. Is the leaf stem (petiole) long or short? 



10. Is there a bud in the axil or junction where the petiole, joins 

 the twig? • ' 



11. What sort of an edge has the leaf? 



12. What is the character of the veins of the leaf, — that is, does 

 each vein branch off from the midrib or do the veins themselves 

 branch? 



13. Do the veins extend to the edge of the leaf, and, if so, do they 

 end in a point of the leaf or at the base of a notch? 



14. If the tree has fruit, gather a specimen to press or to draw in 

 your note-book on the page with the leaf you have studied. 



15. Bring the leaf and the fruit indoors with you and either press 

 them and fasten them on the page opposite your notes or make 

 drawings of them. 



16. Place under them the name of the tree from which they came. 

 Please complete these exercises and send the results to us, giving 



the length of time necessary for you to make these observations. 

 If you are teaching, try it with your children and note if you need 

 more than one excursion for them to complete these exercises and if 

 so, how many. 



All of the trees in the neighborhood may be studied in this way, 

 and after a little the pupils will themselves carry the problems home, 

 and will thus have started the work of tree study in a practical way. 



LESSON II.— SEED DISTRIBUTION— WEEDS. 



The very interesting and delightful subjects of seed dispersion is 

 usually taught wherever nature-study is a part of the school curricu- 

 lum. However, it is too often taught as a fact unrelated to plant 

 life. If a seed is transported by parachute or wings, or by attaching 

 itself to the fur of animals, there are reasons for it which are vital to 

 plant life. In teaching the various ways that seeds are developed 

 for transportation, the following reasons should be thought of and 

 studied : 



1. The sole object or end of a flower in nature is to develop seed. 

 The children are likely to think that the plant exists for the sake of 

 the blossom, whereas the blossom exists for the sake of the seed. In 

 the case of annuals and biennials, the production of seed is the climax 

 to the plant's life and the plant dies soon after. 



