1070 Rural School Leaflet 



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Now we must leave the gray stone house and go back to the workaday 

 world. As you go out by the side door you can see at your right a poplar 

 tree. This is well, for you are to study poplars this year. In the illus- 

 tration on page 1065 you can see how the poplar looked when it was a little 

 tree. Now it is tall and straight and handsome. I am sure you would 

 like to have a tree like this near your own room. In the windy autumn 

 weather, and, indeed, whenever breezes are about, it makes a kind of 

 music that is very strange and wonderful. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR SUMMER WORK 



1. The study of plant and animal life along a country roadside. 



2. The study of a brook and the brookside. All life in and -along a 

 brook. 



3. What you have learned about bird life. We shall be particularly 

 interested in information obtained on the value of birds to the farmer. 



4. What you can learn from personal observation of the animals of 

 field and forest. In this line of observation it would be well for you to 

 consider the field mice, muskrats, squirrels, moles, woodchucks, and any 

 other life that you find. Observe snakes, toads, and salamanders. They 

 are often useful. Can you find out in what ways? Try to get over 

 your fear of harmless snakes. Study their habits. 



5. The history of one tree from May 20 to October 1. The kind of 

 tree; where it stands; when it blossoms; the kind of fruit that it bears; 

 the insect and bird life in connection with the tree; whether or not it 

 makes a good shade tree; how long it has stood in the place where you 

 found it; whether you think you can tell it when it has no leaves. How? 



6. The story of your garden. Where it is located; when you planted it; 

 how you planted; what you planted. Write about the care of the garden; 

 the pests that annoyed you most; the weeds that were most troublesome; 

 the birds, butterflies, and other forms of life that came to your garden. 



7. The history of some plant colony, either in woods, along the wayside, 

 or in a corner of your garden. Give the size of the region that you studied ; 

 what plants you found growing there; which plants seemed most thrifty; 

 why you think these plants associated with each other. 



8. The study of some insect pest, such as potato beetle, peach borer, 

 tent-caterpillar, mosquito. 



9. As much of the life history of a moth or a butterfly as you can study 

 during the summer. The monarch butterfly is interesting. You will 

 find the larva, or caterpillar, on milkweed. If you take the caterpillar 

 home and feed it fresh leaves of the milkweed, it will probably become a 

 chrysalis, and a butterfly will emerge from this chrysalis. You will be able 



