458 Home Nature- Study Course. 



cannot crawl under it. On top is placed a square of wire netting to prevent the 

 escape of the little prisoners; (see Figure 342 on p. 540 of Cornell Nature-Study 

 Volume). Into one should be put grasshoppers in all stages which may be obtained 

 by sweeping the grass with a net. Into the other place a few crickets, sufficiently 

 different in appearance so that they may be named, and thus stand as individuals 

 to the children. Let the pupils observe these insects at will, and let the teacher 

 show by her own interest that she thinks the contents of these cages are interesting. 

 After the pupils have become familiar with the way these insects eat and act, the 

 lesson suggested will follow, as an explanationi of the pupils' observations. 



It is a safe rule in nature-study to teach only such anatomical features 

 of the animal as have to do quite obviously with the creature's life. In 

 studying the habits of the grasshoppers and crickets, the following obser- 

 vations will naturally be made on the appearance of the insects: The 

 hind legs are long and muscular, and were so developed for the purpose 

 of enabling the insects to make long, high jumps. If a boy could jump 

 as far according to his size as a grasshopper, he could make a standing 

 jump of fifty yards. Attention should be especially called to the fact 

 that many animals, such as skunks, and many birds, such as meadow 

 larks, hawks and owls live upon grasshoppers. Thus this ability to make 

 long leaps when disturbed often saves the lives of these insects. 



Some of the grasshoppers have feelers not more than one-third as 

 long as the body ; others have feelers longer than the body. Those with 

 long feelers are more delicate in appearance and are called the meadow 

 grasshoppers. The crickets and katydids also have long feelers. The 

 pupils should see the use made by the insects of these feelers to discover 

 their surroundings. 



If the grasshopper's eye be looked at through a strong lens or a 

 compound microscope, it will appear like a piece of honey' comb, that 

 is, it is made up of many eyes ; in addition to this the grasshopper has 

 three simple eyes one " right in the middle of his forehead," which can 

 be seen with the naked eye ; the other two are above near the large eyes. 

 It should be noted that the eyes are placed in the head so that the grass- 

 hopper can see in all directions and, therefore, is better able to escape 

 the enemy. 



Observation should be made on the way the grasshopper eats. With 

 the naked eye the children can see that it chews the leaf with jaws that 

 work sidewise instead of up and down like ours. 



Incidentally and without direct questioning get the pupils to note 

 that there are three parts to the body ; first, the head ; second, thorax, 

 the part which bears the wings and legs; third, the ringed portion (abdo- 

 men). The mother crickets and long-horned grasshoppers have each a 

 sword-like organ at the end of the body, which is used to make holes 

 in the ground or in soft wood, in which she lays her eggs. 



