Lessons in the School-yard. 145 



it is a hundred-legged worm. Now most of these things 

 have crawled away, but I want to see who can remember 

 some other things we saw there which got away before we 

 had time to catch them or talk about them. 



" I saw an angleworm." " I saw a great many ants." 

 " I saw a snail," etc., etc. That is right. Now let us go in 

 and write on our slates all the things we saw. I will let the 

 one who gets the best list write it on the board, and then 

 you may copy it for future use. 



Note to the Teacher. Never put any of your own obser- 

 vations on the board. It will cause the children to depend 

 on you rather than upon themselves. The beetle and 

 cricket may be killed after the children are away with a 

 drop of benzine or gasoline, and thus they will not see you 

 take a life, and the ethical value of the lesson will not be 

 impaired. 



Ask the children why do the insects all run away when 

 the stone is turned. Why is the grass under it white ? 

 Here is a list made by a child of seven years : 



WHAT I SAW UNDER THE ROCK. 



I saw a beetle, five crickets, some fishworms, a thousand- 

 legged worm, a grub, some ants, a slug, five sow-bugs, and some 

 ants' eggs. 



On another day a board may be turned over ; let them 

 write on What may be found under an old board. 



On another day turn the bark of a decayed tree ; let 

 them write What can be found under the bark of a rotten 

 tree, etc., etc. 



Ask the boys if the same things are found under stones 

 in the brook. If not, what is found under such stones ? 

 Gather some of the insects and other living creatures in 

 water, and watch their ways of life. 



I have often found material for as many as twenty lessons 

 on living things under a stone or board in a moist shady 

 place. 



Making the foregoing lesson a general introduction, follow 

 it up with a number of special lessons on the creatures found 



