Nature in Recreation 



The plot is not limited to the trees and plants that are growing on it, but 

 offers all kinds of adventures in animal life. Just by turning over a stone 

 new insects might be discovered. Or a record might be kept of the butter- 

 flies and other insects that visit the plot during the camping period. Birds 

 also will visit the plot and some may build their nests low enough for 

 study. Or if a lake or stream borders on the plot, a search along its banks 

 would uncover aquatic life that might offer material enough for filling an 

 aquarium to take home and enjoy during the winter months. 



The making of a picture map of the plot as a final study adds likewise 

 to the value of the project. A compass used in pacing the plot and drawing 

 the map allows for marking north at top of the paper, south on the 

 bottom, east at the right, and west on the left. The pictures of the flowers, 

 trees and so on may be placed on the map by simply judging the distances. 

 Measurements do not have to be perfectly accurate. The child uncon- 

 sciously sketches in the shapes of the trees, the number of petals on each 

 flower, etc., so that it is not necessary to tell him to do so which sometimes 

 is too discouraging for the beginner. The map is attractive in colors. 



A group might want to spend several weeks studying its plot, in which 

 case it should choose one that presents a problem to be solved other than 

 identification. The plot might border on a lake, for instance the children 

 could separate the aquatic plants from the land plants and study their 

 contrasting characteristics. Note that a road or a trail running through the 

 plot often changes its vegetation. If trees and shrubs are cleared away it 

 lets in more light and brings in the meadow flowers. Since man often drops 

 foreign seeds and minerals while traveling along the trail and it is fre- 

 quently possible to find wheat growing in the middle of the woods or a 

 piece of coal many miles from where it was mined! A plot half in the woods 

 and half in the meadow also makes an interesting study for differences in 

 plants. 



