III. THE INTERRELATIONS OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



Problem, — To discover the general interrelations of green 

 plants and animals. 



{a) Plants as homes for insects. 



(b) Plants as food for insects. 



(c) Insects as pollinating agents. 



Laboratory Suggestions 



A field trip: — Object : to collect common insects and study their gen- 

 eral characteristics ; to study the food and shelter relation of plant and 

 insects. The pollination of flowers should also be carefully studied so as 

 to give the pupil a general viewpoint as an introduction to the study of 

 biology. 



Laboratory exercise. — Examination of simple insect, identification of 

 parts — drawing. Examination and identification of some orders of 

 insects. 



Laboratory demonstration. — Life history of monarch and some other 

 butterflies or moths. 



Laboratory exercise. — Study of simple flower — emphasis on work of 

 essential organs, drawing. 



Laboratory exercise. — Study of mutual adaptations in a given insect 

 and a given flower, e.g. butter and eggs and bumble bee. 



Demonstration of examples of insect pollination. 



The Object of a Field Trip. — Many of us live in the city, where 

 the crowded streets, the closely packed apartments, and the city 

 playgrounds form our environment. It is very artificial at best. 

 To understand better the normal environment of plants or animals 

 we should go into the country. Failing in this, an overgrown city 

 lot or a park will give us much more closely the environment as it 

 touches some animals lower than man. We must then remember 

 that in learning something of the natural environment of other 

 living creatures we may better understand our own environment 

 and our relation to it. 



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