CHAPTER XV. 



ANIMAL LIFE AND WINTER. 



THIS lesson should be taught as much as possible along 

 the lines of an appeal to the knowledge already possessed 

 by the pupils, and supplemented by the teacher only for the 

 sake of giving the necessary completeness to the survey. 

 It is a lesson in fact-grouping or classifying in illustration 

 of a general principle. 



The key-note to the understanding of the facts summar- 

 ised is the question : 



What are the conditions under which terrestrial animals 

 live in winter ? 



We elicit from the pupils : 



It is cold. 



Snow covers the ground, frost hardens it. 



The day is short, i.e. there is less light in which to 



find food. 

 Both vegetable and animal foods are scarcer. 



By writing this out we shall make clear that the condi- 

 tions are the hardest of all the year, for terrestrial animals 

 as for mankind. In the sea, we note in passing, the 

 seasons do not affect life in the same way. 



How do these conditions affect animals more particularly? 



(1) There is a general slowing up of activity. The cold 

 checks the vital functions, and we note all grades of this 

 from the dormant-like inactive state to which small animals 



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