RESPONSE OP THE PLANT TO ITS SURROUNDINGS 295 



4. If there are any bodies of water in your neighborhood, examine their 

 vegetation and see of what it consists. Notice the difference in the shape 

 and size of floating and innnersed leaves and acciount for it. Note the gen- 

 eral absence of free-swimming plants in running water, and account for it. 

 Note the difference between the swani]) and border plants and those grow- 

 ing in the water, and what trees or shrubs grow in or near it. Compare 

 the vegetation of different bogs and pools in your neighborhood, and 

 account for any differences you may observe. Compare the water plants 

 with those growing in the dryest and barrenest places in your vicinity, 

 note their differences of structure, and try to find out what special adapta- 

 tions have taken place in each case. Make a list of those in each location 

 examined that you would class as pioneers. 



5. Draw a map of the vegetation of some locality in your neighborhood 

 that presents a variety of conditions, such as a steep hillside, a field or 

 meadow traversed by a brook, the slopes and borders of a ravine, or the 

 change from cultivated ground to uncultivated moor or woodland. Repre- 

 sent the different zones and formations by different colored inks or crayons, 

 or by different degrees of shading with the pencil. 



6. Draw a map of your state showing the different agricultural re- 

 gions, as indicated by the character of the cultivated plants in each; 

 use different colors, or light and dark shading, to define the boundaries. 

 Notice any irregularities of outline and account for them — whether due 

 to soil, moisture, geological formation, winds, or temperature. What is 

 the controlling factor of each region ? 



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