trafton] CHILDREN'S interest in nature materials 157 



Third Set of Questions. 



1 . What interests you most about a plant ? 



2. (a) Make a list of the trees that you know, (b) Make a 

 list of the flowers that you know. 



3. Which flower do you like best ? Why? 



The flower was the most interesting feature of plants, being 

 given in 57 per cent of the answers, the growth of the plant in 

 15 per cent, the bud in 3 per cent, the le^f in 8 per cent. There 

 was practically no difference in comparing either the ages or sexes. 



In grouping the list of trees and flowers, two divisions of each 

 have been made, the ctdtivated and the wild, the cultivated trees 

 including the fruit trees. The total average shows that 6 1 per cent 

 of the trees known are wild, while in the case of flowers the ratio 

 is just about reversed, the wild forming 41 per cent, and the 

 cultivated 59 per cent. 



In the lower grades the lists of both the trees and flowers are 

 about equally divided between the wild and cultivated, but in the 

 higher grades the per cent of wild trees is larger, while that of the 

 wild flowers is smaller. 



The lists of favorite flowers seemed to indicate that the children 

 were not able to distinguish between the different kinds very 

 closely as the great majority of flowers were roses to the children. 

 The two things about the flower that appealed to them were the 

 fragrance and the color, the same things that the flower has 

 developed to please the insects. In many cases both of these 

 characteristics were mentioned by the same child. The choice 

 between the two is very evenly and uniformly divided as regards 

 both the sex and the grades. The total average is 45 per cent for 

 appearance, chiefly color, and 49 per cent for fragrance. 



Fourth Set of Questions. 



I. What animal after man knows most? Give reasons for 

 your answer. 



"A monkey after a man knows most. Because man was first 

 adopted from the monkey." 



"The animal I think knows most is the monkey because it can 

 imitate a human being and that shows he must have sense." 



"I think the dog and the horse knows the most because they are 

 around where the people are all time." 



