LESSONS WITH PLANTS 337 



the feeling of the discoverer of a rare treasure. This pleas- 

 ure in plants increases as our knowledge of, and familiarity 

 with, them grow; most people know the names and habits 

 of but very few plants. If a systematic study were made 

 of our common, wild, flowering plants in our schools this would 

 not be the case. Suppose the pupils were required to learn 

 the names of, say, ten new plants each year, then by the time 

 they passed through the eight grades of the common school 

 they would know at least eighty plants, and this number 

 could be easily increased. 



In the lower grades it is stimulating to observation to 

 have a flower calendar in the spring. This should give the 

 dates when the flowers open and where they are found, that 

 is, in what kind of places. Go out with the children and 

 study the flowers where they grow, and gather some for 

 indoor study of the structure. The children should learn to 

 associate each plant with the habitat or kind of place in which 

 it lives. 



The chief purpose of the study of the common flowers is 

 to be able to identify them. But many other general lessons 

 may be taught with them, as to the function of typical organs 

 and their modifications, as to the adaptation of the plant to 

 its habitat or its mode of life, as to methods of pollination 

 and the adaptation of plants to insects, also the means of 

 seed dispersal, and the uses or harmfulness of the plant. 

 Let these points be kept in mind in the study of each plant. 

 It is not at all necessary that each point should be discussed 

 with every new plant, but any notable characteristic in these 

 respects should be observed and discussed. In this way the 

 children will get much more than simply the name of the 

 plant; they will learn a good deal about plant life in general. 



