404 NATURE STUDY. 



picture, erase, and have children draw on the blackboard, 

 placing sections of apple so that all can clearly see them as 

 they draw. Drawings made by the children on the black- 

 board on a large scale, with a free-arm movement, are 

 better than little drawings made on slate or paper mainly 

 with cramped finger movement. 



Have the children select two or three of the best draw- 

 ings, and tell why or wherein they are best. Teacher will 

 find it wise to commend others which are best, not in the 



result, but in the effort made. 



*. 



Step III. Study of the Core. 



Split some of the cut halves lengthways through one of 

 the divisions of the core. Notice how the " rooms " for the 

 seeds are almost as long as the apple, extending from near 

 the stem almost to the eye, but are very narrow ; how 

 smooth and shining, how thin and yet how tough, the walls 

 are, how smooth the seeds are, and how easily they slip 

 through the fingers. 



Step IV. The Uses of the Parts. 



Approach from the children's point of view. Centre all 

 about the seeds. What is the use of the seeds to the apple 

 tree ? Why does Mother Nature or Mother Apple Tree 

 place them in the centre of the apple, just as she placed the 

 buttercup and mallow seeds in the centre of the flower ? 

 Why put them in rooms with these tough walls ? Why do 

 we not eat the apple core ? The apple tree does not want 

 her seeds eaten. Why give each seed or every two seeds a 

 room ? Why make seeds so smooth and slippery ? Per 

 haps to help them to slip out of our mouths. (It may also 

 be a provision to facilitate their passage through the ali- 

 mentary canal, their coat protecting them from the diges- 

 tive fluids. ) Why arrange the rooms so prettily in a star 

 form ? Mother Nature tries to make everything beautiful. 



