"curve" for the month. Such a chart will show strikingly the gradual increase in temper- 

 ature, as the days increase in length and the sun has more chance to act. With this increase 

 in sun's action should be closely connected the changes in vegetation and animal life, includ- 

 ing man himself. 



Here as in the first grade there is much suggested for the child to do and the teacher need 

 not have mastered the topics in advance. Several topics may be carried along simultaneously 

 when the material is available and in danger of disappearing. No sharp line need be drawn 

 between the work of the seasons. Some of the older boys will gladly procure from the fields 

 the cleaned skull of a dog and cat for comparison. Lay in a good supply of dog stories, anec- 

 dotes and pictures and use at the proper time. By inquiries ascertain how many and what 

 breeds of dogs are represented in your community. Arouse the human interest by reading 

 such stories as "Beautiful Joe." In most localities chert and quartzite may be abundantly 

 collected from the fields. Flint and other varieties of minerals may be purchased by the pound 

 from the Foote Mineral Co., Philadelphia, and from Ward's Natural Science Establishment, 

 Rochester, N. Y. In the case of the manual training and domestic science work the attention 

 of the teacher is strongly called to the fact that this work is demanded by the Nature work, 

 grows directly from it and that the desire and motive to do the work precedes its assignment. 

 The results are not so important as the doing and every child can do as well as primitive man 

 did in his first attempts. With a little practice and reading the teacher can do still better. In 

 the pantomime work the children will need very few suggestions as they take to this naturally 

 and confidently. Some teachers may balk at the question of encouraging the gesture language 

 for the grade. In favor of this it may be said that children love this expression, that its 

 practice will develop ease and grace in bodily movements. If the gesture language is natural 

 it can be made to re-enforce oral expression and the general awkwardness of the typical pupil 

 in part overcome. Keeping the language a secret from the other grades will greatly enhance 

 its value in the eyes of the children. 



If the drilling work is attempted it would be well to begin with shell, slate, or other 

 soft material. In the work with wild edible and poisonous plants the purpose is to distinguish 

 certainly between them and to have the children understand the danger of touching or eating 

 certain ones to be found in every locality. It the teacher is not a botanist she should make 

 the acquaintance of some one who is and have pointed out to her the poisonous forms of the 

 locality, in order that she may safely instruct her pupils. Read Hodge's Nature Study, page 

 106 to IIQ, and write to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for free 

 copy of Chestnut's "Thirty Poisonous Plants of the U. S.," Farmer's Bulletin, No. 86. The 

 tank referred to for work with the boats and rafts can be passed from grade to grade and used 

 in a great variety of ways. The method of burning out "dug outs" may be illustrated by 

 using a hot wire and suggesting how hot stones might be used. For the birch bark canoe, 

 have the children first make their pattern of paper before attempting to cut the bark. Use 

 some natural gum for cementing the ends together and reparing breaks. Sparks may easily 

 be procured by striking two pieces of chert or flint together, but it is not easy to get a fire 

 from them. A piece of dry pine rubbed vigorously in a groove in dry wood may be made to 

 char. Children may produce fire by means of a fire-drill. The teacher may study the follow- 

 ing papers for suggestions. 



Fire Making Apparatus in the U. S. Nat. Museum Hough. 

 Smithsonian Rep. for 1888, pages 531 to 587. 



Methods of Fire Making Hough. 



Smithsonian Rep. U. S. Nat. Museum for 1890, pages 395 to 409. 



Origins of Inventions Mason, pages 84 to 120. 



From the last of these many other helpful suggestions may be obtained, as well as from 

 Miss Dopp's "Early Cave Men," Rand, McNally and Co.. Chicago. The moulds for 

 making the snow bricks consist of simple frames of suitable size (say 18 x 12 x 8 inches,) 

 with a hinge at one corner and a hook at the opposite one, so that the frame may be readily 

 opened for removing the brick of snow. This work is to be done outside of school hours when 

 the snow is in good condition. Let the house be large enough for a child to crawl into. 



The shadow-stick is simply a pointed, wooden peg, 8 to 10 inches high, set perpendicu- 

 larly upon a smooth wooden base. It is to be placed where the sun can reach it during 

 school hours and may carry a string and be used as a sun-dial, by marking the shadow at the 



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