690 APPENDIX. 



Suggested Syllabus. 



The essential functions common to living organisms, as illustrated by flowering 

 plant and mammal. Attention should be given to structure for the elucidation of 

 function ; the mammal need not be dissected by the pupils themselves, but a dissected 

 specimen should be shown to them. The differences between the animal and green 

 plant are also to be noted, and related to the motile and stationary habit respectively ; 

 the difference in habit being related in turn to difference in nature of raw food 

 material. 



(a) Nutrition : Raw material of food of green plant. Simple experiments, by 

 use of sieves or othei-ndse, to ascertain the proportions of water, clay, silt, sand, gravel 

 and organic matter in a sample of local soil. Culture of plants in distilled water and 

 soil water. Soil water shown by evaporation to contain dissolved mineral matter ; 

 comparison with transpired water suggests that the matter is retained by the plant. 

 Suggestion confirmed by examination of ash of burnt plant. Examination of external 

 features of root, and of a section in order to see conducting tissue. The adaptations 

 of the green leaf that enable it to absorb sun-energy and carbon dioxide. Experiment 

 to test for starch in evergreen leaf ; in variegated leaf. Experiments on relation of 

 light and darkness to starch formation. Dependence of animal life on the green 

 plant. Examination of mouth of mammal, and of the rest of the alimentaiy canal 

 in a dissected specimen. Experiment to show digestion of starch by saliva. Trans- 

 port and storage in plant and animal. Importance to man of a mixed diet. 



(6) Excretion : The elimination of the waste products of katabolism. In green 

 plant confined virtually to water and carbon dioxide (covered by experiments under 

 Respiration). In animal includes also elimination of nitrogenous material. Examine 

 kidneys and ureters in a dissected mammal. Excretory function of human skin. 

 Hygiene. 



(c) Respiration : Oxygen is necessary to life. Experimental proof in case of 

 plant. The liberation of energy is associated with the oxidation process. Two of the 

 waste products resulting are carbon dioxide and water. Experiment to show that 

 carbon dioxide is given off by the green plant (use a rapidly growing plant). Examina- 

 tion of lungs, diaphragm, and ribs in a dissected mammal. Experiment, by breathing 

 into lime water, to show that man gives off carbon dioxide. Also show that water 

 is given off both by green plant and man. Blood in relation to respiration. Red 

 blood corpuscles. Hygienic breathing. Ventilation. 



(d) Resume of functions of transport system which will have been referred to in 

 dealing with a, b, and c, above. Note in the animal the white blood corpuscles. 

 Brief reference to hormones. Structure of heart in mammal. Experiment to show 

 use of valves by running water into sheep's heart. Count pulse beats in several 

 persons and estimate the average rate of beat. Distinction between arteries, veins 

 and capillaries. (The names and detailed distribution of the blood vessels are not 

 required.) 



(e) Sensitivity : Experiments to show reactions to external stimuli (gravity, light 

 and heat) by different plant members. Central and Peripheral nervous system of 

 mammal. Sensory and motor nerves. Co-ordination of the functions of the animal 

 body through the nervous system, and of the animal, as a whole, with the external 

 world. The external features of the mammalian brain should be examined in a 

 hardened specimen of a sheep's brain. Some large nerve should be seen in a dissected 

 animal. Reflex Action. Instincts. Eye of Ox should be examined, and some 

 experiments on human vision be carried out. 



(/) Reproduction : Sperm (examine contents of spermatheca of Earthworm) and 

 Ovum (spawn of Frog). Essential character of fertilisation. Distinction between 

 fertilisation and reproduction. Experimental proof of fertilisation in flowering 

 plant. A cross pollination experiment may also be utiUsed in relation to heredity. 

 (The compUcation of the alternation of generations in the flowering plant may be 

 omitted.) 



(g) Groivth and Development : Examination of the ovaries and placentation of one 

 or two flowers, e.g. daffodil, snowdrop, and of some ripening fruits, e.g. tomato, with 

 emphasis on the course of the conducting tissues along the placenta and their functioi\ 

 in relation to the food supply of the ripening seeds^ followed by a reference to the 

 analagous type of arrangement in the mammalian uterus. Observations on growth 

 and growth changes of living plant ; and of caterpillar and tadpole to completion of 

 metamorphosis. 



