34 BULLETIN 305, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Review and continued worfc.— Continue the study of birds. Watch 

 those of the different groups classified according to their manner of 

 catching insects, and note what the members of each group are eating. 

 Do some of them continue to look for insects and insect eggs in the 

 crevices of bark and under bud scales ? Encourage the birds to visit 

 school grounds by placing lunch remnants, broken grain, scraps of 

 meat and suet at places convenient for them and out of reach of cats. 



Continue the study of wild mammals that provide their food during 

 the winter months. What are rabbits, rats, opossums, and squirrels 

 eating this month ? Where do they get their food ? At what time 

 do they go forth in search of food ? 



Offer some reward to the member of the class that first finds a wood- 

 chuck or groundhog burrow. Visit the burrow with the class to 

 become familiar with the home conditions of this interesting mammal. 



Employ the following outline in a study of the house mouse this 

 month : 



(1) What is the color of the mouse? Is the color an advantage? 



(2) What is the nature of the coat of the mouse? 



(3) The tail — length compared with that of the body; its use? 



(4) Compare the front and hind limbs; front and hind feet. Can it climb the 



side of a wall? How? 



(5) Can the mouse see well? Hear well? Smell well? 



(6) What are the uses of the teeth? The whiskers? What kind of teeth has 



the mouse? 



(7) What kind of food does the mouse eat? How does he get it? Steal? 



(8) Where does the mouse make its home? Of what material? How do baby 



mice appear? Can they see when quite young? 



(9) Mice are great travelers. How do they get from place to place? 



(10) How many kinds of mice do you know? 



Practical work. — Make observations with birds and mammals as 

 suggested above. Make a trip to the home of a groundhog. Study 

 it and take notes. Capture a mouse, imprison it in a large-mouthed 

 bottle and study it as suggested in the outline. Keep records of all 

 observations and facts learned. 



Correlations. — Write stories about the home of the woodchuck and 

 the habits of the mouse. 



Geography: Compare the homes of the woodchuck and -the house 

 mouse as to location. 



History: Read "Introduction," Farmers' Buls. 369, How to 

 Destroy Rats, and 670, Field Mice as Farm and Orchard Pests. 



FIFTH GRADE. 



PLANTS . 



Continued work. — Noting the appearance of familiar trees at this 

 season and comparing their appearance with that of former months 

 furnish interesting and instructive observation exercises. 



