120 MANUAI< OF NATURE STUDY. 



SIXTH GRADE. 



A. — Plant Life. 



1. Provision of nature for matured seeds. 



(a.) Nature provides a store of nourishment for 

 each seed so as to give the new plant a start in 

 life. 



The seed-leaves, or cotyledons, as in bean, pear, 

 pumpkin, etc., are packed with food, which occu- 

 pies the entire space inside the coats of the seeds. 

 Examine these seeds after they have been soaked 

 in luke-warm water over night. 



The cotyledons will easily separate, revealing 

 \ihe plumule and radicle. The cotyledons, plumule 

 and radicle are together called the embryo. All 

 the food there is in such seeds as those just men- 

 tioned is crowded into the embryo. Let the pupils 

 mention as many seeds as they can think of that 

 have the food stored in the embryo. ' Next, let the 

 children observe other seeds — com, for example, 

 after they have been soaked sufl&ciently long to be- 

 gin to germinate. The children will notice that 

 the food is around the embryo, like the albumen 

 of the ^^'g around the yolk. Hence the name al- 

 buminous^ seeds, that is, seeds whose embryo is sur- 

 rounded by food supply. The bean, pea, com, 



*The word endosperm would be a more scientific term. 



