I58 NATURE STUDY LESSONS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 



lowest petal is a little larger than the others, and it 

 has a little pocket behind.) Let us see if we can 

 find anything in this pocket. [This can better be 

 shown with a large pansy.] We will cut the pocket 

 off. Now pinch it. Taste. What do you find ? 

 (Honey.) We will call it nectar. Why is the nectar 

 there ? What would like it ? (Bees and other 

 insects.) Have you ever seen any insects about the 

 violets? Watch closely and tell all that the bees 

 or other insects do. Later the children will very 

 likely have discovered that the bee alights on the 

 lower petal, then thrusts in his " long mouth " — 

 proboscis — and drinks in the nectar. Notice care- 

 fully the path which the proboscis of the bee takes 

 in going to the nectar. There seems to be a path 

 on purpose for it right through the middle of the 

 lower petal, and there is a hedge along both sides of 

 this road. What is this hedge? (A thick beard of 

 short hairs running down the two petals on each 

 side of the flower.) Take this fine stalk of grass 

 and let it follow the road which the proboscis of the 

 bee follows. Then look closely at the grass and 

 tell what you see. (There is pollen on it.) Where 

 did it come from? What is it good for? (To feed 

 the tiny seeds so they will grow.) Let us look 



