I70 NATURE STUDY LESSONS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 



You have spoken of the leaf caring for the bud. 

 Why should it care for it so tenderly ? Of what use 

 is a bud ? Let us see what is in this little cotton- 

 wood bud. (The outside is sticky.) Why is that ? 

 (To protect it from the rain and snow and to keep 

 bugs from eating it.) We will take off this water- 

 proof coat very carefully. What do you see here ? 

 What do these coats do ? (There must be something 

 very valuable inside which these coats are keeping 

 safe.) And inside these soft wrappings what do 

 we find? (Some tiny leaves — a little twig.) 

 What are they doing here ? (They are lying in 

 their warm bed, cuddled closely together, waiting 

 for spring. When the weather begins to get warm 

 in the spring, the wax on the outside will melt and 

 the buds will swell so that their covers become too 

 small, then they burst open and finally fall.) Why 

 do the buds not open now? (They would freeze 

 in the winter, so the tree gives them very little 

 food — just enough to keep them alive, but not 

 enough to make them grow.) 



Open other buds ; some will be found to contain 

 flowers. Notice the difference in the shapes of the 

 twig buds and flower buds. [The flower buds on 

 many trees are short and round, while the twig 



