90 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-EXPERIMENT STATION ' 
and turns brown. Where did you find the blossom, above or 
below the leaves ? Where do you find the ripening seed ? How 
did they get down there? (The children will notice that the 
stem has twisted in a curious way so as to bring the seed pod 
under the leaves.) Can you think of any reason for this? 
(Perhaps it is to make room for the flowers or to protect the 
seeds from the rain and the sun and from enemies that might 
like to eat them.) Taste of one of the seeds not yet ripe. 
What do you notice? Is it well for the seed that it has a 
spicy taste? Of what use is the seed to us other than giving 
us new plants? How many seeds in one pod? How are the 
seeds scattered? Will plants come next year from these seeds 
that are scattered? (The home of this plant is in a warm 
country where the plants do not freeze after they sprout. It 
cannot bear the cold springs of the eastern states but in Cali¬ 
fornia will lie in the ground all winter and come up in the 
spring.) 
Describe the leaf. The stems of the young and of the older 
leaves. Of what use are the leaves to the little buds and to 
the seed pods? 
Out-of-door Study 
To note variety in color of the different flowers; the variety 
in one blossom; the marking of the petals. 
What colors do you find among our nasturtium flowers; are 
they solid or mixed? See how many colors you can find in 
one flower. Do the colors blend well together ? What besides 
people does the color attract? (Bees and humming birds.) 
Notice what these do when they come to the flowers. Find what 
it is they are seeking in the heart of the flower. (The juice 
in the long sac.) We call that the nectar. Taste of it. How 
do you like it? See if the sac is full. How can the humming 
bird reach it? the bee? Watch a bee as it leaves a flower. 
What is it carrying away? (Yellow dust.) On what part 
of its body does it carry it ? From what did it come ? Where 
does the bee go on leaving this blossom? Watch to see. 
Notice in what direction the lines on the petals extend. 
Can you think of any reason for this? (They show the bees 
the way to the nectar.) 
Did you ever arrange a bouquet of these flowers? What 
do they look best in? Let us pick some of these flowers and 
arrange them. Do you think they will look different tomorrow ? 
