LABORATORY EXERCISES 
TO ACCOMPANY 
WAGGONER’S MODERN BIOLOGY 
EXERCISE 1 
GRASSES 
I. Field Study. Make a collection of grasses, both wild and 
cultivated. (Corn and the small grains are grasses.) Each speci¬ 
men should consist of an entire plant. (This collection may be 
made either as individual or as class work.) 
II. Laboratory Study. 
1. Identify as many as possible of the different specimens of 
grasses which have been collected. Attach a label to each. 
2. Structure, a. Roots. Note the characteristics of the roots 
of each. Observe especially those of the blue grass and timothy. 
h. Stems (Culms). Note the form and size of the stems of each. 
Determine which are hollow and which are filled with pith. Note 
the nodes, or joints, and the internodes, or the parts which are in¬ 
cluded between the joints, c. Leaves. Remove a leaf from the 
stem. Note the free part or blade. What is the arrangement of its 
veins? Note the sheath, the part which clasps the stem. What 
is the arrangement of the leaves with relation to one another? 
d. Flowers. Note the flowers. (See Waggoner, Fig. 12.) Where 
are the flowers borne? 
EXERCISE 2 
THE CORN PLANT 
I. Roots. What are the nature and extent of the roots? 
1. Find the vertical roots, which arise at or near the base of the 
stalk and penetrate to the deeper layers of soil. 
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