work.

WEED STUDIES

In every locality there are about a dozen weeds that are particularly
troublesome, and the pupils of Form III should be taught to identify
these and to understand the characteristics which make each weed
persistent.

To produce these results it will be necessary to have exercises such as
the following:

1. The teacher exhibits a weed to the pupils and directs their attention
to a few of the outstanding features of the plant.

2. The pupils are required, as a field exercise, to observe where the
weed is abundant; and whether in hay field, pasture, hoe crop, or in
grain. The pupils will bring specimens to the class.

3. Detailed study in the class of specimens of the weed brought by the
pupils to find offensive odours and prickles, also the character of the
leaves, flowers, seed pods, and seeds, including the means of dispersal;
the underground parts, whether underground stem, tap-root, or fibrous
root, and the value of the underground parts as a means of persistence.

4. The pupils make a collection of the weeds that have been studied.
(See Plant Collection, page 39, in General Method.)

5. The pupils make collections of the seeds of the weeds that have been
studied.

OBSERVATION LESSON ON WEED SEEDS

The seed of a weed should always be exhibited and studied in association
with a fresh or a mounted specimen of the weed.

Each pupil should use a hand lens in examining the seed.

The pupils examine the seed of each species and describe it according to
the following scheme:

NAME OF SEED

_Colour:_
_Size:_ (in fractions of an inch)
_Shape:_
_Details:_
_Occurrence:_

The results of the pupils' study of the ox-eye daisy would then appear
in the following form:

SEED OF OX-EYE DAISY

_Colour:_ Black and greenish-white in stripes,
_Size:_ One sixteenth of an inch,
_Shape:_ Club-shaped,
_Details_: Grooved lengthwise, yellow peg in large end,
_Occurrence:_ A common impurity in grass seed.

GRASSHOPPER

(Consult the Manual on _Suggestions for Teachers of
Science_: Zoology, First year.)

The ease with which this insect may be obtained in August or September,
together with its fairly large size, makes it a suitable specimen for
insect study. It is also a typical insect, so that a careful study
serves as a basis for a knowledge of the class _insecta_.

FIELD EXERCISES

Problems to be assigned for outdoor observation: Locomoti