Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study Part 3

_Canadian Birds in Relation to Agriculture._ This chart has pictures in colours of eighty-eight Canadian birds. G. M. Hendry Co., $3.00.

_The Audubon Charts._ These three charts have pictures of fifty-five birds; the pictures are larger in the latter charts than in the first named. G. M. Hendry Co., $2.00 each.

_Coloured Bird Pictures_, Mumford, Chicago, (separate coloured pictures) are very suitable for ill.u.s.trating nature lessons on birds.

INSECTS

There are three cla.s.ses of insects that are of immediate interest to the pupils of the Junior Grades, and the teacher who makes direct use of this natural interest has taken possession of the key to success in insect study in the primary cla.s.ses.

The three cla.s.ses, basing the cla.s.sification upon their power to attract attention, are:

The beautiful insects, including moths, b.u.t.terflies, and beetles,

The wonderful insects, including such insects as ants, ant-lions, caddice-flies, etc.,

The economic insects, including bees, silk-worms, codling-moths, etc.

Economic insects are interesting because of their relations to the occupations of the home. The successful growing of farm, orchard, and garden crops practically depends upon keeping a proper balance of insect and bird life.

The teacher who feels that his knowledge of insects is too limited to allow him to undertake the teaching of this branch of Nature Study should cast his misgivings aside; for it is not difficult for the teacher who knows nothing about insects at the outset to become acquainted with such members of the three cla.s.ses named above as attract the attention of the pupils of the Nature Study cla.s.ses.

The following suggestions in insect study are offered as guides to teacher or pupil:

Obtain books and pamphlets from the Department of Agriculture, Toronto, on the subject of Insect Pests on Farm Crops and Fruit Trees.

Secure a good general book on insects. _Modern Nature Study_, by Silc.o.x and Stevenson, contains ill.u.s.trations of several of the most common moths and b.u.t.terflies, which are clear enough to make possible the identification of the forms represented. Comstock's _Manual for the Study of Insects_ is the best general book on the subject. This, and Holland's _The Moth Book_ and _The b.u.t.terfly Book_, are valuable for those who wish to follow the study of insects at any length.

Begin by studying the more conspicuous moths, b.u.t.terflies, and beetles, and especially by studying the injurious forms which thrust themselves into prominence by causing destruction of grain, vegetable, or fruit crops in the locality. The utility phase of lessons on these insects will appeal to the older children and also to their parents. Moreover, these are the easiest insects to identify and upon which to obtain literature dealing with their life histories and habits.

Carefully observe the colour, size, and shape of the insect, and note the plant on which it is feeding and its manner of feeding. Consult available books on plant pests to find descriptions of the insects that feed upon this plant, and study carefully what is said about the insect observed. If this method is persistently followed, the teacher will be surprised at the rapidity with which his acquaintance with insects broadens.

Pictures of moths, b.u.t.terflies, and beetles are of great a.s.sistance in the identification of these insects.

A school collection, made from the insects studied, is useful for future collection and for identification of insects. Do not allow any insect to be killed unless it is a good specimen intended to fill a place in the collection, or unless it is known to be an injurious insect. The teacher, by exercising proper control of the collecting, has an efficient means of teaching the sacredness of life. The fact should be emphasized that killing even an insect, when there is no good reason for doing so, is the act of a mean and selfish coward.

In addition to a collection of insects, including larval and pupal forms, collections of insect nests, of plant galls, of markings of engraver beetles, of burrows of tree borers, and of samples of the destructive workings of insect pests should be made.

While nothing is more beautiful than a carefully prepared collection of moths, b.u.t.terflies, and beetles with their infinite variety of form and colour, nothing is more disgusting than a badly preserved collection of distorted, shrivelled, vermin-infested specimens. The teacher should avail himself of the collecting instinct which is prominent in boys of nine to fourteen years of age and of their desire to have things done well, to develop in them habits of carefulness, neatness, and thoroughness.

INSECT COLLECTIONS

See Manual on _Manual Training_, for details for making collecting appliances.

Agricultural Bulletin No. 8, _Nature Collections for Schools_, Department of Education, Ontario, for detailed instructions on making insect collections.

The outfit for collecting is neither expensive nor hard to prepare. It consists of (1) an insect net for catching the insects, made by sewing a bag of cheese-cloth to a stout ring one foot in diameter, which is fastened to a broom handle; (2) a cyanide bottle for killing the insects, prepared by pouring some soft plaster-paris over a few lumps of pota.s.sium cyanide (three pieces, each of the size of a pea) in a wide-mouthed bottle. When the plaster has set, keep the bottle tightly corked to retain the poisonous gases. (3) Pins to mount the specimens.

Entomological pins, Nos. 2, 3, and 4, are the best for general use.

Beetles are usually pinned through the right wing-cover at about one fourth of its length from the front end of it. Moths and b.u.t.terflies are pinned through the thorax. Small insects may be fastened to a very small pin, which in turn is set into a bit of cork, supported by a pin of ordinary size. (4) Spreading board for moths and b.u.t.terflies. (5) Insect boxes to hold the specimens. This should be secured before the collection is begun. It is a common mistake to believe that any box whatever will do for storing insects. It is necessary to encourage effort in drying, spreading, pinning, and labelling, by providing an effective means of permanently preserving the specimens. In cigar-boxes, pasteboard boxes, and such makeshifts, the specimens soon become broken, covered with dust, and marred in other ways, and the collectors become discouraged; hence it is necessary to secure good boxes from dealers in entomological supplies.

A sponge saturated with carbon bisulphide should be placed in the box at intervals of not more than three months, to ensure the killing of parasites that destroy the specimens.

Entomological supplies may be obtained from Chapman & Co., London, Ont., or from G. M. Hendry Co., Toronto, Ont., or from Messrs. Watters Bros., Guelph, Ont.

b.u.t.tERFLY AND MOTH COLLECTIONS

For a study of the metamorphosis of b.u.t.terflies and moths, it is necessary to have an insect cage. This can be purchased from any dealer in entomological supplies or it may be made by the pupils in the Manual Training Cla.s.s. See Manual on _Manual Training_. A very satisfactory cage may be made, by the teacher or larger pupils, from a soap box, by tacking wire gauze over the open surface of the box, removing the nails from one of the boards of the bottom, and converting this board into a door by attaching it in its former position by light hinges and a hook and staple. The box, if now placed on end with two inches of loose soil in the bottom, will const.i.tute a satisfactory insect cage, or vivarium.

A large lamp chimney with gauze tied over the upper end is useful for inclosing a small plant upon which eggs or insect larvae are developing.

The base of the chimney may be thrust an inch into the soil and the development of the larva as it feeds upon the growing plant can be studied.

The following are larvae suitable for study and may be found in the places named:

The tomato worm on tomato or tobacco plants. (Look for stems whose leaves have been stripped off.)

The milkweed b.u.t.terfly larvae on milkweed,

The potato beetle on potato vines,

The eastern swallow-tail b.u.t.terfly on parsnip or carrot plants,

The tussock-moth on horse-chestnuts,

The promothea moth on lilac bushes,

The cabbage-b.u.t.terfly on cabbage or mustard plants,

The red-spotted purple, banded purple, and viceroy b.u.t.terfly larvae on willow and alder,

Coc.o.o.ns of tussock-moth and tiger-moth under bark, logs, and rubbish in early autumn.

Larvae of the emperor-moth (cecropia) may be found wandering about, apparently aimlessly, in September; but they are searching for suitable places for attaching their coc.o.o.ns to orchard and forest trees.

After the leaves have fallen from shrubs and trees, coc.o.o.ns can be found more easily on the naked twigs or in withered, rolled-up leaves that are fastened by the silk of the coc.o.o.n to the branches.

Larvae, when placed in the cage, should be supplied with green plant food such as they were found feeding upon, and the pupils should be instructed to observe the chrysalis building or the coc.o.o.n weaving. It will be found that some larvae burrow into the soil.

During winter the cage should be kept in a cool place, such as a shed, so that the winter conditions may be as nearly natural as possible.

In a few cases, the development within the coc.o.o.n is quite rapid; and the adult form hatches out in a few weeks, for example, the cabbage-b.u.t.terfly, monarch or milkweed b.u.t.terfly, and tussock-moth. For this reason these are preferable for study by Form I pupils. In April the cage should be placed in the school-room, that the pupils may observe the emergence of the insects and the spreading of the wings. The insects can be fed with syrup or honey until they are strong, then the pupils should set them free.

Reference.--_Reports of the Entomological Society of Ontario_, Department of Agriculture.

PLANT COLLECTIONS

The instructions given below for collecting, pressing, and mounting plants are applicable to wild flowers, grains, gra.s.ses, and weeds.

~The specimen.~--Select a plant which in form and size is typical of its species and which is in full flower. Care must be taken to dig down and secure the root.