The Delta independent., 1922-04-07
NATURE STUDY A SOURCE
OF EDUCATION FOR CHILD
BY Augusta M. Swan.

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study material. remember always that
the spirit is more important than the
information. When we tell them of
tn bierds, we do not think of ornithol-
ogy, we think of the children and try
to expand their sympathies. 1t is a
good thing for the children to bring
specimens, but let them be a means to
an end, to correlate what a part is
with what it does.
why do dogs howl at night?" was
question which in it's answer in
volved little of the life history of the
dog, with his wolf-like habits. His
barking is an inherited trait. develop
ed from the bowling of the wolf at
night. This is the call of the pack to
keep them together, as wolves hunt
by night and in packs. Our pet dogs
must be comfortably housed at night
to keep them from becoming public
nuisances.
A woodpecker on the tree before
the arrival OF spring taught us that
he, with various other birds, spent
the winter here because he does not
change his diet according to the sea-
son. All the winter birds, chickadees
juncos, winter wrens and titmice feed
on dormant insects, seeds and berries.
The cardinal. as observed by one of
our kindergartens is not naturally a
migrant, he prefers to stay in one To-
cation. BY putting out corn, we may
induce him to stay near our premises
all winter, and finally make his home
there in the summer time. BY rid
ding us of flies and many garden pests
and by his singing and calls he will
repay us for all our trouble and hospi-
tality.
What shall we do with the number
less pussy populars" which are daily
brought to US? Watch how the popu-
lar seeds travel, how they are fitted
to go long distances from the parent
tree. The kingbird and cuckoo use
these catkins for their nest building,
and many of our earliest butterflies
and insects depend on the popular
pollen. So it is with our pussy will
lows and alders, which wake when all
else seems asleep. These "pussies,"
or willow flowers give the bees al
most their earliest spring feast The
pollen gives them bee-bread for their
honey supply from the nectar which
is produced in little glands at the
base OF each pollen bearing flower on
the pussy" We make furniture from
the wood of the willow, and because
it is light and tough when seasoned,
it is used to make the wooden shoes
worn in Europe. In our kindergarten
we have log cabin made of willow
Our spring flowers The children
are interested to know that these
plants can bloom early even in the
snow because of the long stored up
supply of food in their bulbous roots.
While examining bunch of Jacks
in the Pulpit, one of the children said,
They look like Gala lilies" and she
was most interested when told there
were many families among the flow
ers, and that Jack in the Pulpit and
the Gala lily were really first cousins.
The fascinating sycamore or button
balls, brought to us so frequently, not
only are the sycamore's seeds made to
fly away on hairy parachutes. but they
are the favorite pieces for the nest
building of many birds including the
Baltimore oriole.
do apple trees grow in the win
ter?" Here is a chance to tell of the
long rest, the sleeping and preparing
for the spring awakening. Spring buds
we all notice, but what of the winter
buds which are protected all winter
by little downy scales. We know the
great vanished winter buds OF the
horse-chestnut and perhaps the white
knobbed winter buds of the dogwood,
but there is no tree in our winter
woods that will not show it's buds to
anyone who wishes to see them
A hornets nest in one of our kim
dergartens attracted quite great
deal of attention, and one of the chill
dren asked how the wasps made it.
Like the yellow jackets, the white
faced black hornets build in trees.
The nest is of paper made of bits of
wood which the wasps pull off with
their jaws from weather-worn boards.
This wood is reduced to a pulp by a
saliva from the wasp's mouth and
is laid on in little layers A wasp
uses her jaws and front feet for tools,
and she joins strip to the edge Of
the paper and pats it into shape The
cells inside open downward. and are
cradles for the young wasps, not for
storing honey. The babies hang face
down, but are held fast by a sticky
substance at the rear end OF the body.
Rarely are these nests used more
than one year.
Never be afraid to say, II don't
know" not as a damper to the child's
interest. but with the promise OF 60
ing with him further into the realms
Of nature: knowledge begins in won