Thrifty Scissors

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Study The Butterfly

butterfly to print

The butterfly is one of the '' Lepidoptera '' or scale-winged insects. Besides butterflies, of which it is reckoned that there are 10,000 different kinds, this order includes the moths, of which it is estimated that there are 40,000 species. In the British Isles, of 2000 different kinds of Lepidoptera, only 65 are butterflies and the rest moths. The body is almost completely covered with hair or scales, and the insects feed on the honey of flowers, honey-dew, the sap of trees, over-ripe fruit, &e. Their senses are very keen. Some varieties owe their safety to an odor which they emit, and which repels their enemies. These are numerous. In many cases the butterfly imitates so completely the objects about it, leaf or twig, that it escapes the notice of its foes.

Require for Observation: The chrysalides exhibited in the last lesson should be preserved till the butterflies appear. These may then be employed for the illustration of the present lesson. If possible, the children should watch the perfect insect emerging from the pupacase.

Method of Student Observation of The Butterfly:

Point out that this division is not so apparent in the caterpillar.
Compare with the head of the caterpillar. Note differences.
Show that this corresponds with the leg-bearing segments of the caterpillar.
Point out that the claspers of the caterpillar have disappeared.
Compare with the short legs of the caterpillar.
Explain that the wings are imperfectly formed in the chrysalis, but develop when the perfect insect emerges.
Contrast with the flight of birds.
Compare with feeding of the caterpillar, which bites solid food.
Recapitulate briefly the whole life-history - from egg to perfect insect.

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about butterflies inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

Body - In three parts - head, thorax, and abdomen.
Head - With two feelers (antennae), usually thickened into a knot at the end, two large compound eyes, and a sucking-tube (proboscis ).
Thorax - Bears three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings.
Abdomen - Covered with fine hairs. No limbs.
Legs - Six in number. Of several parts, jointed together, and terminating in two hooked claws.
Wings - Four. Large. Membrane, supported by rigid - veins -or rays, and covered with minute scales.
Flight - Rapid but jerky.
Feeding - Sucks the sweet juices from flowers by means of the proboscis, which can be extended, and when not in use is coiled up.
Egg-laying - Eggs laid by butterfly on the food-plants of the caterpillar.

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

Life cycle of a Butterfly.
The Life Cycle of The Butterfly: Students will need writing and drawing tools, two white paper plates, scissors, white school glue and one brass-plated fastener. The teacher should supply the two paper plates and fastener per student.

Divide the bottom paper plate using a pencil into 4, pie shaped wedges. Draw a picture of each stage of the butterfly's life cycle into these five spaces. Color them in using pencils or crayons.

4 Stages of The Butterfly

The butterfly lays it's eggs on a leaf.
The baby caterpillars hatch from the eggs and start to eat and grow.
The mature caterpillar makes a chrysalis to change in.
The butterfly hatches and unfolds it's wings.

Next, cut just one pie shaped window from the top plate so that when the two paper plates are joined at the center with a brass-brad fastener, the window will reveal only one life stage at a time. On the top plate write ''Describe the order and stage of a butterfly's life.'' Now students may then share what they have learned by showing off their life cycle project with siblings, friends, parents and teachers. Save this lesson to talk about at a parent-teacher conference or open house for the student.

The Butterfly Arts and Crafts Lessons From Our Blogs:

Cut, color and paste together a butterfly kite! for young students kindergarten -2nd Grade
Craft a Simple Butterfly Mask - using paper plates, kindergarten - 2nd grade
Create a Butterfly Yarn Picture - for older students 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders
"Handy" little butterflies - preschool through 1rst Grade
Drawing Butterflies Through Five Progressive Steps - 2nd and 3rd Grade
Craft Doily Butterflies - any age for decorative ornaments
Repeating Line Butterfly Design- 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders
The Living Butterfly - a vintage paper toy for crafting fun

Extended Learning Content:

Free Student Clip Art: Clip art may be printed from a home computer, a classroom computer or from a computer at a library and/or a local printing service provider. This may be done from multiple locations as needed because our education blog is online and available to the general public.

The Butterfly clip art illustrates the anatomy of the butterfly: feelers, proboscis, thorax,
wings with veins, abdomen, scales, eyes and legs.

Study The Slug

The spotted leopard slug.

The air-breathing molluscs (Pulvionates) in which the shell is internal or entirely absent are popularly called slugs ( Limacidce ). On the front part of the back, near the head, these animals have a fleshy plate, the mantle, near the right edge of which is the opening or pore by which they breathe. Slugs closely resemble snails in structure ; indeed, all the six families into which slugs may be divided, seem to have been derived separately from shell-bearing ancestors. They love dark and damp places, and crowd together in cellars and outhouses and under planks and stones. As they hide themselves during the day and only issue forth at night the damage done by them is often attributed to other creatures, though the presence of slugs may be recognized by streaks of slime in the neighborhood. All the air-breathing molluscs can secrete mucus from their body, and in slugs this power is highly developed. When the animal is irritated the secretion of mucus is greatly increased, the secretion being partly defensive. They use the secretion in another way, for these animals will lower themselves from a tree or shrub by means of threads of mucus. Like snails, slugs often lift their heads and move their tentacles in search of objects around them. When they are frightened they draw their heads under their mantles and contract their foot. They lay their eggs, which look like small oval bags of jelly, in moist places. The eggs are from twenty to forty days in hatching, and the young slug attains its full size in a year.

Required for Observation: A live slug; a cabbage leaf; and a live snail. A picture of the slug, and a sketch of its teeth. a rasp

Method of Student Observation:

Compare the body of the slug with that of the garden snail.
Show the sticky nature of the slime, and point out that the slug will sometimes let itself down from a tree by a thread formed of its slime.
Compare with the head of a snail. Explain that the horns are pulled inside out as they are retracted ; and imitate the movement by pulling the finger of a glove inside out by means of a string attached to the tip.
Exhibit a diagram of the teeth.
The children should watch the slug as it crawls, and observe the slimy track made by it. They should also be allowed to see the wave-like contraction of the under surface as the slug crawls on a piece of window-glass.
Note that the slug is an air-breathing animal, and that it cannot live in water. Point out the pulmonary aperture on the right side.
Show a rasp, and compare the action of the slug's teeth with that of the rasp.
The children should be encouraged to seek the slug in its haunts, and observe its habits in the garden or during their rambles.
Slugs' eggs should be procured if possible. They may be found under stones and other objects.

How To Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about slugs inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

General form - Body elongated and tapering before and behind. Convex above and flat beneath.
Skin - Soft and slimy. In some species much wrinkled. Color whitish, yellowish, brown, or black, according to the species.
Head - Provided with four retractile horns - -two longer and two shorter. Horns used as feelers, and the eyes are situated at the tip of the longer pair.
Mouth on the under side of the head, and provided with numerous small teeth in parallel rows.
Crawling - The slug crawls on its belly, moving itself along by a wave-like contraction of the muscles of its under surface. As it crawls it leaves behind it a streak of slime, which soon hardens on exposure to air.
Breathing - The slug breathes by means of a lung, the air passing through an opening on the right side of the body.
Feeding - It feeds on various vegetable substances, biting off small pieces with its teeth.
The Slug at rest. The slug does not like the light and heat of the sun. It hides under cover during the day, and crawls about and feeds at night. It goes to sleep all winter, taking no food.
Young - The young of the slug are produced from eggs. They do not undergo changes, like insects, but are, from the first, of the same form as their parents.

The finished slug craft
photographed outdoors

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

The Life Cycle of The Slug: Students will need writing and drawing tools, two white paper plates, scissors, white school glue and one brass-plated fastener. The teacher should supply the two paper plates and fastener per student. Draw the different stages of a slugs' life on the first paper plate dividing these into separate pie shaped grid. Color the second paper plate with leaves and twigs; the kinds of natural stuff found on a forest floor. Cut away one small pie shaped window so that the life stages may be viewed through the top paper plate after it has been joined to the first using a fastener at the center of both.

Watch a life-cycle film of slugs from BBC Earth.

Craft a Slug From An Egg Carton: You will need the following supplies: masking tape, a 2 chenille stems. recycled cardboard egg carton, white school glue, tissue paper, acrylic paints, and Mod Podge

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Left, the cardboard egg carton cut apart and chenille stem threaded through units.

With scissors cut the cardboard egg carton apart into multiple units. Clean up the edges to make these units neater and relatively of the same size and proportion. Poke a whole in each unit at it's center using the sharp end of your scissors.

Wrap the tip end of a chenille stem just outside the snail's end unit to hold the wire in place while the units are threaded onto it. You will be threading these while wadding three inch long pieces of masking tape and tucking it between the units.

Position the units in a curved shape as you go. Use more masking tape to adjust the shape of the slug and reinforce it as you proceed.

Bend the chenille wire to hold the units in place and shape the four horns at the end of the slugs' head.

See the paper mache slug prior to painting after it has been covered with a layer of glue and tissue.

Cover the egg carton units with a few layers of tissue paper and white school glue. Let this pretend slug dry over night before painting it.

The slug as seen from the top, side and bottom after painting it.

I painted my version of a slug using multiple tan and brown colors because it is to represent a spotted leopard slug. However, students may choose to paint a banana slug yellow or some other kind of slug in it's own color variations. Once the painted surfaces are dry, cover the entire slug in stages with Mod Podge to seal it properly.

Illustrated in the clip art above are the anatomical features of all slugs.

Monday, August 19, 2024

Study The Rabbit

European Rabbit.

The rabbit is a small rodent of the family Leporidae - the same family to which the hare belongs. The short fore legs have five toes or digits, while on the long hind legs there are only four. It is smaller than the hare, and has shorter ears and hind legs. Rabbits are so prolific that they may become a pest as they have in Australia. Hares and rabbits differ from squirrels, beavers rats, mice, and other members of the rodent family, in having an extra, though useless, pair of cutting-teeth in the upper jaw.

Required for Compare/Contrast Observation: A live pet rabbit and cat for comparison to each other in the classroom.

The first meeting of a cat and rabbit by The Fluffiest

Method of Student Observation:

Compare and contrast the fur, tail and legs of a cat to a rabbit.
The rabbits legs are adapted for leaping, on the account of the unequal lengths of their legs. Rabbits cannot walk well.
Compare the claws of a cat to the rabbit. The claws of a rabbit are not sharp because these are not protected in the way that the claws on a cat are.
Compare the ears of the cat to the rabbit.
Observe that the eyes on either side of the head allow a rabbit to see behind its self without turning its head.
Contrast the teeth of the cat; and note that there are no sharp conical teeth like those of the flesh-eating mammals.
Show that the rabbit's teeth are not adapted for tearing, but for biting and mastication. The rabbit does not bolt its food like the cat.

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about rabbits inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

Structure of a rabbit. It's fur is soft and thick. It's tail is short. It's legs in front are short and it's hind legs are long and powerful.
The rabbit's feet have distinct toes, which are provided with claws; but the claws are not retractile.
Rabbit's ears are long and can be moved to collect sound from different points of origin.
Rabbits eyes are very prominent and located at the sides of it's head.
Rabbits front teeth are sharp for cutting and biting. Their back teeth are for grinding.
The habits of rabbits include frequent cleaning of it's fur and biting food with front teeth, chewing food with the back.
Sometimes people eat rabbit or save it's fur for clothing, particularly in the past.

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

The Art Lessons associated with rabbits from my Easter blog may be completed for this assignment are linked to below. Remember the important features of a rabbit when working on the projects. The eyes are located on the sides of the head, rabbits have long ears at the top of their heads and their front legs are shorter than their back ones.

Stencil rabbits eating clover and then color - for 3rd through 4th grades
Positive and negative bunnies - paper cutting project and poem about Binny and Bunny - for 1rts through 2nd grades
Doodle a design that includes a rabbit . . . - for 5th and 6th graders
Draw a bunny step-by-step - for first through 3rd grade

Extended Learning Content:

Anatomy of a rabbit: skull, teeth, tail, legs, eyes and ears.

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Study Leaves: Lesson 2 - How does a leaf function?

Tilia leaf

With regard to the distribution of the strands which traverse the green blades we distinguish between blades with a single main strand and blades with several. Blades with a single main strand are distinguished as feather-like (pinnate) and radiating. In the former the lateral strands rise successively from the' main strand or midrib at almost equal intervals, and they take, at first at least, a parallel course. In radiating leaves the later strands spring directly from the main strand at the base of the blade and run like rays towards its edge. Leaf blades with several main strands are not nearly so varied in form and structure as those with only one, as a rule they are long-shaped with unbroken margin, and the most remarkable variations among them are in the number of strands, their thickness and their direction.

This is the second lesson; the first lesson about leaf vocabulary and identification is here.

Require for Observation: Sample clip art drawings for teachers to share with students below. Teachers should also have a few real leafs to show the class the: veins, stalk, stem and tips.

Method of Student Observation:

A suitable leaf should be tom in order to show the tough and fibrous character of the veins, and the softer nature of the intermediate parts of the leaf. The arrangement of the veins should next be studied, holding the leaf up to the light and looking through it, when necessary, to render the smaller veins visible. Finally, the leaves should be classified according to their venation.
As much as possible of this information should be obtained from the class.
A plant may often be killed by cutting off all its leaves. Why is this?

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about leaf anatomy inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

The veins (like the stalk and the midrib) contain fibers, and are, therefore, tough; while the other portions of the leaf are soft and cellular. The fibres are the vessels by which the sap circulates. The veins generally form a network, but sometimes they are parallel.
Uses of Leaves for The Plant - Leaves are the breathing organs of the plant. They take in gaseous plantfood from the atmosphere. Leaves have microscopic holes ( stomata ) to enable them to perform these functions.)
In the leaves, the sap of the plant is exposed to light and air. This causes the formation of starch, sugar, gum, and other substances required by the plant.
To humans many leaves are used as food (cabbage, lettuce, cress), some for making beverages (tea), and many for the preparation of drugs.

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

Draw the anatomy of a leaf and label it's parts. There is clip art below given as the teachers diagram examples. Students should either bring a leaf from home to draw and label it's parts or gather a leaf from the school playground on a walk with his or her classmates to do the same with. After drawing their own example of the leaf they may color it in with pencils or crayons.

Review What should be illustrate by the students:

The stalk joins the leaf to the stem of the plant.
The little branch-looking lines on the leaf are called veins.
The stalk joins the leaf to the stem of the plant and runs up the middle of the leaf to the tip.
There are two kinds of leaves called simple and compound. Identify the type you will draw.

Illustration of midrib, stalk, blade for the Lime tree.
Illustration of Leaf of Wallflower and Leaf of Rose.

Illustrated lily leaf with veins running side by side.
Illustrated lime leaf with a network of veins.
Illustrated small piece of leaf much enlarged showing
cells and breathing holes.

Study Leaves: Lesson 1 - Identify Leaf Types

Leaf varieties by Marco Almbauer.

Leaves show an almost infinite variety both of structure and of shape. They are the breathing organs of the plant, and by their aid the plant makes organic material from its inorganic food. When all the parts are present a leaf consists of a blade, a leaf-stalk, and a sheath with stipules. In outline the blade shows every imaginable geometric form and is described accordingly. Those with a notched instead of a narrow base are described as heart shaped (cordate), kidney-shaped (reniform), eared (auriculate), arrow-shaped ( sagittate ), and spear-shaped (hastate). When the leaf is joined to the stalk by some portion of its under surface, and not by its bottom edge, it is said to be shield-shaped (peltate). Leaves are also described according to the character of their top (apex) and of their bottom (base). If the blade is undivided it is said to be entire ; if there be slight indentations on the margin the blade is said to be crenate, serrate, or dentate ; if the indentations are considerable it is called incised, and if the indentations go more deeply still into the green surface so that the blade is divided into several parts it is said to be lobed or partite.

This is the first lesson; the second lesson about how leaves function is here.

Required for Observation: A number of leaves, of different forms - some simple and some compound. The leaves selected should also exhibit different kinds of surface (rough, smooth, hairy, bright, &c.), and a variety of edges (toothed, saw-like, crenate, spiny, &c.). The following common leaves would make a good selection to collect and show in the classroom: laurel, nasturtium, oak, lilac, elm, cuckoo-pint, dandelion, horse-chestnut, rose, primrose, wallflower, iris, willow, ground -ivy, ivy, fir.

Method of Student Observation:

A typical leaf, such as that of the elm, lime, or beech, should be given to each child, who should be encouraged to observe and describe it.
The wallflower leaf may be chosen to illustrate the sessile leaves, and a rose leaf to illustrate the compound.
For the observation a great variety of leaves should be used; and each leaf should be examined and described separately by the children.

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following facts about leaves inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content.

General Description of a Leaf - A leaf generally consists of a stalk ( petiole ) and a blade. The midrib, running through the center of the leaf, is usually continuous with the stalk; and veins branch out from it. Some leaves have no stalk, but sit on the stem. They are termed sessile leaves. When a leaf is divided into two or more parts, each of which has its own stalk, it is called a compound leaf.
Form and Surface of Leaves. -Leaves exhibit a great variety of form and surface. The principal forms are: circular (orbicular), oval, ovate, heart-shaped (cordate), arrow-shaped (sagittate), lance-like (lanceolate), oblong, rhomboid, linear (long and narrow), angular, hand-shaped (palmate), fingerlike (digitate). The edges may be plain, toothed,
saw-like (serrate), scalloped (crenate), spiny, or deeply and irregularly notched. The tip of the leaf may be sharp (acute) or blunt (obtuse). The surfaoe, rough, smooth, hairy, shiny.

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

Differences between simple and compound leafs by Kids Cloud - Leaf identified as Palmate versus Pinnate
Leaf identified as Phyllotaxy: 5 forms: Alternate, Opposite, Decussate, Whorled and Spiral by sci-ology
Learn to recognize different types of leaf shapes by Nature Clearly - basic shapes: elliptic, oval, ovate, oblong, lanceolate, obvovate, linear, reniform, lunate, fiabellate, fan-shaped, subulate, pandurate, pelfate, spathulate, hastate, sagitate, needle shape
How are leaf Edges different, Margins: entire, toothed, lobed, ciliate, crenate, dentate, denticulate, doubly serrate, serrate, serrulate, sinuate, spiny, undulate by Compredend & Converse
The Longer Tree Identified Lesson Video by Christian Libdan
Angie Patterson discusses the identification of trees by looking at leaves by Black Rock Forest
Adaxial Surface verses Abaxial Leaf Surface - distinguish the surfaces by Bio Hub

Graphic Organizers To Make: For the illustration of this part of the lesson a great variety of leaves should be used; and each leaf should be examined and described separately by the children.
Drawings should also be made of all the principal forms. After the leaves have all been described separately and labeled, they may be classified additionally by any of the five following attributes. Choose just one from the five categories for a graphic organizer.

according to Palmate or Pinnate - simple and compound
according to form or Basic Shapes
according to their Edges or Margins
Adaxial versus Abaxial according to their surfaces
according to Phyllotaxy - growing point of a shoot

The leaf art lessons located on my blog here that may be completed for this assignment:

Extended Learning Content:

Why Leaves Change Color - article, one of many recommend during seasonal/camp learning at my doll blog
Poison ivy leaves on Looking Glass Lake - part of the story adventures of a nurse paper doll

Kinds of leaves in the clip art: ground ivy, ivy, dandelion, fir, iris, oak, horse chestnut, elm,
lilac, laurel, nasturtium, and cuckoo-pint.

Study The Spider's Web

Argiope aurantia

Spiders are distinguished from all other animals by their habit of spinning webs. Many insects spin for themselves cocoons, in which they pass from the larval to the complete (winged) stage ; and some mites spin webs or cocoons for their eggs ; but the spinning organs of the spider are much more complete and are used for a much greater variety of purposes. They are used to form the silken bag in which the female spider places her eggs ; for producing the silk with which she lines her nest ; and more especially for forming the webs by means of which she catches her prey. The thread of the spider differs from that of insects in being composed of an immense number of very fine threads brought together while soft enough to unite into one. They use their threads also to form bridges, by which they may pass from one elevated position to another; to prevent themselves from falling when prowling about, and even as a means of transporting themselves through the air.

Required for Web Observation: Diagram of a garden spider's web, and an illustration showing the nature of the spinnerets. Bird-lime. The children should examine the web of the garden spider; and, if possible, watch the spider while in the act of constructing it.

Method of Student Web Observation:

Call attention to the regular geometric pattern of the web, noting that the outer threads, which form the foundation of the web, are necessarily irregular, on account of the disposition of the convenient points of support.
Exhibit a diagram of the spinnerets of the garden spider, showing the manner in which the fibers unite to form a single thread. Give examples of other sticky substances, such as bird-lime and thick molasses. Show that bird-lime can be drawn out into very fine fibres, and that these fibers may be made to unite into one.
The children should watch the construction of the web if possible. If this cannot be done, the teacher should build up a diagram of the web on a black-board, making the various threads in their proper order.
The sticky nature of the spiral thread should be demonstrated.

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance.

Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white.
Student may also include photographs of their own taking for extra credit.

Look for the following three facts about webs inside of student journals. Assign a point value to the quality of the content:

The Web. - The web is attached to bushes, palings, or other objects by several outer threads more or less irregularly disposed. Radiating threads pass from the center of the web to the above. Lastly, a spiral thread connects all the radiating ones.
The Spinning Organs. - The spinning organs of the garden spider are termed spinnerets. They are situated at the tip of the abdomen, and are six in number. Each consists of a little cell of sticky fluid, and the under surface of the cell is perforated with numerous small holes. When the spider applies its spinnerets to any object the sticky fluid adheres
to that object ; and, as the abdomen is withdrawn, a very thin semi-fluid fiber is produced from each perforation of the spinneret. All the fibers formed by each spinneret unite, while still fluid, to form one. Thus six threads are formed, one for each spinneret, and these again unite into one. The sticky fluid then hardens, forming a single thread of silk.
Building the Web. - Various foundation threads are first made. These connect the convenient points of support. The radiating threads are next formed. The spiral thread is next formed, beginning at the center. The spider makes use of its comb-like hind-claws in adjusting and uniting the various threads. Both the outer and the radiating threads are for
support only ; and the spiral thread, which has numerous little globules of a sticky fluid that does not readily solidify on exposure to air, forms the snare proper.

Video at Youtube for Students to Watch:

Hold a group discussion after viewing a film or on the second day of study. Prompt the students to mention/remember the following information about webs.

The Web. - The outer threads support the web. Other threads meet in the center and are joined by a spiral thread.
Spinnerets. - The spinnerets are cells containing a sticky fluid. This fluid passes out through small holes. All the fibers unite into one thread.
Building the Web. - The outer threads are spun first. Then those which meet at the center. The spiral thread is formed last. The spiral thread has sticky drops on it.

The student art assignments available on this blog for webs: 1rst-6th Grades

Extended Learning Content:

Above are illustrations of: spinnerets, spider's web, end of spider's foot,
comb-like claws, thread covered with sticky drops, attached end of thread.

Sunday, July 21, 2024

The Gnu

The Gnu
by Hilakre Belloc

G. stands for Gnu, whose weapons of defense
Are long, sharp, curling horns, and common sense.
To these he adds a name so short and strong,
That even hardy Boers pronounce it wrong.
How often on a bright autumnal day
The pious people of Pretoria say
"Come, let us hunt the'' - then no more is heard,
But sounds of strong men struggling with a word;
Meanwhile the distant Gnu with grateful eyes
Observes his opportunity and flies.

The Yak

The Yak
by Hilaire Belloc

As a friend to the children commend me the Yak.
You will find it exactly the thing:
It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back,
Or lead it about with a string.

The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet
(A desolate region of snow)
Has for centuries made it a nursery pet,
And surely the Tartar should know!

Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got,
And if he is awfully rich
He will buy you the creature - or else he will not.
(I cannot be positive which.)

The Frog

The Frog
by Hilaire Belloc

Be kind and tender to the Frog,
And do not call him names,
As "Slimy-skin," or "Pollywog,"
Or likewise "Uncle James,"
Or "Gape'a'grin," or "Toad'gone'wrong,"
Or "Billy -Bandy Knees":
The frog is justly sensitive
To epithets like these.
No animal will more repay
A treatment kind and fair,
At least so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and by the way,
They are extremely rare) .

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Squid

Squid

The ''Squid'' is just a cuttlefish. Ten arms that squirm and fuss
Instead of eight make him a squid and not an octopus.
To hide himself from enemies, he turns the water black
By giving forth an ink stain out of a special sac.
'Tis said that ancient mariners in their simplicity
Mistook this squirming creature for a ''Serpent of the Sea.''
His tail was taken for a head, his inky track for smoke;
So those ''sea serpent'' tales were not entirely a joke.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Danny Duck

Danny Duck

Danny Duck, the dandy duck
Went walking down the lane.
Then Danny Duck got tired, so
He walked right home again.

Brenda's Easter Visit

''Her name is Brenda,'' said daddy, ''and when I saw her yesterday she told me that every year at Easter time she went to the head nurse of the big hospital and found out the names of all the children. Then she went shopping, and it took her a long time to pick out things for little sick children. She picked out for each child a big round chocolate egg which rattled, for inside it there were little sugar candies; also a chocolate chicken and a chocolate bunny. She always picked out ones that had lots of expression too. Around the egg she tied a big red ribbon, around the chocolate chicken's neck she tied a bright green ribbon, around the bunny's neck she tied a bright purple ribbon. Then she put them in a little box and wrote on the box the child's name.

''Last year Brenda went to the hospital the day before Easter. It was far from being a pleasant day. There was a cold wind in the air and no sun.

''She arrived at the hospital just as all the little children had had their wounds dressed. They were lying in their little white cots trying to keep back the tears that wanted to come.

''Brenda asked the nurse if she could go inside with the gifts.

The child's name in the first cot,' continued the nurse very softly, is Elsa. She has hurt her back, and no one knows how long she will have to lie there.'

'' 'Elsa,' said Brenda, 'happy Easter. A little chocolate bunny, a little chocolate chicken and a big chocolate egg all said they wanted to wish you a happy Easter.'

''Elsa opened her half shut eyes and clutched the box. She opened it eagerly. There they all were! And the chocolate bunny did have the funniest expression! He would have made any one laugh, and his purple ribbon bow was sticking way up on one side with such a saucy expression. Elsa burst out laughing. Afterward the nurse told Brenda it was the first time she's seen Elsa laugh since she'd been brought to the hospital.

''Then Brenda took the rest of her boxes around to all the other little sick children. And such happiness as there was in the ward!''

A Wag or Two More for You

A Wag or Two More for You

The world is glad to-day--
All of the world --let's play!

Along the juicy grass
The good smells pass.

The little leaves all make
New noises as they shake
And twinkle in the sun.
Smooth shadows slide and run.

The buzzing bugs whiz by;
The trees play with the sky;
Oh, you, let's run!
Let's scratch and sniff and dig
Where holes are dark and big!
Come, come let's run!
Oh, Boy, what fun!

That's how I feel to-day.
Oh, Children mine, come play!

Your Dog Friend

Winter Trees

''All the winter things,'' said daddy, ''such as the cold Winds, the Snow and the Ice told the Pine Trees and the Fir Treesand the Spruce Trees how much they liked them.

''I will tell you a secret,'' said the Pine Tree.

'' 'Yes,'' said the Snow, as it nestled closer to the branches of the big tree.

''Years and years and years ago, I talked to my family about dropping off in the Winter-time. We never got any further than talking about it, for just as I had said, ''Well, and what do you think of the scheme?'' some of the Snow Flakes came and rested on our branches.

'' 'Oh,'' they said, ''you're so much nicer than the branches without any leaves. There we have to fill up the corners, but with you we can nestle down.''

'' 'The North Wind told us,' continued the Pine Tree, 'that it was such a joy to have a good strong tree around that wouldn't feel hurt if he played about and had a good time. And so we discovered how much the North Wind liked us.

'' 'Then,' said the Pine Tree, 'we heard the Grown-Ups. They said what a comfort it was to have some green trees in the Winter and they said how horrible it would be if every tree were quite bare and ugly. And then came the Children. They walked through the woods one snowy day and they stopped to look up at us. 'Ah, how tall those trees are. And how warm it is in these woods. Our favorite trees are the Winter Trees - the Spruce Trees, the Fir Trees, the Pine Trees.''

'' 'Now do you understand how we have to be as fine looking in the Winter as in the Spring?' And the Snow understood.''

Appetites

Appetites by John Martin

Appetites are ready;
Paws and whiskers clean.
Frocks and panties tidy,
As is plainly seen.
Cricket is a-chirping,
Silver is the moon.
Very, very hungry,
Muff and Fluffy Coon.

Supper's nearly ready;
We are ready, too.
Smell the most delicious
Most delightful stew.
Hear the tinkle, tinkle
Of the stirring spoon.
Just a bit impatient--
Muff and Fluffy Coon.

Now look at the picture,
See if you don't see
Two wee tots as hungry
As wee tots can be.
Keep on looking closely;
Very, very soon
You will see a happy
Muff and Fluffy Coon.

A Knight

A Knight

I know a jolly little lad.
He is a "Gallant Knight"
He goes ahead and does his best
in what he knows is right.

Pages

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Monday, August 19, 2024

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Sunday, March 31, 2024