FOURTH QUARTER: Classification of plants. Monocotyledons; dicotyledons. Parallel veined and netted veined. 5B GRADE-FIRST QUARTER. Uses to the tree of bark, wood and pith: The lesson might be introduced by a reference to the immense value of the trees in relation to the land and to the soil; the great extent of territory covered by trees. The teacher might show one or more of the sections of a tree cut transverse and also lengthwise. These sections will show the three parts of the tree to be studied; namely, the bark, the wood, the pith. Uses of the bark to the tree: The first use of the bark to the trees is protection. Excess of heat and cold and winds and dust and other things detrimental to the growing wood are kept out. Show the size of the bark as to thickness and hardness. The teacher should explain the substance or cambium layer which builds up the cells of the woody part or stem of the tree and at the same time builds up the inside layer of the bark. This substance is the living material of the tree and extends over stem, twig and branches. It connects the living material of the leaves and shoots with the living material of the roots and rootlets. Emphasis should be given to the value of the cambium layer in the life of the tree and on the growth of the stem, branches, twigs and leaves. It is the actively growing tissue or substance from which the sapwood and bark are made. The cambium layer is a pulpy, gelatinous substance and can easily be observed in the spring time. Boys often slip the bark off a piece of the branch by pounding it and thus loosening the soft, pulpy material called cambium layer. Uses of the wood to the tree: The wood is the hardest and toughest part. It is made up of fibrous materials closely packed together; strong and enduring. The tree needs the strength and power of the stem to support the weight of the branches and leaves and also the weight of snow that falls on it and the powerful forces of wind and rain. Strength, toughness and durability-these qualities of wood are constantly required by the tree and are supplied by the stem. Explain that there are multitudes of little channels running through the wood from the root to all parts of the tree and through these channels sap rises from the roots and goes through the tree to the highest points, then returning through the inner bark, gives life to all parts of the tree. The uses of pith: Pith is the soft spongy substance in the centre of the tree. As the tree adds growth in circumference and becomes more compact, the pith extends out from the heart where it resides as rays or irregular lines called medullary rays, radiating from the centre to the outer circumference. The pith, which at first extended through the fibres to the circumference, becomes less and finally appears as the medullary rays. These rays extend from the heart to the outer circumference of the wood. They have now become pith tissue and are of use to the tree in storing up the juicy substances required for the new growth of another spring. These substances are grains of starchy material or oily or saccharine matter which are made into food for the growing shoots. Apart from their practical value they become the silver grain much valued by lumbermen and also prized by workers in wood. A seedling stem is little else but pith. The fibrous woody material forms around it, growing more dense as the tree ages and enlarges. Heart wood: Heart wood is the hardest and densest wood in the tree. It is made up largely of mineral matter. This is the part of the tree that has ceased growing. The life energy has left it. It is therefore composed of dry, dead cells. Explain how some trees live and grow even when the heart wood has been hollowed out. Explain that the heart wood is most useful to man in the industries. It is by far the most valuable for making fine articles, the grain being denser and better marked. Mention the heart wood of some tropical trees and speak of their richly-tinted heart wood (as mahogany) so precious to the cabinet maker. When wood is used as fuel the heart wood burns longer and gives more heat and the ash contains more mineral matter than the sap wood. Sapwood: Sapwood is the living and growing part of the tree. Explain how it protects the heart wood: movement of the sap from the roots in the spring; how the sap moves up through the tree, finding its way into the innumerable cells containing plant food. Explain that the sap goes through the tree very much as the blood goes through the body. Explain how the food is dissolved and becomes a sweetened substance, composed of mineral substances and starch and saccharine matter required to build up all parts of the tree. The most interesting illustration of the flowing sap is the sugar maple. draw attention to the fact that the sap begins to flow when the spring weather stirs about the roots and continues until the buds begin to grow. The sap is needed for the buds. Have the children notice the dripping of the sap from the trees when they are wounded or broken, a common sight. 5B GRADE-SECOND QUARTER. Blossoming and Fruit Formation of Fruit and Shade Trees: Spring is the great blossoming season for trees of all kinds in our climate. As soon as the warm spring weather sets in, the buds begin to unfold and disclose their beauties. Now what are these buds going to give forth? Leaves. Are they all going to give forth leaves? Some are going to give blossoms. The teacher might explain that some of the buds give blossoms and some give leaves and refer to the elm as a good example. The leaf bud is easily distinguished from the flower bud by its pointed end. The flower bud is rounded and blunt on the end. Most of the children have seen an apple tree in blossom or a peach or a cherry. The teacher might point out the abundance and beauty of the blossoms. The leaves are relatively small. From this she might go on to state that while all trees blossom, the blossoms of the fruit trees excel all others in beauty, abundance and fragrance. Take the Now although the blossoms of the fruit trees are beautiful, bright and fragrant, you are not to suppose that the blossoms of the shade trees and all the trees of the fields and forests and roadside are not also very beautiful. They are usually not so bright and not quite so large, but when we observe them closely we can see that their beauty is just as striking as the others, but they are not so brilliant in the mass. beautiful bright red flowers of the swamp maple for instance. They are very small, but they grow together in beautiful clusters. Each flower is set in a tiny red cup and some of these cups show long bright red stamens arranged in a ring, while others bear a beautiful red pistil. The same blossom is duplicated in the Norway maple with the difference that the color of the blossom is a greenish yellow. This happens when the blossoms begin to fall. Fruit appears. Fruit appears. What does it look like? Small and green. Yes, and at first there isn't much difference in the appearance of as they develop the characteristics appear. any of the fruits, but Children may be confused between fruits and seeds. They are accustomed to thinking of fruit as the luscious article they eat, apples, oranges, peaches and other fruits, but they do not think of nuts as fruits, and still more foreign to their idea of fruit is the acorn or the winged seed of the maple. The teacher might explain that the term fruit means the seed or seeds in their cases. The chestnut with the thick case or burr that surrounds it, is the fruit of the chestnut. The chestnut itself is the seed. The teacher might call atention to the fact that the fruit of some of these trees ripen before the spring is over, while the fruit of others do not mature until the late summer or early fall. Some of those that ripen in the spring are the elms, soft maples, poplars, cottonwood and willow. Those that mature their seeds in the late summer and early fall are the trees that bear nut fruits, as the oak, chestnut, walnut, butternut, hickory, hazel, linden, pine, spruce, larch, and the common fruit trees, the cherry, the pear, the apple. The trees that bear dry fruits (seeds without flesh or pulp) are such trees as the ash, birch, hard maple. They ripen in the autumn. It might be interesting to point out that the fruits that come latest are what we designate as nuts. All solid fruits take longer to mature. From them, hard durable and long lived trees grow, the oak being a good illus tration. Uses of Wood in Building and Furniture: (a) Building-Wood is one of the great staples in manufacturing in dustries. It is also used for building houses, cars, coaches, wagons and all kinds of structures, such as railroad stations, bridges, sleepers. (b) Furniture-The finest as well as the commonest furniture is made of wood. Woods used for furniture of the better kind are oak, mahogany, walnut, maple, rosewood. It would be well to explain to the children that these woods are highly finished by polishing or staining when they are used in furniture. The highly polished surface of a piano will illustrate the skilled workmanship of the mechanic and the natural beauty of the wood itself. She might also explain how the trunks of the trees are cut in such a way as to show the grains or markings of the wood to the best advantage. The "quartered oak." This is a term used to describe oak cut in a special way for the purpose of showing the grain of the wood to the best advantage. The tree is cut lengthwise into two equal parts and these two parts are cut again lengthwise from pith to bark, making four quarters in all. These quarters are then cut into planks, a plank from each side of the quarter being cut alternately. WOODS. Those Used for Building or Furniture-Characteristics. Woods used in building are commonly pine wood, white wood, bass wood. Frame houses are usually built of these woods. In houses built of stone or brick much wood is used also. The beams, joists, floors, lathing, stairs are all made of white wood, pine wood, bass wood. For the interio work of houses, oak, mahogany, ash, cherry and rosewood are extensively used. The markings on these woods and their color and their quality of hardness and endurance are the characteristics that make them valuable for this purpose. The same applies to furniture. Pine. This is used for joists and beams and main timbers and floors about buildings, because of its strength and durability. The soft parts of pine, white wood and bass wood are used for partition, laths, and the minor woodwork on buildings. Oak and Ash. These are used for window sills and panelling and trimming, on account of their durability and also for the markings in the wood, otherwise the grain, Oak, ash, walnut, mahogany, rosewood are used for interior woodwork of buildings, such as mantles, cabinets, book cases, because of the hardness and more particularly on account of the fine markings of the grain of the wood. Many of these woods are also used for furniture. Mahogany is used very largely for the finer grade of furniture, because of the natural beauty of the wood itself and because of its hard and durable quality. The various kinds of maple are often selected for the fine grade of bedroom furniture on account of its light color and peculiar grain. Teak and ebony are extremely hard woods and are very beautiful and valuable woods. They are not so plentiful as other woods used in furniture and are consequently more expensive. They are used in very fine furniture. Uses of Trees in Relation to Rainfall. To introduce the lesson, the teacher might refer to the fact that the ground under the trees is usually dry for a long time after rain begins to fall. Why? Because the rain doesn't fall through the trees for some time. The thicker the leaves the longer the rain takes to fall through to the ground. The forest is a great aggregation of trees, extending over great stretches of land. What happens here when it rains? The leaves hold back the rain and if it storms very hard, the trees break the force of the rain. What good is this to the land? It gives the rain to the land gradually. It prevents the soil from being washed away. It gives the water time to sink into the ground and moisten it thoroughly. The teacher might explain that on hillsides and inclined lands that have been stripped of their trees, the heavy rains have completely washed away the soil and left the land bare and barren with rocks sticking out. In flat countries where the forests have been cut down, the heavy rains have gullied and torn the land so that it is unfit for cultivation. Another use of the trees in keeping back the heavy fall of rain or snow, is to prevent the water from flowing all at once into the streams and rivers, and thus creating floods. Especially is this the case in spring, when the snow is melting and the spring rains are falling. The trees hold back these mighty waters and allow them to run gradually into the rivers and so out into the ocean. In all these forests, the dead leaves that fall from year to year accumulate to considerable depths and soak up the water to a great extent. This is a valuable provision of nature. It furnishes moisture to the air and thus keeps the surrounding country cool and healthful, and helps to make it fertile. It also supplies the streams and springs with a gradual flow of water. There is an idea that the forests affect the climate a little. When the winds that are charged with moisture blow over the forests, the coolness existing then condenses the moisture and creates rainfall. Since these facts have become generally known, the people of the whole country learned to take greater care of their forests and in many states the legislatures have passed laws for the preservation of these forest lands and also for the cultivation of large areas of wooded lands in places where they are required. Protection of Trees in City Streets. The teacher might draw attention to the great value of trees in the city because of their shade and beauty and of their healthfulness. In some cities, like Richmond, Indiana, public sentiment is strong enough to pro |