An Elementary Study of Insects | Page 2

schools of our land.
In the search for a study which will give unlimited scope for
independent thought and observation and which will lead the child to
understand better the forces of nature that affect agriculture, nothing is
so readily available and attractive to the child as nature study, an
elementary study of the natural sciences. In fact agriculture is primarily
a course in nature study where we study how plants and animals
struggle for existence.
There is a period in the life of every child when he is especially
susceptible to the "call of the fields;" when he roams through woods or
by shady brooks gathering flowers, fishing for mud-cats and cleaning
out bumble-bees' nests. It is often compared with the life of the savage
and is merely the outward expression of an inward craving for a closer
relation with nature and her creatures. If one can reach a child while at
that age he has a ready listener and an apt pupil. That is the time to

guide and instruct the child along the line of nature study.
The most important questions confronting the average teacher in the
grade schools are: "What material shall I use and how shall I proceed to
direct the child along this line?" First of all use that material which is
most readily available, which is most familiar to the child and which
will attract and hold his attention. There is nothing so readily available
and so generally interesting to both boys and girls as are the thousands
of fluttering, buzzing, hopping and creeping forms of insects. They are
present everywhere, in all seasons and are known to every child of the
city or farm. They are easily observed in the field and can be kept in
confinement for study. Many of them are of the greatest importance to
man; a study of them becomes of special value.
In pursuing a study of nature and her creatures one should go into the
woods and fields as much as possible and study them where they are
found. In this way one can determine how they live together, what they
feed on and the various other questions which the inquisitive mind of a
healthy child will ask. When field work is not possible, gather the
insects and keep them alive in jars where they can be fed and observed.
Some forms cannot be kept in confinement and in such cases samples
should be killed and pinned, thereby forming a collection for study.
Most of the forms which are included in the following chapters can be
kept in confinement in glass jars or studies out doors. The studies have
been made so general that in case the particular form mentioned is not
available any closely related form can be used. Each child should make
a small collection of living and pinned insects for study and should be
encouraged to observe insects and their work in the field. The
collections and many of the observations could be made to good
advantage during the summer vacation when the insects are most
abundant and active.
Pupils should not be encouraged merely to make observations, but they
should be required to record them as well. Brief descriptions of the
appearance and development of insects, the injury they do, and
remedies for the same, will help fix in mind facts which otherwise
might soon be forgotten. Drawings, whenever possible, should also be

required. The pupil who can record observations accurately with
drawings will not soon forget them. The teacher should therefore
require each pupil to provide himself with a note-book for keeping brief,
but accurate notes and careful drawings. The drawings should be made
with a hard lead pencil on un-ruled paper, the size of the note-book, and
the pupils should be encouraged to be neat and accurate.
The author wishes to take this opportunity of expressing his deep
appreciation for the many helpful suggestions and other assistance
which Mr. R. H. Emberson, superintendent of Boys and Girls Club
Work in Missouri, has given. It was his life-long devotion to the boys
and girls of the grade schools and his keen appreciation of their needs
that lead him first to suggest to the author the importance of preparing
this little book for their use.
LEONARD HASEMAN University of Missouri.
* * * * *
"The study of entomology is one of the most fascinating of pursuits. It
takes its votaries into the treasure-houses of Nature, and explains some
of the wonderful series of links which form the great chain of creation.
It lays open before us another world, of which we have been hitherto
unconscious, and shows us that the tiniest insect, so small perhaps that
the unaided eye can scarcely see it, has its work to do in the world, and
does