Meet the living subject or observe the natural phenomenon first. Ask a few questions aloud and give students time to discover what observation can answer. Leave the unanswered questions for later research. A sketch or written narration belongs in a paper nature journal.
This historical lesson is reproduced as a source, not as current animal-care, collecting, medical, or experiment advice. Observe wildlife without disturbing it, follow local rules, and check present-day safety guidance before any hands-on work. Never look directly at the Sun.
01How to use this lessonA short field guide for the adult
Let the subject lead.
Read the teacher material in advance if possible. During observation, select only the questions the student can investigate today. Do not answer on the student’s behalf while there is still something to see, hear, compare, or measure safely. Afterward, invite an oral narration or a picture in a paper nature journal. Discuss remaining questions only once observation is complete.
02The teacher’s readingComstock’s original preparatory text
The teacher’s reading
Text from the original handbook. Page markers are omitted; layout is adapted for reading. The source may reflect 1911 knowledge and practices.
This lesson has no separate teacher story. Read Comstock’s introduction and method in the original lesson below before meeting the subject.
03The original lesson and questionsTake these to the subject itself
Questions to explore
Choose what fits this encounter. Some original prompts ask for collecting, handling, or other historical activities; use a safe observation instead. Write or draw only in a paper nature journal.
The Poppy
Leading thought—The poppies shed their sepals when the flowers expand; they offer quantities of pollen to the bees, which are very fond of it. The seed-capsule develops holes around the top, through which the seeds are shaken, a few at a time.
Method—It is best to study these flowers in the garden, but the lesson may be given if some of the plants with the buds are brought to the schoolroom, care being taken that they do not droop. If the teacher thinks wise, the pupils might prepare an English theme on the subject of the opium poppy and the terrible effects of opium upon the eastern nations.
Observations—1. Look at the bud of the poppy; how is it covered? How many sepals? Can you see where they unite? Is the stem bent because the bud is heavy? What happens to this crook in the stem when the flower opens? Does the crook always straighten out completely?
2. Describe how the poppy sheds its sepals. At what time of day do the poppies usually open?
3. Look at the back of, or beneath, an open flower. How many petals do you see? How are they arranged? Look at the base of the flower. How many petals do you see? How are they arranged in relation to the lower petals and to the pistil?
4. Look at the globular pistil. Describe the disk which covers it. How many ridges on this disk? How are they arranged? Look at the ridges with a lens and tell what they are.
5. Look at the stamens. How are they arranged? Describe the anthers—their color, and the color of the pollen. Watch the bees working on the poppies, and note if they are after nectar or pollen.
6. Find all the varieties of poppies possible, and note the colors of the petals on the outside, the inside and at the base; of the stamens, including filaments, anthers and pollen; of the pistil-disk and ovary. Sketch the poppy opened, and also in the bud. Sketch a petal, a stamen and the pistil, in separate studies.
7. Study the poppy seed-box as it ripens. How does the stigma-disk look? What is the shape of the capsule below the disk? Is it ridged? What relation do its ridges bear to the stigma ridges on the disk? Cut a capsule open, and note what these ridges on the outside have to do with the partitions inside. Where are the seeds borne?
8. Note the development of the holes beneath the edge of the disk of the poppy capsule. How are they made? What are they for? How are the seeds shaken from these holes? What shakes the poppy seed-box and helps sow the seeds? Look at a seed through a lens, and describe its form and decoration.
9. Notice the form of the poppy leaf, and note whether it is hairy or covered with bloom. What is there peculiar about the smell of the poppy plant? Where do poppies grow wild?
10. Is the slender stem smooth or grooved and hairy? Is it solid or hollow?
11. When a stem or leaf is pierced or broken off, what is the color of the juice which exudes? Does this juice taste sweet or bitter and unpleasant? Do you know what harmful drug is manufactured from the juice of one species of poppy? What countries cultivate and use it most extensively?
Comstock, Handbook of Nature-Study, Lesson CLV. Read the illustrated original at Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.