The exercises given below are suggestive for out of school observation work, but must not be too long. By way of preparation for an exercise of this kind, the interest of the pupils in the dandelion must first be aroused. FIRST EXERCISE The teacher places the pupils at the school windows from which dandelions are visible and asks them to name any flower that they can see. A short conversation about the brightness of the flower follows. The pupils are next instructed to: 1. Find dandelions late in the evening, and find out how they prepare to go to sleep and how they are tucked in for the night. 2. Find where the leaves of the dandelion are, and bring a leaf to school next morning, and also observe how the leaves are grouped or placed. _To the teacher._--Dandelion flowers close up in the evening; the green leaves beneath the head wrap closely around the flowers to form a snug covering. The leaves have margins with teeth shaped like those of a lion, and from this the plant gets its name, for the name is the French _dent de lion_, which is pronounced very much like the word dandelion. The use of the leaf cluster as a system of rain-spouts for guiding the rain toward the root should be noted. SECOND EXERCISE 1. Why is the dandelion easy to find? 2. What makes it easy to find even in long grass? 3. What insect friends visit the dandelion? 4. Find out just how these visitors act during their visits, and find whether they carry anything to or away from the flowers. _To the teacher._--The bright yellow colour of the dandelion attracts attention. When it grows in long grass, the flower stalk grows long, so that the flower surmounts its obstructions and climbs up to the sunshine. The flowers are visited by ants, bees, and wasps, and these may be seen burrowing into the flowers in search of honey. If their bodies and legs be touched, the yellow pollen of the flowers will be found sticking to them. THIRD EXERCISE 1. Look for flower heads that do not open to the sun. Do not disturb them, but watch them for a few days and find out what they become. 2. Examine the large white balls of the dandelions and find out what they are. 3. Blow the down away. What does it carry with it? _To the teacher._--In this exercise the pupils will learn that the large white balls are the mature, or ripened, flowers and are composed of little brown seeds, each being a little airship for wafting it away. CORRELATION WITH LITERATURE AND READING When the above exercises have been completed, the pupil's knowledge of the dandelion may be utilized in interpreting the following stanzas: Oh dandelion! yellow as gold, What do you do all day? I just wait here in the tall green grass Till the children come to play. And what do you do when your hair is white And the children come to play? They take me up in their dimpled hands And blow my hair away.