OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 87

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN.

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. (Conducted by Ma3lstee, to whom all communications must be addressed.) TMa-Oistee will bo glad to leoeire Natur» notes, marked papers containing educational articles, diagrams, details of experiment*, etc., of scholastic interest to te*oher» and pupili. Correspondent* ucing a pen name muit also send name and address.] ILLUSTRATIONS OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. I went to the Gardens recently to get some information on the illustrations sent to schools the other day of — 1. Celmisia Holosericea. 2. Roulia eximia (vegetable sheep). 3. Forstera sedifoha. 4. Ranunculus insignis. 5. Clianthus puniceus. - 6. Senicio -Hectori. 7. Senicio laxifolius. 8. Veronica epaoridea — but mainly on the Celmesias. because 1 knew that Mr Matthews and Mr Tannock had been, experimenting with these, and I wanted to get what cannot be #ot in books. And I wa6 successful. During the next week or two I hope to make use of Mr Tannock's remarks, and to quote from Cheeseman's " Manual of the Flora of New Zealand" and Kirk's " Students' Flora of New Zealand," booke which, on account of price and limited number, are beyond the reach of most teachers and pupils, and of ir.anv outside of our schools who take an interest in our native flora. I shall be very glad if teachers and pupils will send me any notes they have on any of the plants I have mentioned, for I want these columns to be conducted on co-operative principles : " Each for all ; all for each." INSECTS. Dr Benham's note suggests a few words on insects. I strongly recommend readers to get " A Guide to the Study of Australian Butterflies," written by W. J.. Rainbow, F.L.S., F.E.S.. and published by T. C. Lothian, of Melbourne, at 3s 6d, and intend next week to give come details of its contents as a supplement to -what " Dinornis" wrote when reviewing the book two or three weeks ago ; but as an introduction to the study of insect life, " The Shilling Young Collector Series," illustrated, published by Swan. Sounenschien, and Co., can also be recommended. I have by me as I write " British Butterflies, Moths, and Beetles." by W. F. Kirby. of the Zoological Department of the British Museum and author of several works in his special subject. From it I take the following. Try to test details by examining specimens : — Insects have six legs in the perfect state, and no more; four (or two) wings, two eyes, composed of a great number of facets, and sometimes one. two, ot three eyes of another kind, called simple eves, or st&mmata, on the tip of -the head. Their body is composed of thirteen segments, divided into head, thorax, and abdomen. They have neither heart, brain, nor nervous system 1 at all resembling those of the higher animals. The place of the heart is supplied by an organ called the great dorsal vessel, lying along tho back; and the brain and nervous 1 eystem of vertebrate animals are represented by a dotible row of connected ganglia, or knots of nervous matter, lying along the lower surface of the body. They breathe by means of spiracles, or air-holes, opening on each side of the greater number of the segments of the body. The muscular system is highly developed, "the muscles being far more numerous than those of vertebrate animals. Insects pass through four stages called respectively egg, larva (or caterpillar), pupa chrysalis), and imago, though these ere more sharply defined in some insects than in others. They also moult their skins more or less frequently in the larva state ; and although they sometimes possess more tban six legs in this state (and occasionally none at all), yet the larv« of insects are not generally liable to be mistaken for those of any other animals. THE TEACHING OF SINGING IX AMERICA. (Concluded.) Last week there appeared th° first portion of this article. The following is the concluding part. The article, as I eaid last week, is written -by one of the teachers who was sent to America by Mr Mosely to report on American schools and methods. The article appeared in successive issues of the Teachers' Times. Tone Colour. Let the children pretend they are putting a baby to sleep. Remind them howgentle they must be, and how careful not to move the arm roughly or jerkily. Mls« Bentley took a child and gently stroked her arm from shoulder to finger-tip two or three times to give the idea of '"sleep." She then repeated the action while singing the word " sleep," sustaining the tone gently while the hand travels from shoulder downwards as gently and caressingly as possible. This is now repeated by the. children, who hold out the left arm and gently stroke it with the rigEr, while their voices sustain the word "sleep." The idea is now changed, and the children are told to press their hands down on the arms as they move from the top of arm to bottom of fingers; when the change of movement is grasped the teacher sings ''creep." After repeating several times,

a change is made to the word " sleep," and the difference in both the quality and quantity of tone may immediately be noticed. Another change of idea may be tried, and this time the lip of the finger may touch the arm quickly and gently, while the teacher sings " peep,"' "peep," "peep." The tone in singing this will be found to be different in quality and quantity from either "sleep" or "creep."' Miss Bentley thinks that by such exercises as theso we may make a beginning, " feeble but sure,"" for " that strange and wonderful thing knowns as tone colour." There is no doubt that much in this way may be dono with young children if makebelieve and play enter largely into the process. Contrast Songs. The children in Miss Bentley's schools learn a very largo variety of songs. She is careful to have the contrasting effect of each brought out by not singing two of the same character immediately after each other. Thus the "Soldier song" was followed by a gentle song of "Raindrops," the " Drum '" song by a gentle lullaby, and so one song acted as a foil to the other, and the children were able to feel the appropriateness of the music to the words. In the singing lesson heard, each exercise was followed by a song in which the exercise was continued in a more interesting settitig, e.g. — "oo" exercise by a wind song, violin sound by a violin song, etc. Technique Through the Song. In the lower grades of American schools the notes are usually taught through a song that has been learnt by ear. The method is as follows : A very simple song is taught by ear, the subject of w.hich must be within the experience of every child. Before the song is taught an appeal to the imagination of the child is made by giving tho setting or atmosphere of the song. When the children know the time, the teacher will write the notes in. on the staff on the blackboard. The syllable names of the notes in the song axe now taught by rote as a second verse of the song. The song is sung several times, variety being introduced by the teacher and children singing alternately, e.g. — child points and teacher eing6 syllables; I then the teacher points while one or more children sing. Observation "Work. The teacher sings variotis bars, calling on the children to come out and find them in the song on the blackboard. The children find all the bars that are alike and then all that are different. The children may come out and name the notes in different bars. e.g. — Do Me, Do Soh, etc. One child may point to all the minims, another to the crotchets, and a third to the quavers, if all these different notes occur in the eong. The children may go to the blackboard and make a row of minims, a row of crotchets, eto. Various exercises may be given, such as the singing of alternate bars by the teacher and pupils. The children may now close their eyes and raise or lower their hands as they sing the song, thus indicating the position on the staff of the notes sung. (This raising and lowering of the arms appeared in other exercises as a pleasing variant, introduced by the teacher thus : " Let's play the game of High and Low.") Rythm Exercise. One child comes and claps while another points. (This is also a regular part of the music lesson, one child being called on to come out and clap any time he remembers while th« others listen and recognise the tune') General Remarks on Observation Work. The song being the " language of music," is much more interesting and educative to the child than mere drill in exercises. The Americans have- conclusively proved that skill in sight reading can be obtained from the employment of this method, and there is no doubt that the delight felt by the children in learning to sing by this method is likely to develop a real love of musio. Hand Staff Method. The Angers of on© hand ax© often used to represent the five lines of the staff; by the us© of this method a simple song may be taken at anj time without apparatus, as we use the manual signs in the Tonic Sol-Fa method. Action Songs. Another point about which Mis« Bentley expressed herself very strongly is the meohanical actions children are sometimes made to put into songs. She Isays " Spontaneous expression to illustrate words in music or songs is good, but if the children are merely told to do various exercises they become absolutely deadly." Miss Bentley does not believe in worrying children too much about singing by note. She regards the development of a real taste for melody, so that the children really lose themselves in what they are doing, as far more important than a mere wooden rendering of music. She would give the children a " rich song experience " — "fill them full of music." She saye : "Do not look for culture too early, but give them numbers of the very bcht melodies and lqave the musio to work." "Teachers want to get too much finish, and so starve the children of really good music ; then musio is damned." The singing of the Bth Grade in the school in which Miss Bentley was teaching was delightful. Some songs were rendered by boys and girls in three parts, and they threw their -whole eelves into ths musio with striking earnestness. Others, such as " Pippa passes," were sung by the girls alone, and " Drink to me only "with thine eyes " by the boj 5 alone. CORRESPONDENCE. Dr Benham, F.R.S., kindly eends me the j following: note on unnamed moth so nioely described la3t -tfeek by Nellie Bishop. 1 Perhaps Nellie hadn't come across the word I "pectinated." I don't know if "comblike" or "feathery" e\plains it well enough or not, for I know very little about the sub-iec-t. The club-ended antennae are easily distinguished, however: — "'Nellie Bishop's butterfly is a moth -'Nyctemera annulate), though a day-flying one. The great distinc- / tive features between moths and butterflies [ are that the antennae of the latter terminate

in a club more or le6s marked, and the wings are generally held upright in repo6«. In the moths the antennas are of divers forms, sometimes pectinated, sometimes like a thread but nipui^ tbo terminal thickening or clubs. In ' , - -iis, the wings are usually held tk. Gladbrook February 17, 1908. Dear Sir,— The ramiall for January was 53 points ; number of days on which rain fellG; maximum rainfall over 23 points on the 17th, average maximum tempeiature, 82.4; maximum, 100 on the 23rd (in the -shade); the average minimum was 44; the minimum, 33 on the 17th. — Yours truly. Alex D. M'Kinnon. [Very concisely put, Aliok. 100 degrees in the shade was pretty hot. Do you know what percentage of moisture the atmosphere contained? You might explain to young folk what "points" means. But why, oh why, did you write on two sides? — MACrIBTER.] Will Jack Ferguson (Waitati) please send mo a larger and fresh specimen of the plant he f-ent m© a fortnight ago? Send stalk, leaves, and, if possible, a flower not past its prime. The specimen sent wa snot a good one for identification. "Scrub's" green insect caught near Mount Cargill is popularly known as the Day Fly or Stone Fly, and its scientific name ie, Stenoperia praaina. Its larva is generally found in rapid running streams. It is extremely active in water, but gets under stone*, and so is not so frequently seen as its numbers might suggest. It is hard to catch, and extremely voracious, and might prove destructive to small trout. The larva is about. ism long, including appendages. When changing into the imago it chnps to a stone or stem of a plant. The ekin dries, cracks open at back, and the insect escapes, drying and expanding it« wings in the usual way. These skine are sometimes seen 4ft or sft above the ground and 10ft or 15ft away from a stream. Its beautiful green colour is protective, but in death much of th© beauty is lost. ! Willie Soper's grub No. 2is by this time safe in the hands of Dr Benham. and I'll probably have it identified for next week. I am glad so many young folk are now coming forward, but, like Oliver Twist, I want moie.