In this lesson the teacher is encouraged to use her own methods and originate new ones to make the work interesting. The Leaflet is meant for the exclusive use of the teacher and the text should not be shown to the pupils. The pictures on page 235 are to be shown to the pupils at the teacher's discretion. When answers are herein given to the questions asked, they are meant to aid the teacher in drawing out the correct replies from the children.
Materials Needed.
Fig. 147. The bottle with the twigs bearing the egg-masses. The tent is being woven below.
1. A pocket lens or a tripod lens is desirable, but not a necessity. These lenses may be bought from or ordered through any jeweler or bookseller. They cost from twenty-five cents to one dollar each. It is worth while for any teacher to possess one of these magnifiers as a means of interesting her pupils in many things.
2. A bottle, a broad-bottomed one being preferable so that it will not tip over easily. This bottle is to be filled with water in which a small branch of the apple tree may be placed to keep it fresh. A common ink bottle will do to begin with. [Fig. 147].
3. A wooden or pasteboard box, twelve or fourteen inches square,—a soap box or hat box will do. In place of a cover, nail or paste mosquito netting or cheese cloth over the top; remove the bottom so that the box may be placed over the bottle and the branch of apple in it. This is called a "breeding-cage," and its use is to keep the insects from straying about the schoolroom.
4. A twig bearing the egg-mass of the tent caterpillar. These are easily found before the leaves appear on the apple tree or the wild cherry tree.
Methods of Using the Leaflet.
The teacher should give the pupils a preliminary talk on tents. Speak of the tents used by Indians, by armies, by circuses, by campers, and describe them each in turn. The teacher should use all the facts at her disposal, and all her ingenuity to get the children interested in this subject. Spend a little time for two or three days in discussing tents, and get the pupils to tell orally or in essays all they know about tents. When sufficient interest is thus aroused, tell them this: "The reason we have talked about tents is that we are going to study some little folks who make tents and live in them. Their tents are not made of bark like the Indian's or of canvas like the soldier's, but are made of the finest silk, which is spun and woven by the tenters themselves. These silken tents are not pitched upon the ground and fastened down by ropes and pegs, for these folk, like the Swiss Family Robinson, live in trees. Many people live in one of these tree tents, and they are all brothers and sisters. Now, just where these tents are made, and how they are made, and what sort of little people make them are things which we shall find out if we watch carefully and patiently."