Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CLIII · Topic 23: Spring garden flowers
153. The pansy
Goal: Your child finds the pansy's face, its nectar spur and the hidden “little man,” and compares it with the violet.
You'll need
- Nature notebook, pencil and colored pencils
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A few pansy flowers, including one fading
- Colored pencils
What's in the book
A Teacher's Story with a drawing of pansies and the lesson: Leading thought, Method and thirteen questions, with a list of pansy poems.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Pansies bloom in cool weather, in spring and again in fall, in gardens and pots.
The leading thought
The pansy is a member of the violet family. The flower often resembles a face; the colors, markings and fragrance all attract the bees, who visit it for the nectar hidden in the spur of the lower petal.
The face
How does the pansy flower resemble a face? Where are the eyes? The nose? The mouth? How many petals make the pansy forehead? The cheeks? The chin?
Nectar and pollen
Where is the nectar in the pansy? Which petal forms the nectar-tube?
Observe the soft little brushes at the base of the two side petals. What do you think they are for?
The little man
Take a fading flower; remove the petals, and see the little man sitting with his crooked legs in the nectar-tube. What part of the flower makes the man's head?
Use the lens. Comstock goes on to ask what parts form his cape and his pointed, scalloped collar; let your child work it out.
Leaves
Take a pansy leaf and sketch it with the stipules at its base. Can you find two pansy leaves exactly alike in shape, color and size?
Nature notebook
Draw a pansy face, then the little man. Comstock suggests reading a pansy poem with this lesson; copy two lines of one you like.
Afterwards
Put a pansy and a violet side by side (Lesson CXXIII). How are they alike?