THE SEASONS.

Most of us in this country have very cold weather in WINTER. The days are short, with little sunshine. We have little time for play during the day, but we have nice long evenings for reading, study, and games. Some places have a great deal of snow and ice.

If you have snow where you live, tell us about it. What sports do you enjoy in winter? How do people travel? What work can people perform in winter which they cannot perform in summer? Tell us what you can of the plants in winter; where they are and what they are doing.

Tell us what you can of the animals in winter; where they are and what you think they are doing. What can you tell us about the streams and pools of water in winter? Where are the animals which live in them? How do you think they keep warm? How are your homes warmed? How are you dressed in winter? What food do you eat? Whence do the fruits and vegetables come at this season? When were they gathered and stored? Go to the market and learn

what fruits or vegetables are to be procured.

Whence did they come?

Study the scenes in the picture on page 17. Describe each. Tell which you like best, and why. Keep a record of the clear days during the winter; also of the stormy, the very cold, and the windy days.

We have very warm weather in SUMMER. The days are long and full of sunshine, giving us a long time for work or play in daylight, but we have very short or no evenings. The land surface often becomes so heated from the hot rays of the sun during the long day that the nights are very warm.

What games do you enjoy most in summer? What work do you find people doing in summer? In what different ways can people travel? Tell us of the streams in summer; of the animals; the trees and plants. How do we keep our homes

Between winter and summer we have SPRING. All through the spring the daylight is becoming longer and the evenings shorter. The weather is becoming warmer.

Study the pictures on page 21. Tell us of the indications of spring. Tell us of other indications which you may know. What are the birds doing? The animals? The people you know? What flowers peep out among the first in spring? What changes of clothing do we make? Keep a record of the cool, warm, clear, and stormy days.

Between summer and winter we have AUTUMN or FALL. The daylight is grow. ing shorter and the evenings longer through the autumn, and the weather is becoming colder.

In the picture on page 23, what indications have we of autumn? What are the animals doing in the fall? The birds? The trees and plants? What changes of clothing do most people make in the fall? How are many people preparing for winter? Keep a record the same as for spring.

During the spring and autumn our weather is neither as cold as winter nor

as warm as summer.

We call spring, summer, autumn, and winter the FOUR SEASONS.

There are four seasons in most temperate countries.

The four seasons make up a year of twelve months. How many days are there in a year? How many weeks?

From about the 20th of March until about the 20th of June we have spring; from about June

it out to you. Because of this the whole northern part of the earth is turned towards the sun for a part of the year, and all places north of the Equator are then having summer. See illustration. The northern half is turned away from the sun for the other part of the year, and the southern half is turned towards the sun. Then all places south of the Equator are having summer while those north of the Equator are having winter.

As whalers from temperate countries have killed off the sea animals of the cold regions, many of the people have starved because they could not get enough to eat.

It is so cold they have little energy, and they have no time to provide for more than the bare necessities of life.

The Equator.-For convenience in measuring distances the surface of the earth is divided into two equal parts by an imaginary line, called the Equator, extending horizontally around it. Find it in the world-pictures. It passes around the earth halfway between the poles. Trace it.

The people north of the Equator are having spring and approaching summer while those south of the Equator are having autumn and approaching winter.

All people who live south of the EQUATOR are having summer while we are having winter, and spring while we are having fall.

All countries north of the Equator have the opposite season from the countries south of the Equator.

As our days are growing shorter and colder theirs are becoming longer and warmer. Imagine yourself in South

What season are the people south of the Equator now having? What season are they approaching? What one has just passed?

When we are having summer north of the Equator on what part of the earth do the sun's shortest rays fall? When we are having winter where do the shortest rays fall? You see by the picture that the shortest, therefore the hottest, rays fall on that part of the earth which is nearest the sun.