Exploring the Pond

As we read Paddle to the Sea, we are using Geography: A Literature Approach available from Beautiful Feet.  One of the extension activities was to compare a swamp and a pond.  We took a walk to the pond in the pasture one warm afternoon.

Materials...

backpack

camera

net

jar

Life in Ponds by Jean Gorvett

It was a lot of fun walking to the pond with the littles.  This was one of the spots that I would go and spend some quiet time alone reading my Bible before I was a mom.  Now I can share this place with my children.

The first thing little hands wanted to do was touch the water.

We noticed a lot of dragonflies and plants around the edge of the pond,

The boys found a lot of tiny water creatures using their net.  They would scoop down into the mud at the edge of the pond and bring up lots of interesting things.

The one above bit Bo!  He quickly threw it down.  We think it might have been a back swimmer.

The three tadpoles were the most exciting find of the day.

The girls were interested in the little yellow flowers growing in the pasture.

What we found:

tadpoles

back swimmer

larvae

whirligig beetle

unidentified green swimming bug

water striders

We took the jar we brought and placed some water and some of our finds inside.  We then poured the water in the aquarium to observe the pond life.  The next day we completed a nature journal entry by drawing the creatures and attempting to name them.