Today we went to Washington Crossing State Park to participate in a Pond Study. The kids learned about the different kinds of ponds & heard a story about Turtle & Beaver (similar to the Tortoise & the Hare).
Next is was on to the fun stuff! They partnered up, grabbed nets & hit the pond waters.
The main pond had plenty of small fish to catch as one mom kept finding but the vernal pond was the jackpot! With no fish to eat the eggs or larva it's a great nursery. Barely a net went in that didn't come out with some crawling or swimming creature. I was also impressed with the kids willingness to man handle them from the net to the collection containers... by hand!
When the kids were finished the ranger gathered the collection containers, the kids & identifying books together to see exactly what they had found. Two different kinds of tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs, water scorpions (when asked if they were poisonous the guide was cagey about it and replied, "Not to you."), beetles, snails, and an "air bubble" spider that spins it's web, gathers air and brings it below to be used as an air bell or scuba-type system.
In all the kids (and moms) deemed it, "Very cool!"
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