Pond Studies

Pond studies are always successful with any group. McQueen Lake, Smiling Pond (Day Centre), and Isobel Lake are teeming with life, even during the winter.

Considerations

• Groups of 20, or preferably less, are best as the docks become crowded and tippy. Doing a rotation with another session is usually best.
• Students should observe the following guidlines:
  • Do not run on or to the dock.
  • Keep at least one knee down while collecting creatures, so that they are far less likely to fall in as a result of someone bumping into them.
  • Fill their containers with some water prior to catching pond life, to ensure the best chances of survival for the items caught.
  • Students should share a collection container with another student, to reduce the tip-overs.
• When using the dipnets, one should move them in a figure eight pattern a few times to improve their catch rate (it's usually very high).
• Invert the net and use your free hand to stir the netting in the container and free the pond animals.
• Let students have some 'fishing time' prior to asking them to focus on the lesson portion of the study. There's just way too much to distract them at first!
• Focus on overall classification (ANIMALS- Chordates - Segmented worms - Arthropods (insects - larvae, pupae, adult)(crustaceans) - Mollusks, etc.), and adaptation (mouth parts, colour, behaviour...) of organisms instead of trying to remember the name of a particular creature. These concepts are far more transferrable and meaningful to students.

Equipment

For those using the overnight centre, nets, containers, and identification binders are supplied. Additional equipment such as microscopes are not yet provided. For those using the day-centres, pond equipment can be signed out from the Henry Grube Centre.