Download What Lives in the Pond - Carolina Friends School

What Lives in the Pond?
By River and Sky Classes
Klopfers' Pond
Our Lower School has focused on the theme of water for the 2012-2013 school year. In our S'math classes
(science and math together), we have been reading about pond life in our area. We have visited the pond
next door to our school and made observations. Peter Klopfer came and talked with us about the pond and
what lives there now and has lived there in recent years.!
!
We decided that we could make a book about some of what we had learned. We have used the Drawing
Pad app to draw our pictures and the Book Creator app to build our book.!
!
Our information has come from our observations, from Peter Klopfer, and from the following books and
websites:!
Enchantedlearning.com!
Wood Duck Facts for Kids at NatureMapping.org!
Food Chains at http://www.tgfl.org.uk/tgfl/custom/resources_ftp/netmedia_ll/ks1/science/hamshall/
food_chains/index.htm!
Pond Life: A Golden Guide by George K. Reid!
One Small Square: Pond by Donald M. Silver illustrated by Patricia J. Wynnerr!
Life in a Pond by Helen Mason illustrated by Gregg Rodgers!
North Carolina Bird Watching by Bill Thompson!
!
Water striders are insects. If
you look closely you can see
that they have 6 legs. They eat
small insects that fall into the
pond. They also eat larva.
They use their long middle
legs like paddles to move
along the surface of the water.
They are also called pond
skaters. They live on ponds
and slow streams. Water
striders can not see well
above the water or below the
water. That makes it easy for
birds and fish to catch and eat
them.!
The dragonfly is an
insect. It can hover like a
helicopter over the pond.
It catches other insects
in the air and eats them.
Dragonflies lay their
eggs in the pond. Young
dragonflies are called
nymphs. They live in the
pond.!
Copepods are tiny. You need a microscope to
see them. They are like teeny tiny shrimp.
They have an exoskeleton and a lot of legs.
They use their legs to swim and to get food.
They eat algae and protozoa. Did you know
that they also eat bacteria?!
!
!
Tadpoles are small creatures that will turn into frogs.
Tadpoles are soft. They can wiggle their tails and stay in
place in the water.!
Tadpoles grow into frogs in this order: The body grows
bigger and bigger. Their hind legs start to grow. Then
the tail starts to go away. Then they grow front legs.!
Frog eggs are laid in water.!
!
Frogs are amphibians. They
eat insects. They use their
long tongues to catch them.!
Frogs can
breathe
through their
skin.
Snakes can eat frogs.
So do herons and
some ducks.
Some people think toads are
frogs. They look a lot alike.
Like frogs, toads lay their
eggs in the water. Tadpoles
hatch from the eggs and turn
into toads. It takes time.
When they are grown they
live on land.!
!
American Toads are about 2
to 4 inches long.!
Newts are a kind of
salamander. Salamanders
are amphibians like frogs
and toads. Newts eat
insects, worms, snails, and
small fish. !
Newts lay their eggs in the
pond. Some kinds of newts
leave the pond when they
get older. Some stay in the
pond.!
Crayfish are omnivores.
That means they eat plants
and animals. They eat
things like algae, water
plants, insects, worms, and
larva.!
!
They are nocturnal which
means they are awake at
night.!
!
They hide under rocks. That
helps protect them from
predators like big fish, water
snakes, raccoons, and
kingfishers.!
Eels are bony fish that look a lot like
snakes. Some people don't believe
that they are not snakes. There are
water snakes that live in the pond, but
they are reptiles, not fish like eels are.!
When they are little, eels
can get through small
cracks in the dam and into
the pond. When they grow
bigger, they can't get back
through the dam and have
to stay in the pond.
Catfish have
sharp spines on
their top and side
fins.
Catfish can be good to eat.
People catch them to eat them.!
!
They have things that look like
whiskers that are called barbels.
They use their barbels to help
them find food. They can feel and
taste with their barbels.!
!
Catfish eat insects, worms, snails,
small fish, plants and more. They
look for food near the bottom of
the pond.!
Mud turtles are
omnivorous. They will
eat almost anything
they can catch. They
eat fish, worms,
insects, grubs,
tadpoles, and plants.
They even eat dead
animals they find.
They find food on the
pond bottom or by the
pond. They like to sit
in the sun, too.
Painted turtles eat all
kinds of things. Some of
the things they eat are
snails, crayfish, leeches,
insects, and tadpoles.
They even eat dead
animals they find. They
can eat algae and water
plants, too.!
!
They spend a lot of time
in the water. They like to
sit in the sun on rocks
and logs in the pond.
Adults eat a lot of algae
and plants.!
Snapping turtles bite! They eat plants,
small fish, frogs, insects, snakes, and
even ducks!
Wood ducks squeal instead of
quacking.
Here is what wood
ducks eat: plants,
nuts, fruit, insects,
snails, tadpoles,
and salamanders.
Mallard ducks eat
worms, frogs,
insects, snails,
and water plants.
Male mallards have bright colors with
green heads, a white collar, and a bright
yellow bill. Females have duller colors with
brown feathers and bills.!
The great blue heron eats fish, lizards, frogs,
crayfish, and even insects. Sometimes it eats small
rodents. It wades in shallow water to find prey and
spears it with its long beak.!
We have seen a heron in the pond and in the creek
that feeds it.
Male kingfishers have
bright colors.The
belted kingfisher has!
a call like a rattle.!
!
Kingfishers sit on a
branch and look for
things in the water to
eat. If it sees a small
fish, it swoops down
and catches it. Then it
carries it back to the
branch to eat.!
!
Some of us saw a
kingfisher flying over
the pond.!
Geese make loud honking
sounds. They have webbed
feet that help them swim in
the pond.!
!
They eat mostly water
plants and bugs.!
Beavers are rodents
with sharp teeth.
They can even cut
down trees with their
teeth. Sometimes
they build dams. !
They eat parts of
trees, water lilies,
and other plants.
Beavers can swim
up to 5 miles an
hour.!
Beavers eat tree
bark, leaves,
roots, and twigs.!
!
Beavers can slap
their tails against
the water to make
a loud sound.
Sometimes they
do it to warn of
danger.!
!
There used to be
beavers in the
Klopfers' pond,
but they left. !
!
Algae grows in the pond. It floats in the water. Some of the
animals that live in the pond eat algae. Too much algae is not
good for the pond. When there is too much algae, it is part of
eutrophication. The algae clogs up the pond. There is less
oxygen, and it is harder for other things to live. Water
washing into the pond with things like fertilizer and animal
poop in it makes too much algae grow.!
There are many other living things in
and by the pond. There are things
so small you need a microscope to
see them. There are lots of kinds of
plants. There are all sorts of worms,
insects, fish, snakes, and more.!
Life in the pond is all connected. Animals feed
on other animals and plants. They need the
animals and plants to live. It's all connected.
When you have a group of things where one
eats another and that one eats another, it's
called a food chain. Here are some of the food
chains in the pond.!
Food Chain!
!
Snapping turtles
can eat ducks.
Ducks eat slugs.
Slugs eat algae.
Algae makes
food from
sunlight. Algae
floats in the
water of the
pond.!
Snapping turtles
eat almost
anything they
can get in their
mouths!
Food Chain!
!
Herons eat frogs. Frogs eat
copepods. Copepods eat algae.!
Kingfishers eat crayfish. Crayfish eat water
striders. Water striders eat dragonflies that fall
into the water.!
People eat catfish. Catfish eat minnows. Minnows eat
tadpoles. Tadpoles eat copepods.