Davis School, Bedford, Massachusetts

          On April 7, 2006, our first grade class scooped water from our very own “Cattail Corner”, a vernal pool located right on our school grounds. Prior to our examination of the water, we discussed and made predictions about whether any microorganisms found there would be identical to those found elsewhere in the world.

          Most of the class agreed that the results would be dependent on similarities in climate and terrain. We predicted that it was not likely, for example, that the same organisms would live in both Massachusetts and in Australia.

          From our small samples, we found numerous water fleas, tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, damselfly nymphs, and a caddisfly larva. (While the students recognized the latter right away, I tried to tell them it was probably just a small clump of leaves. They were proven absolutely right when we observed the “leaves” moving independently! We kept the caddisfly nymph with our classroom tadpoles for a few days and were amazed to see it crawling out from its “home”. Thank you for your useful chart of microorganisms.)

 Mrs. Hall’s 1^st Grade

Marcia Hall

Marcia_hall@bedford.k12.ma.us

See project photographs below. Click on thumbnails for larger images.