Vernal Pools

A love of nature, implanted so early that it will seem to them hereafter to have been born in them, will enrich their lives with pure interests, absorbing pursuits, health, and good humour. ~Volume 1, Charlotte Mason~

Today’s nature walk was an exploration of vernal pools and the amazing life and activity they harbor. Before heading out to look into some pools we read aloud The Secret Pool by Kimberly Ridley and Eggs by Marilyn Singer . 

The Secret Pool chronicles a season of life in a vernal pool. It is full of wonderful information about the creatures that use these pools to begin their life cycle as well as those that may use the pools as a food source. The book is easy to understand for kids but in no way dumbed down. A truly living book with beautiful illustrations. I wanted to share a glimpse of these here.

From the book we learned about the types of creatures and the differences between types of eggs we might find in the pools.

After reading and discussing the information we gathered our nature journals and supplies and headed out to find some vernal pools.

It didn’t take long to locate a lot of Spotted Salamander eggs.

After finding the eggs we spent some time recording our findings in our nature journals. I am working on getting Jo to spend more time with her journal and completely fill the page.

We brought a few eggs home in a container where we will observe them as they grow into salamander larvae. I plan on having the kids do a weekly journal entry showing their growth. When they hatch we will return them to the pool.