In August I was invited to visit a local daycare to teach children about the creatures that live in our waters. While the twenty four children were adept with identifying larger organisms, like frogs and salamanders, I wanted them to look at tinier organisms. They split into six small teams to sample their chosen section of river and stream area of the daycare’s grounds. Some had rocks, some had a lot of vegetation, while others chose to look at the small beach. All were excited to see the things they had been missing!

After looking at the little creatures, I helped them identify the frogs they caught, explained why the salamander larva had gills, and what the caddisfly larva was doing under the rocks with all that “stuff” around it.

The children were all enthusiastic, and when we quit one of them said, “I’ll see you again next year!” Just shows what happens when a bunch of kids get outside and start poking around to see what they can find.