The Outdoor Classroom

By: David

I am presenting life at the Outdoor Classroom. We are presenting a life list of birds, insects, pond and stream life, and mammals. We chose this topic because we thought it would be fun and thought that we would learn a lot.

The question Kyle and I thought about was, "What living animals, insects, and pond and stream life live in the Outdoor Classroom?" When we started we thought there would only be a few insects, a few creatures that live in the pond and stream, and a few birds, and a few mammals. But when we investigated, we noticed it was definitely wrong. There are thousands of insects, birds, and stream life. It's like a whole new world in the grass. Unfortunately I did not have enough time to study them all. Many types of crayfish, insects, and birds live in the pond, stream, and fields. It's amazing.

Insects have eight legs and some have antennas. Some insects pollinate flowers and plants. Some insects eat other insects. For instance, the ladybird

which is more commonly known as the ladybug eats aphids, which lives on flowers. Some fish eat other fish like the big bass eats minnow's small trout and smaller bass. Catfish eat crayfish otherwise known as crawdads. Some animals that live in ponds are the Mink, which is closely related to the weasel, the Water Shrew, and the Water Vole. Also, several kinds of ducks, snails, and plankton. Did you know that one half of the world's oxygen is produced by algae in the water?

This is what I did to answer my question. First, I went to the Outdoor Classroom to collect data. To collect data I collected insects from the meadow. Then I looked in an insect field guide to see the name of the different insect. Next, I read the information about each insect. After that, I observed the insect. Then, I went back down to the Outdoor Classroom to do my bird watch. Later I did my animal sightings.

Some discoveries I made are that Reed grass, Marsh Marigold, Cattails, and Arrow Head plants and Water Mint live in the pond. Marsh Marigolds grow in ponds and marshes. Some pond life we discovered are the Sow bug, Dragonfly nyph, Crane fly nyph, and the Crawfish. We also found the potato and rose Leaf hopper, Ground beetle, Potter wasp, Leaf

Cutting bee, Chinese mantis, Painted lady butterfly, and the Carolina Mantis.

Some things I would do next year is conduct research on the type of trees, and plants at the Outdoor Classroom. My question would be what trees plants and flowers live in the Outdoor Classroom. If I had more time before KIC I would of answered the question.

Bibliography

Title: Ponds and Pond Life By: Ganzri, Anita Publisher: Franklin Watts Inc. Place of Publication: New York, NY Copyright Date: 1993

Title: Natures Great Balancing Act By: Norsguard, Emily Publisher: Cobble Hill Books Place of Publishing: Dutton, NY Copyright Date: 1990

Author: Woodle, Morgan

Title: Birds

Magazine: KIC '99

Issue of Magazine: May 27, 1999

Pages: 2