On May 23, 2006, Prof. Twining met the "Families Learning Together" homeschoolers group at Pond Meadow Park in Braintree, MA for a nature hike and pond safari. The day started with a hike along the Red Trail, a nature trail along the western shore of 20 Acre Pond. Prof. Twining pointed out important plants and trees of the forest. "Smell this," said Twining, breaking off a piece of black birch. "Hey, that smells like root beer," the kids pointed out. Black birch contains wintergreen oil, from which birch beer was once made. He also pointed out sassafras - the roots were once used to make tea - blueberries, wild sarsaparilla, Canada mayflower, and sessile bellwort.
At the end of the trail, in a grassy picnic area, the group stopped for a quick lesson about the types of creatures we can find in ponds. "If you had to live in water, what would you need?" asked Prof. Twining. The kids correctly pointed out that you might need legs adapted for swimming or walking, some way to breathe air, and methods for capturing food.
Then the safari began. The kids grabbed nets, buckets, and magnifying viewers and headed to the pond's edge. "Be careful not to harm the animals," Prof. Twining said, as he showed the kids how to sweep the net through the pond plants. "We have a responsibility to care for these creatures". The kids ventured out into the pond and began to find their quarry - damselfly nymphs, crayfish, water scavenger beetles, water mites, mayfly nymphs, and snails. The kids even found a young eel, a fish that lives in streams, but travels out into the ocean to breed (catadromous fish).
At the end of the day, one girl said, "I learned that there are many small creatures that live in ponds; creatures I never knew were there." That is the point of these kinds of programs - to open the eyes of young and old alike to see and experience the diversity of life that God put on this planet we call home.
Prof. Twining starting the Pond Safari
Kids looking at pond creatures in a magnifying viewer
Searching a net for pond creatures
ENC alumnus Debra Hogan helps children identify pond creatures with a picture key
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