Pond dipping and Bio Blitz by Andrew, Elliott, Maisie, Rowan, Ezme, Syd and Sofia
On Thursday 10th September we went pond dipping at Achamore Gardens Pond with our Island Ranger, Casey-Jo. We wanted to find out about unknown creatures on Gigha and we wanted to learn about exoskeletons.
We looked in the pond and used a net to collect different creatures. Then we put them in a little tray with water in it and investigated what we had found. We used a chart to identify what each creature was. We found newts, water beetles, dragonfly larvae, midgie larvae and a midgie larvae exoskeleton.
Before we went pond dipping we planted three apple trees by the Achamore greenhouses near the bamboo maze. We had been growing the apple trees at school and gifted them to Achamore gardens. At school the trees had grown too big for the pots and they needed more soil and space for their big roots.
“I learnt that if it is a wild animal in a wild pond you cannot pick it up with your bare hands because it might carry diseases or colds” said Maisie.
“I found out that the Waterboatman was trying to chase the newts around” said Sofia. Rowan said “Syd’s newt got eaten by a beetle.” Ezme added “The beetles can grow up to 10-11cm when they are fully grown.” “Midgie larvae have exoskeletons and I didn’t think that something which is so small would have an exoskeleton.” said Andrew. Elliott said he enjoyed catching newts because they are cute.
The pond dipping visit happened because Elliott wanted to find unidentified creatures and Andrew wanted to learn about exoskeletons. At Gigha Primary School we tell the Teachers what we want to learn about because we have the right to education and the right to be listened to and to have a say.
