A Day at the Prairie Wetlands exploring the Submergent Zone and the animals that are hibernating there!

Our team began their adventure with a hike through a cattail habitat. Can you guess what kinds of tracks we found?

Mr. Ellis then led our team onto ANOTHER habitat! FROZEN WATER!

First, we measured the depth of the snow on our new habitat. Ask your child to tell you where the snow measured on our mittens. Ask if they remember the measurement in inches. (4 1/2 inches)

Further exploration of our "living habitat".
We made a few predictions as to how deep the ice would be on the wetland.

Mr. Ellis passed out the ice crystals his auger was creating. They were beautiful!

We discovered water and LIFE!

We found a few scuds. Have your child explain to you why this is not a fish. (Clue: The answer has to do with bones.)

We also discovered a dragonfly larvae.

Miss Jessica helped Mr. Ellis measure the depth of the ice we were standing on.
14 inches!

In the cup at the end of the pole is the very "mud" our turtle friends and frog friends are hibernating in this winter. It was a bit smelly!

The "mud" came from the bottom of the wetland habitat. If our K friends raised their hands straight up and we measured them from toe to fingertip we would have the depth of the water we were standing on!

Another dragonfly larvae

Discovering what it would like to be a bunny or small animal living in the cattail habitat.
Who might our predators be? We will have to ask Mr. Ellis next time we see him.

On to explore the submergent zone (the area under the ice where the animals are hibernating).

It is dark in the mud, and we don't have whiskers or special hair on our paws to help us find our way, so Ms. Theresa was kind enough to give us flashlights!