When taking students to a vernal pool there is so much excitement. For weeks, we build to the day when we will begin to study our own vernal pool. There are excellent resources on the web and in print that help prepare students for their first trip. We take all of our 8th graders on the first trip and this year that will be about 50 students. Armed with knowledge, field guides and enthusiasm, we embark on our journey. At the trail head, expectations are clearly articulated, a review of the day is conducted and a special emphasis is placed on the fragility of the ecosystem we are about to invade. When we get to within 50 meters of the vernal pool we stop, get our nature journal out and adopt our code of silence. We then move students to 10 meters from the waters edge and for 10 minutes or so they take in the site and record what they will in their journals. When they are satisfied, they then move to the waters edge and repeat the process. Have you ever had 50 students be silent in the woods for 20 minutes. It's an amazing thing. What makes it so special is that they probably appreciate it more than you do! After our silent, nature journaling time, we spend enough time to tweak the curiosity, so to speak, but we are really setting the stage for act 2.Today was our first day at VP#1 on the Tamposi and clearly it is a remarkable and special place. We even saw a giant water bug. The infamous "toe biter"
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