Often the best opportunities for learning come from chance encounters that you could never have predicted would happen.
Such a time arose just this week. The children love to play and explore the properties of water in our riverine system. They are always experimenting, discovering new things and problem solving as a group.
It seemed that something strange and mysterious had arrived in our river this week. It turned out to be the spawn (eggs) of a toad. The children immediately began to plan how they might save the eggs from getting trampled in the river and requested an aquarium in which to place them. The bonus then being they would be able to observe the development of a toad to toad hood.
They learnt the differences between frog spawn and toad spawn and designed a rather nice aquarium with plants and sticks on the bottom where the tadpoles could rest or hide.
Every day they take the magnifying glass and witness the miracle that is the growth and metamorphosis of an amphibian. The tadpoles have not hatched yet, but the students are super excited to witness the growth, change in shape and movement within the eggs.
This will be a precious childhood learning experience of different life cycles and important change.
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