Exploring a Creek ... and learning about classification

The other day I took a group of kids down to the creek to explore. With bug nets and plastic containers in hand, we excitedly made our way down the hill to the meandering creek. The goal of the outing was to find as many different critters as possible in or along the creek, so the anticipation was high. For a while, each child explored the creek in their own way, one excitedly running up the creek and hollering about finding fish, one slowly walking along looking intently into the water, whereas some found it more exhilarating to actually get in the water to explore. While several of the kids spent time trying to catch the elusive fish, others soon got discouraged about not being able to find any creatures. So came the teaching opportunity.

Crane fly larva

I had been exploring in my own way and had already found a crayfish and crane fly larva, which was really exciting. Seeing that I was having success in finding critters, the kids started gathering and asking how they too could find critters. I showed them how to look for differences in the creek bed (rocks covered with algae vs. rocks completely clean of algae all neatly piled up... sign of some creature's home entrance). I explained that many of the critters like to hide under the rocks and showed them how to carefully lift a rock to peer underneath. They learned that some creatures prefer the calmer waters and some prefer hiding in the vegetation along the creek.

Not sure which kind, but I believe it's a young salamander

The previously hurried and random explorations all of a sudden changed to purposeful explorations and they started finding various creatures. Now, when someone started stepping into the water, one of the other kids would say, "careful, you may be stepping on someone's home because there's animals living here." I was thrilled.


Once we had found about 7-8 different critters and insects, I gathered the kids around and talked about classification. First I had them try to explain what classification means, then I asked them to give me examples. With some guidance, we discussed how animals can be classified by their common characteristics such as feathers or fur; 4 legs or 2 legs; live births or hatching from eggs; warm-blooded or cold-blooded, etc. Once I felt like they had a general grasp of the concept, I asked them to come up with their own way of classifying the various critters we had just found. This forced them to observe the critters a little more closely. Finally, I pulled out a key to macro invertebrate life in the river that I had printed off and had them identify two of the creatures.

crayfish

An hour flew by and before they knew it, it was time to head home. We carefully put the creatures back in their various homes, made sure we didn't leave anything behind and slowly trekked back up the hill.The kids were wet and muddy, but thrilled by their discoveries.

 "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery."

 ~Mark Van Doren