Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2016 i Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children

Now all we have to do is wait patiently and watch the bobbers. I hear this pond has rainbow trout. If we’re lucky, we might catch one. Ooh! I bet they’re really pretty! We can be patient, Grandpa E. Because we really want to catch a fish. And here’s an ingenious invention—a babysitter for your fishing pole. Babysitter? I thought Liz had the day off. That looks like the letter Y. Whew! It’s been ten minutes. I don’t think there are any fish here. Or Grandpa E.’s snoring is scaring them away. Cool! The bottom feels all squishy. This is a lot more fun than fishing. SPLASH! Oh! I almost caught a frog! Careful, Martin. You’re scaring away these little tadpoles. Look at all the bugs skating on top of…

Mother Beaver climbs out of her pond. Using her large tail to balance, she stands on her hind legs and gnaws on a small tree. Her sharp front teeth chisel through the tree’s trunk. After a few minutes of chomping, the tree falls. Mother Beaver drags it to the water. She holds the tree in her mouth and front paws. She paddles with her powerful hind feet and steers with her tail. The tree floats on the water’s surface as Mother Beaver swims to her dam. Dragging the tree out of the water, Mother Beaver waddles up to the top of the dam. She pushes the tree in between other logs. Her mate has brought a large stone. He sets it at the bottom of the dam, where it braces…

It is a still day today with no wind. Little floating plants bob up and down just under the surface of the pond. Some are shaped like circles, some like four-leaf clovers, and some just look like blobs. Silvery minnows flit through the water, looking for a juicy green snack. One darts close to the surface. Its big black eyes watch the dancing duckweed leaves through streams of sunlight. Gulp. But someone else watches the minnow from behind the pond weeds. A shiny, black beetle dives down to snatch the minnow in its strong mouth. Diving beetles are so fierce they eat animals even bigger than they are. A painted turtle rests atop a rock near the pond’s edge. It likes to feel the warm sun on its back. Soon…

Thousands of different kinds of bugs live around ponds. Some dive underwater, some float on the surface, and some just fly by. Each has its own ways of getting around, finding food, and even breathing. Match each rhyme with the bug it describes, then turn the page to learn more. 1. That’s not a tail. It’s a tube on my rear. It’s what I use to breathe, my dear. 2. I fly up and down, hover and dart. But in the water is where I start. 3. I have six legs, walk on water with four. My front legs I use to grab dinner and more. 4. Red bump? Scratch, scritch. Where I bite, you itch! 5. We swim and spin, around and around. Our eyes are split, to look…

A pond doesn’t stay the same throughout the year. It changes with the seasons. Play this game to find out how. Cut out the two round game boards, one for each player, and the twenty cards. The boards show the four seasons at Maple Grove Pond, and the cards show things that happen at the pond—some in particular seasons, some all year round. Put the cards face down in a loose pile between the two players. Take turns drawing cards. Each player tries to fill a game board by collecting one card that goes with each season and one card that shows something that happens all year round. The first player to fill his or her board wins. The color borders on the cards will help you match the card…

What makes this pond special? Well, I was born here. AND the pond disappears and reappears. That disappearing trick means that fish can’t live here, because they need water all the time. Don’t get me wrong. The pond doesn’t just come and go with a snap of your fingers or the wave of a magic wand. It takes a little longer than that. In winter, ice and snow cover the ground. You might not even guess there’s a pond here. I admit, at this time of year, I’m normally tucked underground in my forest den, not hanging around the pond. But as winter ends, the snow melts, warm spring rains fall, and big puddles form. The water fills my pond too, and things get busy! On rainy nights, salamanders and…

It’s my day off. I’m taking a picnic lunch to an excellent little pond near my cave. This little frog is relaxing in the sun, sitting on a lily pad. If an insect happens to fly by, he shoots out his tongue and gets lunch without moving. This snapping turtle wants lunch too. His bite is fierce, and he’ll eat just about anything. But I’m not worried. He’s moving very, very slowly. Watching these slowpokes on this lazy, sunny day makes me sort of sleepy. Before I eat my lunch, I’ll just close my eyes for a second and . . .…