Life in Our Watershed: Investigating Vernal Pools  

This is a 5th grade-level educational program about vernal pools.  The new and expanded  Version 3 has thirteen lessons and an optional field trip. This program is being used by numerous Sacramento County school districts. Field trips and the Critter Catalog & Flower Facts focus on the Mather Field vernal pools in eastern Sacramento County.

• What's New in Version 3?

• Teacher's Manual  

• Transparency Pages

• Critter Catalog & Flower Facts

• Introductory Video

• Additional Activities

• Download Entire Program

• Purchase the Program on CDROM

What's New in Version 3

Version 3 contains updated instructions for several lessons, new handouts, revised appendices, and eighteen revised critter cards. If you already have Version 2, you can download the changes using the links below.

• Replacement Cover and Title Pages (5 pages)

• Replacement Teacher's Manual Pages (8 pgs)

• Replacement Teacher's Manual Page 40 (10/26/05)

• Replacement Color Transparencies (3 pgs)

• Replacement Appendices (B, C, D, & E)

• Replacement Critter Catalog Pages (18 double-sided pgs)

Teacher's Manual - Version 3

Transparency Pages - Version 3

The lesson pages and worksheets from the Teacher's Manual can be made into transparencies for use in class discussion. Using a color transparency in the classroom while distributing black-and-white versions for individual student use is an economic way to share the handouts. Worksheets can be made into black-and-white  transparencies to be completed as a class participation project.   

Color Transparency Pages (15 pages, 7.3 MB)
Black-and-white Transparency Pages (20 pages, 2.0 MB)

Critter Catalog & Flower Facts - Version 3

The Critter Catalog & Flower Facts are available in web browser format in the Mather Kids Web section. High-resolution printer-friendly PDF versions are also available for those who may wish to compile the fact sheets into a loose leaf binder. We recommend that these be laminated so that the students can take them into the field.

Critter Catalog
Single-sided Pages (3 pages, 237 Kb)
Double-sided Pages (38 pages, 3.7 MB)
Individual Critter Pages (replacements)

Flower Facts
Single-sided Pages (11 pages, 1.0 MB)
Double-sided Pages (33 pages, 3.6 MB)
Individual Flower Pages (replacements)

Introductory Video: The Mysteries of Vernal Pools

The ten minute introductory video for the Life in Our Watershed: Investigating Vernal Pools is available on the website in two different streaming video formats. You can also purchase the video. 

Additional Activities

Critter and Flower Activity Cards (2.6 MB) 
4" by 3-1/4" cards can be used for a variety of match and recognition games. They are also great references for use during field trips, especially if you can laminate the pages.  

Wet Phase and Flower Phase Scavenger Hunts (800 Kb)
Scavenger hunt worksheets that can be used during field trips to Mather Field. 

Flower Power Notes (9 Kb)
Lesson Nine extension which allows students to give commercials about the flowers and take notes about the other flowers. 

Download the Entire Program

High-resolution printer-friendly PDF files of the entire educational program are available for download. Note that these files are very large and download times may be up to an hour each depending upon your connection. There are two download options:

• To download the files using your web browser, right click (or option click) on the links below and select "save target as..."

• Teacher's Manual (17.8 MB)

• Appendices (987k)

• Critter Catalog (4.1 MB) or

  • Single-sided Pages (3 pages, 237 Kb)

  • Double-sided Pages (38 pages, 3.7 MB)

• Flower Facts (4.5 MB)

  • Single-sided Pages (11 pages, 1.0 MB)

  • Double-sided Pages (33 pages, 3.5 MB)

• Glossary (112k)

Purchase the Entire Program on CDROM

You can now order the 5th grade program Life in Our Watershed: Investigating Vernal Pools on CD-ROM and The Mystery of Vernal Pools video through the California Native Plant Society web site.