This is a 13-lesson, standards-based science curriculum designed to integrate with a hands-on field trip to the vernal pools at Mather Field. The curriculum prepares the students for their field trip by teaching them all about vernal pools and the plants and animals that live in them.
All lessons linked below are in PDF format. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the files.
Teacher's Manual | Transparency Pages | Critter Catalog & Flower Facts | Introductory Video | Additional Activities | Download Entire Program
Teacher's Manual - Version 3
Note: You can download the entire Teacher's Manual at the bottom of the page.
- Cover, Title Page & Table of Contents
- What is a Watershed?
- Sacramento River Watershed Map
- Your Place in the Watershed Worksheet
- Watershed Crossword & Wordfinder Worksheet
- What are Vernal Pools?
- The Vernal Pool Grassland
- Vernal Pools and Human History
- Vernal Pool Landscape Worksheet
- Introduction to Vernal Pools Worksheet
- The Wet Phase: Winter in the Vernal Pools
- The Flower Phase: Spring in the Vernal Pools
- The Dry Phase: Summer and Fall
- The Three Phases of a Vernal Pool
- Vernal Pool Cross-Section Worksheet
- Vernal Pool Phases Worksheet
- Directions to Grow Your Own Fairy Shrimp
- The Classroom Laboratory
- Student Data Sheet
- Class Data Sheet
- Lab Report
- Critter Pie Worksheet
- (See also Appendix E)
- Metric Rulers
- It's a Matter of Size
- Metric Measurements Worksheet
- Scale Up and Scale Down Worksheet
- How Big is That Tattoo? Worksheet
- Critter Group Assignments
- Critter Guide Table of Contents
- Fairy Shrimp Critter Card
- Critter Guide Worksheet
- Oral Language Rubric
- Critter Commercial Worksheet
- Critter Commercial Notes
- Sharing Energy in the Food Web
- Why Do Plants Have Flowers?
- Flower Parts & Pollination Worksheet
- Flower Pie Worksheet
- Flower Guide Table of Contents
- Flower Guide Worksheet
- Wastewater and Runoff
- Keeping Our Water Clean
- How You Can Help Keep Runoff Clean Worksheet
Teacher's Manual Appendices
- Glossary & Special Illustration
- Assessment Test
- Teacher Evaluation
- Fairy Shrimp Growing Instructions
- Fairy Shrimp Observation Page Student Worksheet
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.
Critter Catalog & Flower Facts - Version 3
The Critter Catalog & Flower Facts are available in web browser format in the Explore & Investigate 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, if possible .
Critter Catalog
Flower Facts
Additional Activities
Critter and Flower Activity Cards
4" by 3-1/4" cards can be used for a variety of match and recognition games. These can also be great references for use during field trips, especially if you laminate the pages.
Wet Phase and Flower Phase Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger hunt worksheets that can be used during field trips to Mather Field.
Flower Power Notes
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. To download the files using your web browser, right click (or option click) on the links below and select "save target as..."
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
Photo by David Rosen, Wildside Photography
