Champhibians is a pond adoption scheme for schools run by ARC Trust.

Ponds are valuable homes for amphibians, the adults return to ponds to mate in spring and ponds provide a nursery for the metamorphosis from tadpole to adult though the year. Without ponds we would not have amphibians such as frogs, toads or newts as our neighbours.

School ponds and ponds local to schools within a community are an untapped surveying resource for ARC Trust. For schools this is an opportunity to link with a national charity on a highly focused citizen science scheme just for them.

ARC Trust can offer guidance on how to approach community green spaces in pond adoption if a school does not have a pond. This can bring benefits to the school in providing a closer tie with their nature spaces and the people who manage them.

In the Champhibian pack provides the resources to make the best use of ponds to support the Curriculum for Excellence, through science investigation techniques, data handling for maths, creative and descriptive writing for English, arts activities for back in the classroom or to enhance their ponds, basic geography of the life cycle of the pond itself and how they fill with sediment and the history of ponds in the countryside. The project is fully supported by the Education Officer and the Champhibians web page with downloadable resources, a page to upload pond survey and a chance to compare ponds across Scotland.

Champhibians is a wonderful natural history opportunity, accessible to all ages with engaging species which are so familiar to us all. It’s also a chance to contribute data to a national conservation body and to see your data on the map grow from year to year.

Published On: 23.03.23|Tags: , , , , |

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