Lakes and Ponds!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

What kind of life can you find in lakes and ponds?

Imagine the smooth, glasslike surface of a pond, the water mirroring a bright moon or a crystal blue sky. The water appears perfectly calm and still. What’s going on underneath the surface?

Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids invites kids ages 7 though 10 to investigate the bodies of water that might look calm from the shore but which are teeming with life and activity! Through fun facts and engaging content, readers explore the plants and animals living in lakes and ponds, from fish darting about to dragonfly nymphs gestating in the shallows to algae and aquatic plants converting sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. Discover fun facts about the duckweed, water lilies, and cattails growing in and around the waters of lakes and ponds. It’s a busy place!

In Lakes and Ponds!, readers dive in to discover how lakes and ponds are formed, how they are different, and what kinds of animals and plants live there. Through investigative STEAM activities for elementary school ages, such as building a model of a floating city similar to Tonlé Sap, kids explore how humans have interacted with lakes and ponds throughout history and how we use this natural resource today. Discover how climate change and pollution affect the ecology of lakes and ponds and learn what you can do to help keep these biodiverse environments clean and healthy!

From the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake, Walden Pond, Loch Ness, and the pond down the street from school, readers discover the life teeming in and around lakes and ponds. And did you know that large bodies of water have their own life cycles? Sometimes these can last for days, sometimes for thousands of years!

STEAM projects for kids that promote the use of the scientific method, including using ice and dirt to understand how glaciation gave shape to lake and pond basins and using moss found near lakes and ponds to make unique art projects, offer a unique, interactive learning experience, while links to online primary sources offer ample opportunity for further, student-led exploration. Fun facts, engaging illustrations, timeline, glossary, and resources keep kids wanting to learn more about these bodies of water.

Explore Lakes and Ponds! is part of a set of four Explore Waterways books from Nomad Press. In the Explore Waterways set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn about the waterways of our world, including the what, where, how, and who about the origination, content, and aquatic life that water contains. Through science-minded STEAM projects and experiments that encourage readers to think of waterways as part of a larger ecosystem, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills about the role waterways play in our world.

Titles in the Explore Waterways set include Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.

Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

Johannah Haney has published 20 nonfiction books for young learners, including titles about nuclear energy, endangered species, pets, health topics, and essay and speech writing. Her writing has also appeared in The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, The Latin Kitchen, Modern Bride, and other magazines. She holds a master’s degree in writing and publishing from Emerson College and lives with her family in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist with a master’s degree from the Center for Cartoon Studies. Tom has illustrated several books for Nomad Press, including Explore Ancient Chinese Myths! With 25 Great Projects and The Oregon Trail: The Journey Across the Country from Lewis and Clark to the Transcontinental Railroad. He is working on his first graphic novel.