The Eden Rivers Trust report that the children spent two weeks looking after mayfly nymphs which they had collected from their local river. They were fortunate enough to watch some of the nymphs emerge into adult mayflies.
During this time the children discovered all about the mayfly, its habitat, life-cycle, food and predators. They also learnt about the links between aquatic and terrestrial habitats and how the may¬fly needs a healthy river to survive.
After the two weeks the emerged adult mayflies and remaining nymphs were all returned safely to the river.
The schools involved were Asby Endowed School and Bolton School, both near Appleby, Cummersdale School near Carlisle, and Stainton CE Primary School and Calthwaite CE School, both near Penrith.
Here are some of the things the teachers and children said about the project:
“It was a really good project that combined practical science skills and some maths. It was extremely well organised and easy to manage and the children learnt a lot from it, particularly about our local river environment and the wildlife that lives in it.
Head Teacher, Bolton School
“We learned about what a mayfly’s home is like, they need water, oxygen and algae. The algae was all slimy!”
“I liked looking after the mayflies. The baby ones are called nymphs.”
“I enjoyed fixing up the aquarium in the classroom and looking after the mayflies.”
“Watching them swimming around in the bottles was great!”
“We used a net to catch the mayflies, it was fun! Some water got in my welly!”
“This project addresses work on life cycles and habitats in a water environment and enables the children to follow the animals in a natural environment and understand more clearly how the nymph and mayfly fit into the food chain.”
Y5 Teacher, Cummersdale School
