ON May 27 the junior students from Bodenham, St Michael's CE Primary School travelled to the Elan Valley visitor centre in Wales to meet the very knowledgeable educational ranger, Fiona Wase to develop their existing knowledge of what would be under the water in a freshwater pond and under leaves, logs and stones in a woodland habitat.

A very excited group of children left school with high expectations and were not disappointed. After arriving at the centre and stopping for a well-deserved snack they taken to the estate's freshwater pond. The children had the opportunity to observe, identify and draw a range of creatures found in the pond. They were amazed at the variety of animals to be found, including a very large and impressive dragon fly nymph, tadpoles, water skaters and water boatmen.

After the water safari was complete they moved to the woods to hunt for land creatures. The children had the opportunity to talk about the different features that land animals would need to survive in comparison to the creatures that had a pond habitat. Again they found a whole range of creatures including a millipede, centipede, many woodlice, slugs, beetles and even a newt.

After a very busy morning, the students returned to the visitor centre for a delicious picnic lunch.