Chapter 1 LAKES AND PONDS A great blue heron wades in a lake The tall bird stands very still Then it stabs its beak into the water It catches a fish and swallows it Herons hunt in the shallow water of lakes and ponds Many creatures live in the water Others live along the water's edge Plants grow in the water too Insects fly above it This bird is a great blue heron It has caught a fish Where do herons hunt for food
A young white tailed deer has come to a pond to drink water Environments Lakes and ponds are some of Earth's most important environments An environment is the place where any creature lives The environment includes the air the soil and the weather It includes plants and animals too
Plants and animals in lakes and ponds depend on one another Some animals eat plants Other animals are meat eaters They eat other animals When plants and animals die they decay They break down into chemicals Some of the chemicals are called nutrients Living things need nutrients to grow Many fish eat meat This bass is eating a frog
