University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
The Messenger
Vol. 5, No. 3/1996
Tadpole Tales

     Life cycles, not tricycles, interest these kindergartners
from the Laboratory Preschool of the UD College of Human
Resources, shown here at their Born Free ceremony at White Clay
Creek State Park, near the Newark campus. Their teacher, Nancy
Edwards, does a yearly project on life cycles when the budding
naturalists go to the park, collect tadpoles and bring them back
to an aquarium at the school. After this year's study of how the
life cycle evolves from eggs to tadpoles to frogs, the children
revisited the park for a special send-off ceremony. They released
the maturing tadpoles, sang "Born Free" and then floated blocks
of wood with candles and made wishes for the tadpoles. The
candles were retrieved at the end of the ceremony.