On April 25, participants in the Marion Natural History Museum's after-school program got the chance to study the inhabitants of vernal pools, temporary pools of water that host a wide diversity of life.

Under magnifying glasses, the children studied wood frog and salamander eggs, tadpoles and various bugs who called the vernal pools home.

Members of the after-school group also studied the qualities of spaghnum moss, a type of moss that can hold large amounts of water, in order to learn why the moss is an exemplary habitat for developing amphibians.

All of the animals studied were returned to their vernal pool, none the worse for wear according to Marion Natural History Museum Director Elizabeth Leidhold.