a puzzle at the pond

Back in the classroom, I mused aloud about some of the things we had seen on our walk.  We had seen at first hand one part of the life cycle of a living thing.  What living thing was it?

‘We saw tadpoles,’ Emily told us.  ‘It was the life cycle of a frog.’

‘The tadpoles had tails,’ Melchior reminded us.

‘They were black,’ added Tanisha.

‘There were lots of tadpoles,’ noted Itaru.

‘They were wriggling,’ mentioned Luna.

‘They felt quite tickly,’ said Anusha, one of the brave amongst us who had dipped a cupped hand into the water.

There was also a puzzle at the pond.

This…..

a plank of wood, attached at one end by a wire to the edge of the pond, the other end dipped in the water.  What on earth could it be for?

Alexis was the first one to share his thinking.  ‘It’s where the frogs lay their eggs,’ he offered.

Yanis had a different idea.  ‘The people made it for the frogs to play with.’

Emily thought it might be a life saving aid for humans, ‘in case a child or a grown up falls in.’

Nico thought that it was maybe to, ‘help the frogs get into the water,’ whereas Ella suggested that ‘the big frogs that are fully grown can jump on it in case they don’t want to swim.’

What about you?  What do you think it is for?