There is little wave action and the bottom is usually covered with mud. Plants can, and often do, grow along the pond edge. The amount of dissolved oxygen may vary greatly during a day. In really cold places, the entire pond can freeze solid. Cattails are a familiar site in North America.
Cattails are aquatic plants common in creeks, ditches, and ponds.
A lake is bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support rooted plants except near the shore. Some lakes are big enough for waves to be produced. Water temperatures in lakes during summer months is not uniform from to to bottom. Since light does not penetrate to the bottom, photosynthesis is limited to the top layer. Because of the warmer waters and more plentiful food supply, almost all creatures spend the summer months in the upper layer.