POND AND WETLANDS STUDY
A WALK UPSTREAM
What are some of the plants or animals that live in or around a wetland?PROCEDURE
As you walk alongside a pond and continue upstream, encourage students to notice what they find in and around the water. Invite them to ask questions and to attempt to find their own answers.
Pass out the wetland worksheets, clipboards, and pencils. Present the group with a series of everyday items, useful as wetland metaphors (sponge = absorbency, cradle = nursery for young animals, sieve = filter for pollutants, vitamin bottle = nutrients, sandpaper = abrasive, whisk = aerator), from the bag and have them record each object and its corresponding function on the worksheet. Send the group to explore the area to find and record examples of each on their worksheets.ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES
With what do wetlands provide humans and other animals? What results might be expected if our wetlands were drained or filled? What was your initial impression of the upstream wetland? How do you feel about it now?LOOK FOR:
Water Snakes
In our area, northern water snakes swim through the water hunting for fish, frogs, and insects, or sun themselves on a branch alongside. They are not poisonous, but can still inflict a powerful bite.Ducks
Pairs of mallards come to ponds to mate and raise their young, but in a pond where there are snapping turtles, they rarely raise a brood to maturity. The turtles hunt the ducklings from beneath the water. A whole brood may be eaten in a few days.Cattails
Cattails are native plants that play an important part in the lives of many animals, including many insects and the muskrat, which builds its conical house from its stems. Native Americans used the fluff from its seed clusters as diapers.Loosestrife
While very pretty, loosestrife, an alien plant, spreads rapidly and crowds out other plant species, particularly the cattails.NYSED IIIA. Living things are affected by and affect the environment. (34)
Source: Mohonk Preserve Environmental Education Program Curriculum in Science Field Studies