Introducing the Watershed Education Network’s Washington Middle School Flagship Water Explorers 2020
By Deb Fassnacht and Jenna Rolle
Week Four: Marsh Soup
Our fourth week of Water Explorers I was really excited to try out a lesson I had found in a curriculum book in the WEN office: Marsh Soup! The goal of this lesson is to familiarize the students with the marshy area that surrounds Bancroft pond. The marshy areas may not be as classically beautiful or fresh as a flowing stream or an idyllic pond, but they support the bulk of riparian habitat for important plants, animals, and insects. Luckily, this batch of Water Explorers was more than happy to muck around in the marsh, regardless of stinky smells or unappetizing squishing sounds underfoot.
To make marsh soup (or salad, or casserole, or whatever the students want it to be) each team was given a bowl and instructed to build a meal from the marsh. The teams were then to be scored on two criteria: quantity of ingredients and presentation. Both teams took different approaches. Team one opted for quantity, and ended up with 15 different plants, 6 different types of mud, and ice, stream water, and pond water. Team two created a beautiful presentation of seeds, moss and leaves, and still fit quite a few different ingredients in there.
It was really wonderful to see the whole team of explorers out there hunting for marsh treasures and mucking about in an area of the hydrologic cycle that most people ignore. We returned to Washington covered in mud and still chattering about all the cool stuff we found in the marsh. After a quick apology to the parents for the state of their clothes, I sent the students off for their Spring Break.
No comments:
Post a Comment