> Primarily JASON

Adapting *Disappearing Wetlands* for Elementary Students

Georgene Lytle

Kean Elementary School

432 Oldman Rd.

Wooster, Ohio 44691

lytle.ge@wooster.k12.oh.us

Setting the Stage:

-   Use *Disappearing Wetlands* as your teaching theme for the school
    year. Decorate accordingly - create a Louisiana swamp complete with
    cattails, grasses, alligators, etc.

-   Sounds of the marsh can be found @
    <http://www.ducks.ca/naturenotes/audio/marsh.wav>

-   Set up wetland exploration center. Load with books about wetlands -
    swamps, marshes, etc. Get children excited about Disappearing
    Wetlands by allowing them to preview what they will learn.

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-   Net the reading corner to help protect readers from the insects.
    Stock with plenty of wetland reading materials and appropriate
    stuffed animals to read with such as beavers, ducks, etc.

-   Send your students a welcome back to school letter on wetland
    stationery. Tell them about what you will be studying.

-   The first week of school, have your class "dress" themselves to
    explore wetlands. Using the digital camera, take a picture of each
    student (face only). Have them cut out their face and glue it to a
    pattern of a body then dress themselves in waders, etc. Use paper
    towels rolls to construct "binoculars" to wear around their necks.

-   Coloring pages

The Young Scientist's Introduction to the Wetlands

[**http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/ysw1.pdf**](http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/ysw1.pdf)

Migratory Bird Center

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/conservationandscience/migratorybirds/education/kids_stuff/coloring_book.cfm

Coastal Louisiana Coloring Book

<http://lacoast.gov/education/kids/coloringbooks/coastal/index.htm>

Water Safety Coloring Book

<http://lacoast.gov/education/kids/coloringbooks/watersafety/index.htm>

Endangered Species Coloring Book

<http://lacoast.gov/education/kids/coloringbooks/endangered/index.htm>

Ongoing Activities:

**Morning Work** - Correct factual sentences about Louisiana and teach
the mechanics of language at the same time !

-   Start your day with \"morning work\". Find facts about Louisiana's
    capitol, motto, bird, flower, etc. @
    <http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/louisiana.html> OR
    <http://www.50states.com/louisian.htm>. Write facts on the board
    without capitalization or punctuation each morning and have students
    correct the errors. Once corrected, have students enter the facts
    into a booklet about Louisiana and illustrate. A Louisiana facts
    coloring book can be downloaded @
    [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/around/color/cbook-index.htm]{.underline}

-   OR alternate facts about Louisiana with facts about your state to
    create a booklet that compares and contracts the two areas.
    Information about your state can also be found at A to Z Kids' Stuff
    website.

**JASON Journals/Portfolios**

-   Wetland Dictionaries: Have children keep an ongoing illustrated
    wetland dictionary. Use spiral bound notebooks with tabs. As
    students learn a new word, have them write a definition, illustrate,
    and add to their dictionary.

-   JASON Experience Journal: Students of any age can keep JASON
    journals. At the end of each day children should write a sentence or
    two about what they have observed and/or learned about JASON that
    day.

-   Simplified JASON Booklets: The teacher can go through the curriculum
    and copy pictures, maps, etc. to create a simplified JASON booklet
    for younger students to record their information in. These booklets
    can be either hole punched then organized in a three-ring binder OR
    prebound with plenty of blank pages in between. Vocabulary words can
    also be included with spaces to write and/or illustrate meanings.

-   All student work (journals, graphs, stories, reports, drawings,
    poetry, etc.) can be collected and kept in JASON portfolios. Create
    portfolios by folding and stapling large pieces of tagboard into
    giant envelopes.

**Weather Activities**

-   Read [Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs]{.underline} for a fun
    introduction to weather. Have students use *Kid Pix* to create their
    own creative version of the weather.

-   Have children illustrate how a water cycle works. Make a water cycle
    wheel. Instructions @
    <http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/fun-stuff/water-cycle/>

-   [Learn about clouds
    @](http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/fun-stuff/water-cycle/)[www.brainpop.com/science/weather/clouds](http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/clouds)

-   Create charts of different clouds. Use white paint & clear glitter
    for cirrus clouds. Use cotton balls for cumulus clouds. Use cotton
    balls colored gray with a marker and pulled thin for stratus clouds.

-   Use a digital camera and take a picture of the sky each day. Post in
    sequence. Write a description of the weather underneath the
    picture - temperature, precipitation, etc. Guide the children into
    making generalizations between the kinds of clouds they observe and
    the weather.

-   Available from NASA - Teacher's guide: [A Look At Weather,
    Activities for the Primary Student]{.underline}. This book addresses
    kinds of weather, forecasting, weather lore, weather on Mars, etc.

-   Have a student serve as the weather person for the day. Look up the
    forecast for your area as well as the Louisiana forecast @
    <http://www.weather.com/>. This site also has a converter that
    changes Fahrenheit to Celsius.

-   Plot the information onto an ongoing line graph (using large graph
    paper from a roll) with your local temperature in blue and the
    Louisiana temperature in red. Graph in Fahrenheit, Celsius, or both.

-   Color in thermometers to show the average daytime and nighttime
    temperatures in a Louisiana. Compare & contract to your area by also
    marking your average daytime and nighttime temperatures. Use
    Fahrenheit and Celsius.

-   More advanced - Do a line graph of average monthly temperatures and
    /or the average monthly rainfall in Louisiana & in your area.

-   Keep an ongoing chart comparing the times of the daily
    sunrise/sunset in Louisiana to your area. Calculate number of
    daylight hours for each region.

-   Find out the 5-day weather forecast for your area. Graph (in red)
    the predicted highs and lows. Draw an illustration indicating
    whether sun, clouds, or precipitation are expected. Then graph the
    actual temperatures in blue. Compare to the predictions.

### Internet Activities:

##### Animal Trivia Quiz for Kids

<http://lacoast.gov/education/kids/AnimalQuiz/index.htm>

# Thinkquests

Feature a Thinkquest site of the week at your classroom computers.
Thinkquests are internet sites created by teams of students as part of
an international competition. Below are links to Thinkquest sites that
relate to wetlands:

Wet & Wild @[http://library.thinkquest.org/J003192F/]{.underline}

Amazing Amphibians
@[http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312042/]{.underline}

#### Webquests

Saving the Wetlands (grade 5) @

[http://www.mhcbe.ab.ca/ict/Projects/Wetlands/wetlands.htm]{.underline}

Wet & Wild Wetlands @

<http://www.pavenet.org/FTP/Users/all_share/Cohort5/5319Project/TorresWebQuest/>

Jumping Into Frogs & Toads @

<http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/lvelem/frogsandtoads/index.html>

Help the Zoologist Create a Wetlands Zoo Exhibit @

<http://cehd.ewu.edu/faculty/ntodd/WebQuests/summer2000/wetlandszoo/wetlandszooexhibit.html>

[Gator Webquest
@](http://cehd.ewu.edu/faculty/ntodd/WebQuests/summer2000/wetlandszoo/wetlandszooexhibit.html)

<http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/scoggin/wquest.htm>

[Louisiana Wetlands Webquest
@](http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/scoggin/wquest.htm)

<http://www.classtech2000.com/techined/archnol/wet/wetlands.htm>

#### Wetlands Reading List (from the EPA)

######## Grades K -- 2 summaries & comments about the books @ [**http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/science/readlist.html#anchor479460**](http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/science/readlist.html#anchor479460)

[*Animals and Plants That
Trap,*](http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/science/readlist.html#anchor479460)
Philip Goldstein

*Animals of the Ponds and Streams,* Julie Becker

*Beaver Valley,* Walter D. Edmonds

*Dragonflies,* Hilda Simon

*Explore a Spooky Swamp,* Wendy W. Cortesi

*Frogs, Toads, Lizards and Salamanders,* Nancy Winslow Parker and Joan
Richards Wright

*From Pond to Prairie,* Laurence Pringle

*Green Darner,* Robert M. McClung

*In the Middle of the Puddle,* Mike Thaler

*Island of the Loons,* Dayton 0. Hyde

*Marshes and Swamps,* Linda M. Stone

*The Mystery of the Great Swamp,* Marjorie A. Sapf

*Pond and River,* Steve Parker

*The Pond Book,* Albro Gaal

*Scoots the Bag Turtle,* Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

*The Seminole,* Martin Lee

*Small Water Mammals,* Maxwell Knight

*Snails of Land and Sea,* Hilda Smith

*Swan Lake,* Mark Helprin

*Water Insects,* Sylvia A. Johnson

*Wetlands,* Linda M. Stone

*Wetlands: Bogs, Marshes and Swamps,* Lewis Buck

*Wonders of the Fields and Ponds at Night,* Jacquellyn Berrill

*The World of Fishes,* Thomas D. Fagely

**[Grades 3 -- 5]{.underline}** summaries & comments about the books @
<http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/science/readlist.html#anchor1056174>

*Animals and Plants That Trap,* Philip Goldstein

*Animals of the Ponds and Streams,* Julie Becker

*Beaver Valley,* Walter D. Edmonds

*Dragonflies,* Hilda Simon

*Explore a Spooky Swamp,* Wendy W. Cortesi

*Frogs, Toads, Lizards and Salamanders,* Nancy Winslow Parker and Joan
Richards Wright

*From Pond to Prairie,* Laurence Pringle

*Green Darner,* Robert M. McClung

*In the Middle of the Puddle,* Mike Thaler

*Island of the Loons,* Dayton 0. Hyde

*Marshes and Swamps,* Linda M. Stone

*The Mystery of the Great Swamp,* Marjorie A. Sapf

*Pond and River,* Steve Parker

*The Pond Book,* Albro Gaal

*Scoots the Bag Turtle,* Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

*The Seminole,* Martin Lee

*Small Water Mammals,* Maxwell Knight

*Snails of Land and Sea,* Hilda Smith

*Swan Lake,* Mark Helprin

*Water Insects,* Sylvia A. Johnson

*Wetlands,* Linda M. Stone

*Wetlands: Bogs, Marshes and Swamps,* Lewis Buck

*Wonders of the Fields and Ponds at Night,* Jacquellyn Berrill

*The World of Fishes,* Thomas D. Fagely

**Teacher Resources:**

## Ducks Unlimited's Teacher's Guide to Wetland Activities available online FREE@ [**http://www.ducks.org/puddler/greenwings/activity/teachersdirectory.htm**](http://www.ducks.org/puddler/greenwings/activity/teachersdirectory.htm)

-   Wetland Ecosystems 1: Habitats, Communities and the Diversity of
    Life available online FREE @
    <http://www.ducks.ca/cgibin/www.cgi?tp=IS&pg=SPW048X&ab=1&kp=1102>

-   [The Fragile Fringe: A Guide for Teaching About Coastal
    Wetlands]{.underline} available online FREE @
    <http://lacoast.gov/education/FragileFringe/index.htm>

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-   Teacher power point presentation (21.9 MB) about Louisiana Coastal
    Wetlands available @
    <http://lacoast.gov/education/classroom/index.htm>

-   [Wading into Wetlands]{.underline} by the National Wildlife
    Federation

Activities include: Making a clay model of a wetland, locating major
American wetlands, making a mud snail puzzle, distinguishing real
wetland plants from imaginary ones, preparing foods from the wetlands,
making cattails, and more.

-   [Let's Hear It for Herps]{.underline} by the National Wildlife
    Federation

Activities include: learning about characteristics of herps at stations,
performing a play called *Herps on Stage*, singing a song about frog
development, making a reptile number book, making origami frogs, and
more.

-   [Discover Nature in Water & Wetlands]{.underline} by Elizabeth P.
    Lawlor

Good reference book for teachers.

### 

### Reading

[ONE SMALL SQUARE:SWAMP]{.underline} by Donald M. Silver

[One Small Square: Pond]{.underline} by Donald M. Silver

[SPOONBILL SWAMP]{.underline} by B. Guiberson

[\*LEAPFROGGING THROUGH WETLANDS]{.underline} by Margaret Anderson

[The Magic School Bus: Hops Home (wetland habitats)]{.underline} by
Joanna Cole 

[The Magic School Bus: Gets Eaten (food chains)]{.underline} by Joanna
Cole

[Marshes and Swamps]{.underline} by Gail Gibbons

[Wild and Swampy]{.underline} by Jim Arnosky

[A New True Book: Wetlands]{.underline} Defines different types of
wetlands, where they\'re found, wildlife uses, pollution, and laws) by
Emilie U. Lepthien and Joan Kalbacken

# EASY CHAPTER Books for Literature Groups

-   [Back to the Bayou]{.underline} by Jon Buller & Susan Schade

-   [Wild in the U.S.A.]{.underline} (Animal Planet) by Jane
    Hammerslough

**More Reading Experiences to Compliment Disappearing Wetlands:**

Compare and contrast fairy tales to their Cajun equivalents:

-   [Cinderella]{.underline} & [Cendrillon: A Cajun
    Cinderellla]{.underline} by Sheila Hebert Collins

-   [Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood]{.underline} by Mike Artell

-   [Jolie Blonde and the Three Heberts]{.underline} by Sheila Hebert
    Collins

**BE CAUTIOUS - PREVIEW BEFORE OREDERING & USING. Some Cajun versions of
the fairy tales may be too gruesome.**

**Wetland Sites: Links, Ideas, & Activities**

Swamp & Marsh Biomes @
<http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/biomes/swamp/swamp.shtml>

######### Gander Academy's wetland page @ <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/ecowetlands.htm>

######### Wetland Links @ <http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/wetlands.html> 

######### More Wetland Links @<http://annettelamb.com/42explore/wetland.htm>

Wetland Theme Page @ <http://www.cln.org/themes/wetlands.html>

######### 

######### And now......... on to the curriculum 

> **[Disappearing Wetlands]{.underline}**

**Unit 1: Louisiana's Changing Wetlands**

Have children draw a picture of a scientist. Most of them will draw a
male (with wild hair) in a lab coat surrounded by test tubes. Then
introduce the scientists they will be "working with".

**Where are we going and why ? (THE classic JASON question)**

Children should first learn the basics of world geography - 7
continents, 4 oceans, equator, latitude, longitude, tropical zones,
polar zones, & the hemispheres.

-   Act out the globe. Have kids touch their heads and say North Pole,
    put their hands on their waists and say equator, put their hands on
    their feet and say South Pole.

-   Use rubber stamps of the continents and let the children stamp them
    in their proper hemispheres.

-   Be creative. First study the shapes of the continents. Then discuss
    what each continent looks like. Give the children the shapes of each
    continent and have them write this sentence underneath: This is the
    continent of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ but it looks like \_\_\_\_\_ to me.
    Example - *This is South America but it looks like a pork chop to
    me.*

-   Using blue butcher paper, make a map of the world. Use string to put
    on the longitude and latitude lines. Using a copy machine, enlarge
    the continents to scale. Have the students place the continents in
    the correct locations by latitude and longitude.

Children should then focus on the basics of North American geography so
they understand their location in relationship to the expedition
location.

-   After teaching the students about a distance scale, have them
    measure the distance from their location to Louisiana. Display a map
    in the classroom showing both locations.

-   Louisiana is important because of its location - right at the mouth
    of the Mississippi River on the Gulf of Mexico. It is also important
    because it contains about 40% of the coastal marshland in the
    contiguous U.S.

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-   Demonstrate 40% using a dollar's worth of dimes. Then use a hundreds
    chart. Have the children color in 40 out of the 100 boxes to show
    what percent of coastal marshland is located in LA. Finally, draw a
    pie graph to illustrate 40 %.

####### Research Article

**What is a river system?**

-   Teach the children about river systems - tributaries &
    distributaries.

-   Locate the Mississippi River on a U.S. map. Find its source in
    northern Minnesota and its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. Make sure
    children look at the map on page 21 so that they see the area in the
    Mississippi watershed.

-   If possible, enlarge the map and give each child a copy. Have the
    children trace over the Mississippi River, its tributaries, and its
    distributaries with a dark blue marker. Then lightly color the
    entire watershed with a light blue marker.

**How did the Mississippi River create Louisiana's coastal wetlands ?**

-   Make sure students understand the deposition of sedimentation with a
    simple demonstration. Place a shovel full of dirt (without grass
    cover) at the top of a large tilted pan. Pour water over the dirt
    and observe the run off and deposition of sediment at the base of
    the pan.

**How** **do rivers interact with Earth's systems ?**

-   Children need to be introduced to the Earth's systems: hydrosphere,
    geosphere, atmosphere, biosphere. Use the diagram on page 24 to help
    explain the differences. *Word Study Tip: point out the word sphere
    in each word then point out the beginnings of each word: hydro -
    water, geo - earth, bio - life.*

**Why are Louisian's coastal wetlands disappearing ? What is the role of
the marshes in land building ?**

-   Teach the children about salinity to help them understand how a
    change in salinity might kill some plants. You might want to set up
    an experiment where you water one plant with regular water and
    another with salt water.

-   Help children understand how a marsh can be easily washed away when
    vegetation dies: Do the demonstration with the shovel full of dirt
    again. This time do it twice: first with a shovel full of dirt
    (without grass) then with a shovel full of dirt (with grass). Pour
    water over the dirt samples and observe the difference in the run
    off and deposition of sediment at the base of the pan. The plants
    slow erosion.

-   Pull out a plant by its roots so that the children can actually see
    the quantity of dirt that the roots hold.

**What effects have people had on the river system ? Is there hope for
Louisiana's wetlands ?**

-   Explain to the children the changes that man has made to the river
    system and why: levees, dams, locks, etc. You may want to make
    models of these barriers so that the children can see how they would
    effect the river system.

-   Discuss the scientists' projects that support land-building forces.

**Curriculum Activities:**

**Let's Settle This !**

-   Make sure children know that real scientists follow the series of
    logical steps presented on page 30. Make a large poster of these
    steps to display in your classroom so those children can refer to
    them often.

-   This **HbL** can be done as an observation with younger children.
    Make sure that the children understand the vocabulary: gravity,
    particle, sediment, suspension, translucent, transparent. To teach
    the difference between translucent and transparent use wax paper Vs
    a transparency for the overhead.

**A Bird's-Eye View of Land Change/Mapping the Coastline**

-   Have children draw a bird's-eye view of the classroom. Explain that
    their desks, bookcases, & tables will all look like rectangles. This
    is not a 3-D view.

-   Explain how scientists use bird's-eye views of areas. Show the
    children some samples of aerial photography and satellite images.

-   Make different colored transparencies of the aerial images of
    Louisiana so that the children can see the changes over time.

**Monitoring the Marsh: A "Core" Issue**

-   Children can be taught about sediment coring with cupcakes that are
    baked in colored layers and straws. Find a lesson plan @
    [http://oceandrilling.coe.tamu.edu/curriculum/Sediments/teachers_notes.html]{.underline}

-   Make sure that children understand the meaning of vegetation & mass
    before beginning then do Activity 1.2 (pages 37 - 40) as a
    demonstration followed by group discussion.

**Testing for Density & Salinity**

-   *Word Study Tip: Discuss meaning of dense - a dense forest.* Have
    the children taste chocolate angel food cake vs. fudge, pea soup vs.
    broth.

-   Teach the children the concept of density with vegetable oil and
    water. Color a cup of water blue. Add a half of a cup of oil and
    shake. Let the liquids settle so that the children can see the oil
    resting on top of the water.

-   Then explain that salt water has a different density than freshwater
    because of its salinity. Demonstrate by placing a hard-boiled egg in
    a tall glass of freshwater. It will sink to the bottom. Take the egg
    out and increase the salinity of the water (with table salt) until
    the egg floats.

-   If you color salt water then very slowly pour freshwater on top of
    it. You can create a liquid sandwich to further demonstrate how
    salinity effects density.

**Unit 2:Louisiana's Wetland Ecosystem**

###### **Research Article: The Life of a Marsh**

**What kind of wetland ecosystems can be found in Louisiana ?**

-   Children should be taught the difference between swamps and marshes.
    Swamps support trees. Marshes support low-lying plants such as
    grasses. The amount of salinity also determines the type of
    wetland - freshwater, intermediate, brackish, and saltwater.

**What kinds of plants and animals do Louisiana's wetlands support ?**

-   Forested wetlands support deciduous trees, small woody plants,
    migrating birds, reptiles such as alligators & turtles, amphibians
    such as frogs & salamanders, and wading birds such as herons,
    egrets, and ibises. Pictures of plants in forested wetlands @
    [http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/land/wetland/plantfor.html]{.underline}

-   The biodiveristy of life in a marsh decreases as the salinity
    increases. Freshwater marshes support 93 species of plants and they
    are home to many animals. Saltwater marshes supporting only 17
    species of plans and a narrower range of animals which include crab,
    speckled trout, redfish, and shrimp.

-   Do your own biodiversity study in your schoolyard (grass & weeds).
    Use hula-hoops or inexpensive hangers (pulled into a square shape)
    as "quadrants". Have children work in pairs to pick a leaf (blade)
    of each different plant that they find. Have them tape them to a
    large piece of manila as they find them. Count and record how many
    species were found. As a class, record the numbers of species found
    by each group. Do a bar graph of the class findings. You may want to
    use some books to have the children identify their plants by name.

**How do plants and animals depend on one another and their environment
for survival ?**

-   Teach children about food chains. Use the freshwater marsh food
    chain on page 52 as an example.

-   Book suggestion: [The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten]{.underline} (A
    Book About Food Chains) by Joanna Cole

-   Teach the vocabulary - producers, consumers, decomposers.

**How are changes to Louisiana's wetlands impacting the plant and animal
communities that live there ?**

-   Saltwater intrusion and the introduction of alien species are
    factors that contribute to the disappearance of the Louisiana
    wetlands. Explain these concepts to the children.

**Curriculum Activities:**

**Observing Osmosis**

-   This **HbL** can be done as an observation with younger children.
    Make sure that the children understand the vocabulary: cell, cell
    membrane, osmosis.

### Mapping Ecosystems & Organisms

-   Explain the concept of sampling in order to estimate population.
    Take a mix of candy and pour it out on a grid of sixteen 4" squares.
    Sample the candy from one square to predict the total numbers of
    each different candy. Create a corresponding bar graph showing the
    data.

-   ![](media/image1.png){width="3.2in" height="1.4in"}Use the copy
    machine to enlarge the fish (activity master 2.1B) to their real
    size so that the children can visualize them for discussion. As a
    group, discuss then predict which fish will be found at each site.
    Base predictions on the characteristics of the ecosystems, the
    salinity range tolerated by each fish, and the descriptions of fish.

### How Many Nutria Are Too Many Nutria ?

-   Nutria are alien herbivores who effect the wetland ecosystems. This
    activity will have to be done as a demonstration with younger
    students

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-   Webquest --Help Bubba ,the nutria rat, find a new location to live @
    <http://teacher.esuhsd.org/webquests/webquests/nutria_rats/WQ039.html>

[**Observing
Invertebrates**](http://teacher.esuhsd.org/webquests/webquests/nutria_rats/WQ039.html)

-   Younger children need to be introduced to invertebrates. If possible
    bring some of the seashells into the classroom that are referred to
    on page 69.

-   Brainpop movie about invertebrates @
    [www.brainpop.com](http://www.brainpop.com/)

**Project Suggestions for Unit 2:**

Aquatic Field Study (a JASON classic)

**Children should have a basic understanding of watersheds and water
ecosystems. This is a good time to do the aquatic field study) which is
now found online. Visit the "Field Research - Doing Science Anywhere"
section.**

-   Younger students may need to be paired with older students/ parent
    volunteers OR parents can man stations. Children could travel from
    station to station (in small groups) with their water and have an
    adult help them with the various tests. Prior to doing the Aquatic
    Field Study, students will also have to become familiar with
    scientific terms.

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-   Take a walk around the school for children to get a feel for the
    topography of their area. Have them observe both at school and at
    home where water travels after a rain.

-   Introduce the children to the concept of freshwater aquatic
    invertebrates. Do a simulation of collecting and classifying
    organisms.

-   Introduce the children to the concept that aquatic creatures get
    their oxygen from water. Then they will understand why it is
    important to test for dissolved oxygen in the water.

-   The class weatherman reports the air temperature every day. Discuss
    different temperatures and how they relate to our weather. Then
    relate what has been learned to water temperature. Have children
    practice taking temperatures of water at different temperatures.

-   Introduce the concept of PH to the children. Test the PH of everyday
    liquids and graph the PH results. Make sure that children understand
    the relationship between PH level and abundance of life.

-   Introduce the concept of density and salinity by creating a liquid
    sandwich. Color liquids with different densities with food coloring.
    You can literally stack the liquids on top of each other. Make sure
    that children understand that salinity affects water density.

-   Shine light through water to teach the concept of clarity.

-   Introduce the children to the different types of sediment.

-   Have children practice making weather observations and help them
    become familiar with the Beaufort Scale.

-   Brainpop Movies

> Temperature @
>
> <http://brainpop.com/science/energyandheat/temperature/index.weml>

[PH @](http://brainpop.com/science/energyandheat/temperature/index.weml)

<http://brainpop.com/science/matter/ph/index.weml>

-   Adopt-A-Watershed Curriculum Units by Grade Level can be found @

[http://www.adopt-a
watershed.org/matrix/matrix.htm](http://www.adopt-a/)

###### Wetland Animal & Plant Projects

-   Choose a wetland animal and create an acrostic poem about it OR
    write other kinds of poetry about wetland animals. Bind into a
    booklet. Have parents in for a poetry reading !

-   Collect wetland animal poems and have the children illustrate them.
    (You could use these poems for handwriting practice). Bind into
    booklets then share with younger students while all snack on wetland
    treats.

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-   Choose a wetland animal and illustrate its food chain using *Kid
    Pix*.

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-   Wetland Animal Riddles - make up riddles about wetland animals. Fold
    a piece of paper (with the fold at the top). Write the riddle on the
    outside then open the paper to find a picture (drawing) of the
    answer. Make into an interactive class bulletin board.

-   Research Reports: "Wetland Animals Chatter" - interviews with
    wetland animals. Have each child choose an animal to research. Each
    child is given the same basic questions to answer about his/her
    animal. The child does research to find the answers, writes out the
    answers in paragraph form, and presents the answers orally. The
    child also makes an animal mask or hat to wear for the oral report.
    The oral reports are done as interviews and the parents are invited
    in to hear them. Here are suggested questions:

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-   What kind of animal are you ? What special adaptations do you have
    that help you survive ?

-   What kind of wetland do you live in ? Are you endemic ? native ?

-   How are your young born? For how long and how do you take care of
    your young ?

-   Can you tell us about your life cycle? What is your average life
    span ?

-   What are your favorite foods ?

-   Who are your natural enemies and why ?

-   What special characteristics do you have that help protect you from
    your enemies ?

-   Is there anything unique about you ?

-   Have human activities affected your species ? What can we as humans
    do to help protect you from extinction ?

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-   Group project: Divide children into groups to research the different
    wetland ecosystems (marsh, swamp, bayou, etc). Get large boxes and
    let them work together to create jumbo dioramas of their ecosystem
    OR Have the children work as a group on a *Kid Pix* slide show that
    tells about their ecosystem.

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-   Use parents and/or older students to help children research then
    draw life-size models of their animals to adorn the school\'s
    hallways. Great for measurement skills !!

-   Create dioramas showing a wetland animal in its natural habitat. Pay
    attention to details -- for instance, if it's nocturnal make sure
    your diorama's setting is night.

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-   Compare field leaves to wetland leaves. Trace real leaves. Have the
    children make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast what they
    discover.

-   Use a classification tree to \"key out\" or identify the students in
    your class. An example can be found in Ranger Rick\'s *Trees Are
    Terrific* or you can make your own.

-   Divide children into groups and give them a handful of buttons. Tell
    them to put like buttons together (classify them) but don\'t specify
    how. Afterwards, talk about what characteristics each group chose to
    determine which buttons should be together.

-   Then classify leaves as simple, compound, alternate opposite,
    pinnate, palmate, parallel, etc.

**Unit 3: Managing Louisiana's Wetlands**

####### Research Article: Changing the Flow

**How have humans impacted Louisiana's wetlands ?**

-   Make a large timeline of the changes that humans have made to the
    Mississippi Delta region using the information on page 75. Discuss
    the pros and cons of those changes.

**What are the social and economic effects of wetland loss in Louisiana
? How are people working together to restore Louisiana's wetlands ?**

-   Louisiana is in hurricane country. Wetlands provide natural buffer
    to the forces of hurricanes. Learn more about hurricanes @
    [www.brainpop.com/science/weather/hurricanes](http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/hurricanes)

**Curriculum Activities:**

### Let the River Run

-   This **HbL** can be done as an observation with younger children.
    Make sure that the children understand the vocabulary: potential
    energy, kinetic energy, mass, energy, friction.

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-   [The Amazing Earth Model Book]{.underline} by Donald M. Silver and
    Patricia J. Wynne has river models.

######## Weighing the Stakes

-   This activity can be done to teach writing from different points of
    view. Each day present a different side of the Davis Pond Freshwater
    Division Project. Discuss the concerns from that stakeholder's point
    of view. Then write a paragraph telling how the project will affect
    their lives. Children may be able to role-play a public meeting
    about the project.

##### What do Coastal Wetlands Do ?

-   Make a giant graphic organizer (spider) to discuss and summarize
    this material found on page 88.

######## Restoration and Reintroduction Methods 

-   Make a giant graphic organizer (spider) to discuss and summarize
    this material found on page 89.

######## How Satellites Take Pictures 

######## Discuss what a satellite picture is and how they are useful. Look at weather satellite pictures @ www.weather.com. 

**Themes Related to Disappearing Wetlands**

**Water**

-   Rhymes, crafts, activities, water cycle diagrams, Water Cycle
    Adventure (A Reader's Theater script), weather quizzes and more @
    <http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/water.shtml>

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-   Books: [Water]{.underline}(A fun, colorful beginning book about
    water) by Frank Asch

> [Water]{.underline} (An amazing pop-up, pull-tab, lift-the-flap guide
> to all aspects Water\--groundwater, streams, floods, drinking water,
> and more) by Francois Michel

[Water Dance]{.underline} (Poems and Pictures about water) by Thomas
Locker

> [The Water's Journey]{.underline} (Descriptive text/pictures describe
> the water cycle in our everyday lives) by Eleonore Schmid

### Hurricanes

-   Hurricane Theme Page @ <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/hurricanes.htm>. The
    links on this page provide direct access to the worksheets for all
    activities on hurricanes.

**Clouds**

-   Printouts, cloud information and more @
    http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/clouds/index.shtml

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-   Gander Academy's cloud page @ <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/clouds.htm>

### Rivers

### Information , printouts, and more @ [**http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/geography/rivers/**](http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/geography/rivers/)

### Amphibians & Reptiles

-   Research & informational sites, online lesson plans, online
    activities @ <http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/reptiles.html>

-   Reptile and amphibian themes links @
    http://www.fastq.com/\~jbpratt/education/theme/reptileamphibian.html

### Alligators

-   Rhymes, craft, alligator information, alligator printouts and more @
    <http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/alligator.shtml>

-   Gander Academy's alligator page @
    <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/alligator.htm>

### Frogs

-   Rhymes, printouts, a crafts, frog life cycle, Cloze Activity,
    quizzes and more @
    <http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/frog.shtml>

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-   [Books:](http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/frog.shtml) [Frog
    and Toad]{.underline} by Arnold Lobel

> [Ask Me If I\'m a Frog]{.underline} by Ann Milton
>
> [Frog and Toad are Friends]{.underline} by Arnold Lobel
>
> [Frog and Toad Together]{.underline} by Arnold Lobel
>
> [Frog Went A-Courtin\']{.underline} by John Lanstaff
>
> [Frogs, Toads, Lizards, and Salamanders]{.underline} by Nancy Parker
> and Joan Wright
>
> [In a Small, Small Pond]{.underline} by Denise Fleming
>
> [Jump, Frog, Jump]{.underline} by Robert Kalan
>
> [I Took My Frog to the Library]{.underline} by Eric Kimmel
>
> [Tuesday]{.underline} by Wiesner
>
> [Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book]{.underline} by Jerry Pallotta
>
> [It\'s a Frog\'s Life!; My Story of Life in a Pond]{.underline} by
> Steve Parker

### Ducks 

-   Rhymes, printouts, a craft, duck jokes, and more @
    <http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/duck.shtml>

Books: [A Duckling is Born]{.underline} by Hans-Heinrich Isenbart

[Watching Water Birds]{.underline} by Jim Arnosky

[A First Look at Ducks, Geese, and Swan]{.underline} by Millicent E.
Selsam and Joyce Hunt

[The Duck and the Owl]{.underline} by Hanna Johansen

[The Story of Little Quack]{.underline} by Betty Gibson

[Don\'t Fidget a Feather]{.underline} by Erica Silverman

[Quacky Duck]{.underline} by Paul and Emma Rogers

Activities for the above books found @
<http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?external=http://www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/ducks.html&original=http://www.proteacher.com/110008.shtml&title=Ducks>

[[Ducks Don\'t Get
Wet]{.underline}](http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?external=http://www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/ducks.html&original=http://www.proteacher.com/110008.shtml&title=Ducks)
by Augusta Golden.

[Watch William Walk]{.underline} by Ann.Jonas

[Bentley and Eggs]{.underline} by Joyce William.

[The Three Dots]{.underline} by Elise Primavera

[Howard]{.underline} by James Stevenson

[Albert\'s Play]{.underline} by Leslie Tyron

[See How They Grow]{.underline} by Barrie Watts

### Insects

-   Poems, fingerplays, songs, crafts, links, lessons, literature,
    activity sheets and more @
    <http://teachingheart.net/teachinsects.html>

### Dragonflies

-   Gander Academy's dragonfly page @
    <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/ccdragonflies.htm>

-   Books: [My Life As A Dragonfly: Swimmer to Flyer]{.underline} by
    William Cruscial 

-   **Butterflies**

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-   Rhymes, printouts, crafts, printable books, butterfly life cycle,
    and more @ <http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/butterfly.shtml>

-   Gander Academy's butterfly page @
    <http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/butterflies.htm>

Culminating Activities:

-   Design a Disappearing Wetlands shirt to wear to the expedition. Use
    fabric crayons or permanent markers. Challenge the kids to come up
    with a design that focuses on everything that they have learned.

-   Make a class quilt with the animals & plants of Disappearing
    Wetlands.

-   Create a class ABC book of wetlands, rainforest animals, or
    rainforest plants for your school library.

-   Get a large refrigerator box work together to create a jumbo diorama
    of a wetland.

-   Group children to work on *Kid Pix* slide-shows that tell about
    different types of wetlands.

Final Note: What About Assessment ?

-   Recommended book for teachers of primary grades - **[Rubrics,
    Checklists and Other Assessments for the Science You
    Teach]{.underline}** by Ann Flagg. This book provides easy
    assessments to use with science activities. It gives checklists,
    journal rubrics, drawing assessments, etc.