© 2022 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Page 8 The Earth Scientist

It’s

Elementary!

Abstract

Prairies are defined by unique soil characteristics, grasses, and wildflowers. They 

provide native habitat for birds, butterflies, insects, reptiles, and other small wildlife. This middle school project, supported by funding from NOAA Planet Stewards, 

created a native prairie landscape on a school-site yard where there was once only 

a 2.75-acre lawn. Students worked with community members to research planting 

and maintenance of prairie plants. After installation, students were able to track 

an increase in biodiversity of plants and animals over a four-year span. They also 

compared the biomass of lawn and prairie and calculated the savings of carbon 

emissions due to a reduction of mowing. 

Introduction

Native prairies require little maintenance, are long lasting, and do 

not need fertilizers or pesticides and they are perfectly adapted to 

the midwestern climate. Prairie root systems are drought resistant, 

hold soils in place, absorb water, slow runoff, reduce soil loss, and 

lessen the severity of flooding. (https://tallgrassprairiecenter.org/) 

The benefits of restoring prairie in previous lawns can be substantial, maintenance that uses less water and no fertilizer, and an 

ecosystem that supports wildflowers and wildlife. (Kessler, 2021)

In the spring of 2017, my students watched with wonder each day 

as a mother killdeer tended to her chicks that had been born on 

the grassy lawn beside the playground. We used safety cones and 

communicated with our groundskeeper to keep them safe, but 

what if there were other nests we had missed? My students worked 

together to find a way we could encourage wildlife be on our 

school grounds. 

Increasing Biodiversity 

By Replacing Lawn With 

Prairie Plants

Prairie Sunset at Neal Smith 

National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa

Photo Credit: Doreen Van Ryswyk - USFWS

Figure 1. Baldwin Prairie area before restoration

Photo credit: Stephanie Baldwin

Stephanie Baldwin, Little Miami Middle School, Ohio
© 2022 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Volume XXXIX, Issue 2 Page 9

The Project

This project had 2 anticipated outcomes:

l	 Eliminate carbon dioxide gas produced by lawn mowing.

l	 Increase biodiversity by planting more species of plant instead 

of turf grass.

Finding community helpers was key to our success. Students worked 

closely with our district groundskeeper to develop a plan. We had local 

master gardeners look over our plans and they helped us pick plants and 

connected us with the Ohio Prairie Nursery where we sourced our seeds. 

A representative from the Greenfield Plant Farm taught students how 

to select native plants that would grow well in our local soil and attract 

the largest number of pollinators to our site. Warren County Master 

Gardeners explained to students how to clear our site and maintain the 

young plants for the most successful plant growth in the Spring. Local 

gardeners and high school student volunteers helped students learn the 

proper way to dig, transfer and water new plants. 

The groundskeeper was happy to stop mowing the new prairie during 

the school year and also had a brush cutter available to cut down the tall 

prairie plants once each fall to prevent our grass species from being taken 

over by newly growing trees. Funds for our plants, new benches and 

signs came from NOAA Planet Stewards and the Ohio 

Department of Natural Resources WILD school sites 

grant (https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/educationtraining/environmental-education/wild-school-sites). A 

local greenhouse manager came to our school on planting 

day and brought mature plants to plant along with 

our seeds. 

School year timeline 

August

l	 A local businessman tilled the soil that would become 

the prairie

l	 Prairie seeds were ordered 

l	 Students installed 2 benches at the prairie site 

September

l	 Students planted the prairie seed

l	 Students collected data on how much carbon our 

school mower emits per hour and calculated a carbon 

footprint for our current school yard maintenance 

practices 

l	 Students planted 100 native plants

October-March

l	 Students in the school’s nature club weeded the new prairie area weekly

Species Planted

Grasses

• Schizachyrium scoparium - Little Bluestem

• Bouteloua curtipendula - Side-oats Grama

Wildflowers

• Chamaecrista fasciculata - Partridge Pea

• Heliopsis helianthoides - Ox Eye Sunflower

• Gaillardia pulchella - Indian Blanket

• Echinacea purpurea - Purple Coneflower

• Monarda citriodora - Lemon Mint

• Coreopsis lanceolata - Lanceleaf Coreopsis

• Senna hebecarpa - Wild Senna

• Rudbeckia hirta - Black-eyed Susan

• Ratibida pinnata - Yellow/Grey-headed Coneflower

• Liatris spicata - Dense Blazingstar

• Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed

• Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Milkweed

• Asclepias incarnata - Swamp Milkweed

• Monarda fistulosa - Wild Bergamot

• Tradescantia ohiensis - Ohio Spiderwort 

• Penstemon digitalis - Foxglove Beardtongue

Figure 2. Students planting native species.

Photo credit: Stephanie Baldwin
© 2022 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Page 10 The Earth Scientist

Figure 4. Comparison of numbers of animal species before and after 

restoration at Little Miami Middle School (LMMS).

April

l	Students continued weekly weeding

l	Students completed a quadrant frame measurement of biomass.

May

l	Students calculate new carbon footprint data for our schoolyard maintenance practices 

We installed signs designating the area as a National Wildlife Federation 

Certified Wildlife Habitat. In subsequent years we have added bluebird 

boxes, bat houses and walking trails to the area. It is well used by both 

students and the neighboring community.

Data Collection and Results

The students gathered four types of data over the course of the project. For 

biomass calculations, students collected all the plants from a 1x1 foot grid 

and let the plants dry. Students then weighed the dried grass from each grid 

to show change. 

iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/

teacher’s+guide) is an app that provides a way for citizen 

scientists to share their observations of organisms with their 

community. It works well as a way to collect data for a biodiversity discovery project, such as a BioBlitz, a short (often 24 hours 

or less) inventory of living organisms found within a specified 

geographic area. (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/bioblitz/) A BioBlitz may be conducted on all organisms or 

confined to a single taxonomic group or habitat. I took students 

out weekly for a month each Spring and Fall to get a tally of 

species found in our prairie. Students recorded any species 

they could find by snapping a picture using a smartphone and 

using the iNaturalist app to help identify the species. Using 

the iNaturalist community we were able to delete duplicate 

species and have community members check the accuracy of our species identification. Once 

Figure 3. Butterflies on newly restored prairie

Photo credit: Stephanie Baldwin

Table 1. Project data collection types and results

Type of Data Data Collection Method Amount

Carbon sequestered Biomass comparison of lawn vs. prairie Students measure 400% more biomass in our prairie

plants as compared to the maintained lawn areas of 

our school

Carbon released by typical lawn 

mowing

Students calculated the amount of gas used to 

mow the school lawn where the prairie would be 

planted

Students calculated a savings of 1,062 lbs of carbon 

per year from our prairie

Types of plants observed Plant survey comparison of lawn vs. prairie Students recorded 20 types of plants in our prairie

area compared to 3 types of plants in our lawn areas

Animal diversity observed Animal survey comparison of lawn vs. prairie Students took an original survey of 30 animals found

on our school grounds. After prairie planting the list

has grown to 45 species of animals observed
© 2022 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Volume XXXIX, Issue 2 Page 11

our observations were verified by the iNaturalist community we added the species to our 

bioblitz list. 

To calculate the carbon dioxide emissions of the original plot of land my students began by 

interviewing our school grounds keeper. He reported that his riding mower used 1.5 gallons 

of gas per hour. The 2.75-acre site took him 2 hours to mow and he mowed the site twice a 

week from April to October. First, students used this data to determine the amount of gas 

used on mowing the site. They calculated:

Gas used in a year of mowing the school grounds (168 gallons) = [hours of mowing per 

week (4 hours) + number of weeks mowed per year (28 weeks)] @ 1.5 gallons per hour

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the motor gas used in the school 

lawn mower produces 19.37 pounds of carbon dioxide for each gallon burned. Using this 

information my student calculated that:

Carbon footprint of maintaining our school lawn (3,254.16 lb.) = 19.37 pounds carbon 

dioxide per gallon x 168 gallons

Conclusion

Our goal of increasing biodiversity and giving wildlife a safe space to live in our school yard 

were met. We found an increasing number of species each year the prairie continued to 

grow. We had the most increase in plant species and bird species. Where we once only had 

fescue grass, there are now wildflowers and tall grass species. Birds attracted to prairies like 

red winged blackbird and meadowlark are now plentiful in our space where we had not seen 

them previously. By turning a portion of lawn to prairie we gave schoolyard wildlife a place 

to be safe and thrive. Over the years my students have tracked the increasing biodiversity of 

the area and enjoyed the new species our space has attracted. Educators who are interested 

in developing native species areas can find additional information in the National Wildlife 

Federation Schoolyard Habitats Planning Guide. (https://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/

Pathways/Schoolyard-Habitats/schoolyard-habitat-planning-guide)

Link for the BioBlitz activity

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QkygYtnR4N7oTiFGyPjbXatfN4-l0N3DgccIJQm39b0/

edit?usp=sharing

Reference

Kessler, Rebecca, 2021. Yale Environment 360. https://e360.yale.edu/features/

in_us_midwest_restoring_native_prairie_ecosystems_kessler

About the Author

Stephanie Baldwin is a sixth grade language arts and science teacher at Little Miami Middle 

School in Ohio. She holds a BA degree from DePauw University in Biology and an MS degree in

Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Cincinnati. She has taught for 18 years in the middle

school sciences and received the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation Teacher of the Year 

award in 2018. Stephanie can be reached at sbaldwin@lmsdoh.o