After concluding the story ask if anyone thinks they've figured out . . . Include valuable characteristics of cattails and a fact about each animal. If possible, have students tell interesting facts. Announce that a pesticide did get into the water that flows through King's Folly Marsh. Students will represent animals and plants that live in the marsh.
Cattails take up water and pesticide dissolved in it.
Muskrat and mice give all plates to the eagle . The eagle dies. Shellfish, such as clams and mussels , feed by filtering tiny plants and animals from water. The Wonders of Wetlands . Environmental Concern Inc. and The Watercourse, pp.116-119.