Embedded Files
Cattails (Genus Typha)
When students walk along the edge of our wetland, one of the first plants they notice is the cattail. Tall, sturdy, and impossible to miss, cattails grow where the soil stays wet and the water level changes throughout the year. These plants are not just standing near the water. They are part of the wetland system itself.
Cattails belong to the genus Typha and are specially adapted to live in places where many plants cannot survive. Their roots grow in saturated soil with very little oxygen, and their long leaves and stems help move air down to those roots. This adaptation allows cattails to thrive in marshes, ditches, ponds, and wetland edges like those found on our campus.
Throughout the year, students observe cattails closely. In the growing season, we study their tall leaves and developing flower spikes. In the fall, we watch as the brown seed heads break apart, releasing thousands of tiny, lightweight seeds into the air. These seeds travel by wind and water, helping cattails spread across wetland areas. Students collect, examine, and document these structures as part of our field investigations.
Cattails play an important role in wetland ecosystems. They provide shelter for birds, insects, and small animals, and their dense growth helps slow moving water. As water flows through cattail stands, sediments can settle out, and nutrients are absorbed by the plants. In this way, cattails help wetlands act as natural filters that protect water quality.
At the same time, students learn that even native plants must exist in balance. Cattails can spread quickly through underground stems called rhizomes, sometimes growing so densely that other wetland plants struggle to survive. This makes cattails an excellent species for discussing how environmental conditions, plant adaptations, and competition influence biodiversity.
By studying Typha, students deepen their understanding of how plant structures support survival, how organisms interact with their environment, and how wetlands function as complex, living systems. These observations help students connect classroom science to the real ecosystems they explore every week, building both scientific knowledge and a sense of stewardship for the habitats around them.
Cattails (Genus Typha)
We observe the phenomena "bursting catails"
in our wetland and swamp.
Student's Guiding Questions About Cattails
Student's Guiding Questions About Cattails
• What physical features help cattails live in wetland soil?
• How do cattail seeds travel and spread to new places?
• What animals or insects might use cattails for food or shelter?
• How might cattails help improve water quality in a wetland?
• How are cattails similar to and different from other wetland plants you have observed?
Student Learning Goals
Student Learning Goals
Through our cattail investigations, students are learning to:
Identify the structures of a plant and describe what each part does
Explain how cattails are adapted to live in wet, low-oxygen soil
Observe and record evidence of plant growth and reproduction
Describe how plants interact with water, soil, and other organisms in an ecosystem
Use observations and evidence to explain how wetlands function as systems
Standards Alignment (5th Grade Science)
Standards Alignment (5th Grade Science)
Our cattail (Typha) investigations align with Georgia 5th grade life science standards by focusing on plant structures, adaptations, ecosystems, and environmental interactions.
S5L4: Students examine cattails as plants and explain how their structures support survival and reproduction in wetland environments.
S5L1: Students classify cattails as wetland plants and group organisms based on observable traits and habitat.
S5L2: Students explore how cattails contribute to matter cycling in wetlands by absorbing nutrients and returning organic material to the soil.
S5E1: Students investigate wetlands as Earth surface features and analyze how water and soil conditions affect plant growth and ecosystems.
These investigations emphasize observation, evidence-based reasoning, and real-world application of life science concepts.
Students record their observations of cattail seed. They write "I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of" statements.
We place cattail seeds on top of water to view its hydrophopic properties.
We observe cattail under the microscope, and with a handheld lens. Each student gets a sample of cattail seed in a lidded petri dish for observation.
Cattail wil burst on its own, so we store them in a container so that if it burst, it doesn't fill the classroom with seeds.
Students were independently cleaning cattail seed when they "ran out of our supply to clean." The students then wondered, "can we burst cattail into a collection jar?"
Students share their cleaning method for cleaning cattail.
The cleaned cattail seed ready to be stored in the seed library. These are called nutlets.
A group of students clean cattail seed by rubbing the fluff, or pappus, in their hands. They let the seed fall into a petri dish or piece of paper. They willow, or blow away, the remaining pappus from the seed.
Students draw and label cattail seed parts.
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