Embedded Files
Class discussion:
What is a wetland? What other names do we use to describe wetlands?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water.
Wetlands can also be called swamps, marshes, and bogs, depending on the environment.
What is the most famous swamp in Georgia?
The Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia is one of the largest swamps in the country.
Class Activity: Marsh Soup
Adapted from WOW: The Wonders of Wetlands
Materials: small cups and spoons, trays or tupperware
- Give each student or pair of students small cups and spoons, and instruct class to create 'Marsh Soup' with water, mud, rocks, and plants (remember, this soup is not for eating!)
- Collect each soup cup and pour contents into larger pans or tupperware containers
- Ask students to describe the earth materials that are in their soup
- Take-away message:
- Wetlands Soils are different from other soil because they are wet for very long periods of time; these soils are called hydric soils
- Wetlands Plants are different from other plants because they are able to grow where there is a large amount of water; these plants are 'water loving' or 'hydrophilic'
Class discussion:
What is a wetland? What other names do we use to describe wetlands?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water.
Wetlands can also be called swamps, marshes, and bogs, depending on the environment.
What is the most famous swamp in Georgia?
The Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia is one of the largest swamps in the country.
What is the difference between a swamp and a marsh?
A variety of reeds and grasses will grow in a marsh, but trees and larger plants can grow in a swamp. Swamps and marshes are types of wetlands.
Marshes can be found on the coast of Georgia, and swamps can be found all throughout the state (see pictures below, a Georgia Marsh on left and a Georgia Swamp on right)
Class Activity: Wetlands Metaphors
Adapted from WOW: Wonders of Wetlands
Materials: container or empty pillowcase with listed objects (or pictures of objects): sponge, pillow or bed, egg beater, cradle, strainer, coffee filter, cereal or rice, antacid tablet, picture of zoo, picture of resort or hotel, soap (see document to print: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uxt-EqWmO-21Q49tJ1xZ-CpOqw-VHJpWBWsN-jDKOb8/edit#slide=id.g2719875a13_0_12)
- Tell students that we are going to continue discussing the positive things about wetlands by using metaphors, words or objects used to symbolize something else
- Examples of metaphors include 'The world is a stage' and 'Books are windows to thoughts'
- Split students into groups of 3-4, and have each group randomly pick an object from the container/pillowcase
- Give students a few minutes to determine how the object their group picked could describe something about wetlands
- Allow a representative from each group to discuss how their object could explain a feature of wetlands. Examples for each object include:
- Sponge: Absorbs excess water caused by runoff; retains moisture for a time even if standing water dries up
- Pillow or bed: resting place for migratory birds
- Egg beater: nutrients mixed into the water
- Cradle: provides a nursery that shelters, protects, and feeds young wildlife
- Strainer: strains silt and debris from water (keeps water clean)
- Coffee filter: filters smaller impurities from water (keeps water clean)
- Antacid: neutralizes toxic substances (keeps water clean)
- Cereal or rice: provide nutrient-rich foods for wildlife and humans
- Soap: helps cleanse the environment
- Zoo: Habitat for diverse wildlife
- Resort or Motel: Resting or Wintering place for migrating waterfowl
Class discussion:
What is a wetland? What other names do we use to describe wetlands?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water.
Wetlands can also be called swamps, marshes, and bogs, depending on the environment.
What is the most famous swamp in Georgia?
The Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia is one of the largest swamps in the country.
How do wetlands or swamps help our environment?
Wetlands help control flooding by soaking up excess stormwater, like a sponge for the environment. Wetlands help maintain good water quality in rivers and streams, and provide a home for a large variety of plants and animals.
Wetlands have special soil and plants that loves to be wet. Wetlands soils are called hydric soil, and are often able to filter water to remove pollutants.
Demonstration: The wetlands act as a sponge to remove pollutants from water
Materials: two plastic cups, 1 dish sponge
- Fill one plastic cup with muddy water, including small chunks of dirt, to represent stormwater
- Place sponge on top of clean plastic cup to represent wetlands
- Pour stormwater/muddy water cup on top of sponge-- the wetlands sponge will trap dirt and filter clean water into the cup below
Class Activity: Insect Sampling
Materials: small nets, trays or tupperware, insect field guide or flashcards
- Give students small nets and containers to collect small insects or other critters from the shallow water crossing
- Instruct students to check under rocks and along the banks of the shore
- *watch out for crawfish pinchers!
- Collect any specimens in a shallow tray or tupperware container with water and examine using Field Guide: https://adoptastream.georgia.gov/sites/adoptastream.georgia.gov/files/related_files/document/Macro_Key.pdf
- Many of the insects found will be the 'nymph' form as part of their life cycle
- Take-away message:
- Many aquatic insects have life cycles that include Incomplete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg, grows into a nymph stage, and lastly their final, winged stage
- examples we can find at the wetlands include Dragonflies and Craneflies
- Many insects exhibit Complete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg and transforms into a larva and/or pupa before growing into their final stage
- examples we can find at the wetlands include Butterflies and Ladybugs
- Many aquatic insects have life cycles that include Incomplete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg, grows into a nymph stage, and lastly their final, winged stage
Class discussion:
What is a wetland?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water. Wetlands soils are called hydric soils because they are flooded for long periods of time. Hydric Soils create environments that favor hydrophytic plants, such as the vegetation seen here. Wetlands soils can also filter pollutants from the water.
How do wetlands or swamps help our environment?
Wetlands help control flooding by soaking up excess stormwater, like a sponge for the environment. Wetlands help maintain good water quality in rivers and streams, and provide a home for a large variety of plants and animals.
Demonstration: The wetlands act as a sponge to remove pollutants from water
Materials: two plastic cups, 1 dish sponge
- Fill one plastic cup with muddy water, including small chunks of dirt, to represent stormwater
- Place sponge on top of clean plastic cup to represent wetlands
- Pour stormwater/muddy water cup on top of sponge-- the wetlands sponge will trap dirt and filter clean water into the cup below
Class Activity: Insect Sampling
Materials: small nets, trays or tupperware, insect field guide or flashcards
- Give students small nets and containers to collect small insects or other critters from the shallow water crossing
- Instruct students to check under rocks and along the banks of the shore
- *watch out for crawfish pinchers!
- Collect any specimens in a shallow tray or tupperware container with water and examine using Field Guide: https://adoptastream.georgia.gov/sites/adoptastream.georgia.gov/files/related_files/document/Macro_Key.pdf
- Many of the insects found will be the 'nymph' form as part of their life cycle
- Take-away message:
- Many aquatic insects have life cycles that include Incomplete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg, grows into a nymph stage, and lastly their final, winged stage
- examples we can find at the wetlands include Dragonflies and Craneflies
- Many insects exhibit Complete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg and transforms into a larva and/or pupa before growing into their final stage
- examples we can find at the wetlands include Butterflies and Ladybugs
- Many aquatic insects have life cycles that include Incomplete Metamorphosis, where the insect hatches from an egg, grows into a nymph stage, and lastly their final, winged stage
Class discussion:
What is a wetland?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water. Wetlands soils are called hydric soils because they are flooded for long periods of time. Hydric Soils create environments that favor hydrophytic plants, such as the vegetation seen here. Wetlands soils can also filter pollutants from the water.
How do wetlands or swamps help our environment?
Wetlands help control flooding by soaking up excess stormwater, like a sponge for the environment. Wetlands help maintain good water quality in rivers and streams, and provide a home for a large variety of plants and animals.
What is unique about wetlands plants?
Wetlands plants have many adaptations that enable them to survive in the conditions that are characteristic of a wetlands.
What are wetland conditions that may influence plant life?
- Fluctuations in water level
- Permanent saturation with water (therefore, decreased access to Oxygen)
Class Activity: Survival of the Water Plant
Materials: flashcards of wetlands plant adaptations (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1d6O3RLunLCaMA6oRwCQWj3ITlO8L_o0HrGECRcj-vvE/edit#slide=id.g2719f975aa_0_1)
- Tell students that they will be 'matching' definitions of wetland plant definitions and adaptations to pictures showing the feature
- Hand out one card (either a definition or a picture) to each student and allow time for students to compare cards and create matches
- After each pair has been matched, ask students to discuss and share ideas on how the adaptation/feature on their card could help hydrophytic plants survive in wetlands
- Allow students to share ideas, and use information below to fill in pieces:
- Emergent plants extend out of the water to allow plants to access more sunlight and oxygen
- Floating plants have leaves, flowers, and fruit that float on the water to gain access to sunlight
- Submergent plants are adapted to not need as much sunlight or oxygen as other plants
- Aerenchyma are special air or pore spaces in the roots or stems of plants that allow oxygen to enter the plant and be transported within the plant
- Hollowed stems also allow the transport of oxygen to the roots of plants
- Shallow root systems, swollen trunks, or roots that grow above the ground to avoid oxygen depletion
Class discussion:
What is a wetland?
Wetlands are 'lands' that are 'wet.' Wetlands have special soils and plants that love water. Wetlands soils are called hydric soils because they are flooded for long periods of time. Hydric Soils create environments that favor hydrophytic plants, such as the vegetation seen here. Wetlands soils can also filter pollutants from the water.
How do wetlands or swamps help our environment?
Wetlands help control flooding by soaking up excess stormwater, like a sponge for the environment. Wetlands help maintain good water quality in rivers and streams, and provide a home for a large variety of plants and animals.
What is unique about hydric (wetland) soil?
Hydric soils are flooded for long periods of time, and have developed anaerobic conditions (without oxygen). Because oxygen is not able to seep through the soil, plants that grow in hydric soils must be adapted to live without much oxygen as well.
What are factors that can influence soil formation?
- nature of original 'parent' material
- climate (is water present? is water liquid or ice?)
- organisms (what flora and fauna are present?)
- topography (influences literal placement of wetlands-- ex. in a depression or low spot)
- time (how long has the soil been forming?)
Activity Warm-up:
- Display 'Wetlands Soils' mini poster, or pass around copies to class
- Point out Two types of Wetlands Soils -- Organic and Mineral, and distinguishing characteristics of each type
- Why is it important to identify wetlands?
- To distinguish wetlands from other land cover types and ecosystems
- Wetlands are very valuable areas for an ecosystem
- Why is it important to identify wetlands?
Activity: Wetland Soils in Living Color
Adapted from Project WET
- Soils are often used to determine whether or not an area is a wetland
- Color can provide important clues and is used by scientists to classify soils
- (refer to Wetland Soils poster)
- Dig a hole 1- 2 feet deep to collect soil samples
- Distribute copies of Wetland Soils Color Chart and have students compare soil samples to color chart to determine which wetland soils are found at this location
- Have students determine which parts of the sample are organic and which are mineral
- Ask students to describe and discuss other characteristics of the samples -- texture, presence of earthworms or other organisms, smell, moisture level, etc.)
Pictures above show students and scientists using Munsell color chart to identify soil types
Report abuse