NY Botanical Gardens Elementary Grades:

NY Botanical Gardens Elementary Grades:

Topic: Wild, Wild Wetland

A Visit to the New York Botanical Garden's Mitsubishi Wild Wetland Trail

Lesson Plan: 5th Grade Biology

New York State Learning Standards Addressed:

Standard 1: Using scientific inquiry to pose questions, seek answers and develop solutions

Standard 6: Interconnectedness, Patterns of Change: Identify patterns of changes to make predictions about future behavior and conditions.

Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving: Combine the knowledge and skills of math, science and technology to make informed decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of science/technology/society,

consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into phenomena.

National Science Education Standards Addressed:

Standard A. Science as inquiry

Standard C. Life Science

Standard F. Science in personal and social perspective

Science background for Teacher:

A wetland is a place that is neither land nor water, but a world in between. There are many kinds of wetlands. Some are wetter than others, like a pond; others include marshes, swamps and bogs. A wetland is home to many plants and animals. Soft-stemmed plants like cattails grow in marshes. Woody plants like trees grow in swamps. Bogs are blanketed with a carpet of sphagnum moss. Birds that live in a wetland use plants for shelter, food and nest making. Some things living in a wetland can be seen only with a microscope, like bacteria. Bacteria in the soil decompose plants and animals when they die.

Useful reading materials (available at the Bendheim Teacher Center) include:

Cane, Molly, Squishy, Misty, Damp and Muddy: The In-Between World of Wetlands. Sierra Club for Children, 1992

Reid, George K. Pond Life. A Golden Guide. Golden Press, 1987 and,

Ranger Rick's Nature Scope. Wading Into Wetlands. National Wildlife Federation, 1988. Washington D.C.

Instructional Objectives

At the end of this trip, the students will be able to:

demonstrate the difference of types of wetland

identify animals and plants as well as microorganisms hat live in wetland

identify characteristics of wetlands and where they occur

identify adaptation strategies by living things in a wetland

relate the importance of wetland ecosystem, diversity and adaptation of organism found in it

Materials and Methods

Pre-visit and Advanced Preparations:

Do a pre-visit at the New York Botanical Garden, specifically the Wild Wetland and familiarize yourself with the site and test-run the activities. Proceed with Education Department specialist with the planning. The trail is located outside the Everett Children's Adventure Garden and can be accessed free of charge from two directions. Consult map from NYBG.

Contact the Museum for a docent or explainer or guide to lead the class through the pertinent parts of the museum, make reservation/booking well in advance. Construct plankton nets (as described in lesson for the NY Aquarium visit) and assemble other equipment (pails, collection net, waders, hand lens, gloves, dissecting kits, microscope and petri dishes, finger bowls, slides)

Make copies of student activities and trail exhibit guide: What is a Wetland? Life as a..., What Stinks, Whose Home is it? Then and Now: Which is Better? for distribution on site

On Site:

Go to the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden to meet with the facilitator. Discuss briefly the activities for the day and techniques in sampling: seining, plankton tows and what to look for, with the lens as well as the

microscope. Divide the class into 5 groups of 4 and assign the activities and describe briefly the objectives of each.

Orient the student with the map of the Wetland Trail. Students should use the map to locate their position along the trail and should walk along the trail as they do the activities. Students should read the text along the trail and compare the photos with what they observe in the pond. Questions should be answered in their notebooks and will be shared with the rest of the class upon return to classroom. Observation, collection and assembly of data/results (45 minutes). Also observe plankton catch on the microscope. Get students to identify the plankton using their guidebooks and also draw them in their notebooks. Emphasis that the same little plants are very important in the food chain in the ocean as well as producing most of the oxygen that makes life on earth possible.

Come back to Bendheim Center for presentation; facilitate "show and tell" and discussion using assigned reading as basis of what students relate in the presentation. Allow for another 10 minutes for the students to ask their questions to the guide as well as your self, another 10 minutes relate to their classmates what they have discovered in their sections.

Post Visit:

Each student group should present their investigation to the class. This should occur as soon as possible after your return, while the visit is still fresh. Using open-ended questions to promote debate let the individual presentation give rise to a class discussion with the students sharing their understanding and their observations. Discuss plant adaptation to live on land versus plant adaptation to live in water. Phytoplankton biology and ecological roles.

Relate ecological pyramid to the organisms found in the wetland. Also, recall images of 1906 and 1996 photo of same wetland, encourage debate in comparing a managed and natural wetland, concepts of succession, recycling of

nutrients as well as ecological preservation can also be introduced here.

Assessment:

Presentation of results of activities done on wetland, Collected activity worksheets and the reports. Class Participation.

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