Conduct
this session in the classroom.
- Place the
sponge in the shallow dish. Pour water into the dish, and ask students
what is happening to the
water. Compare the sponge to
a wetland, explaining that soil in a wetland soaks up water just
as the sponge does. Provide students with a general description
of wetlands
based on the information in the lesson Background. Include in
the description the fact that a wetland may be covered by a shallow
layer
of water
but is not deep enough to be called a pond or lake. Explain that
some wetlands are wet all the time and others only part of the
time.
- Divide the class into six groups. Each group will be studying
one type of wetland: bog, freshwater marsh, saltwater marsh,
wet meadow, shrub wetland,
and tree swamp. Provide each group with several copies of the information
sheet on their assigned wetland.
- Explain that as they read about
their wetland, students should take notes on the amount and kind
of water (fresh, salt, or brackish)
in their
wetland. Is it wet all the time? If only some of the time,
when? Students should also list plants and animals that can be found
in their wetland.
Each group will use this information to create a diorama of their
wetland.
- When groups have finished taking notes, they will begin
preparations for their dioramas. Make available wildlife guides on
birds,
insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, and wildflowers,
and instruct
students to
draw the plants and animals found in the wetland. (Drawings
will be cut out and placed in the dioramas, so they should be small
enough to fit
in the boxes.) Tell students to write a number on each plant
type and a letter
on each animal type. The dioramas will be assembled in Session
2 of the lesson.
Next: Session 2
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