Students provide habitat by planting native species.
The Center City Public Charter School, Trinidad Campus held a ground-breaking ceremony and work day on May 18th. About 40 eighth grade students improved compacted soil with compost, planted trees, shrubs and numerous perennial plants.
These plants, many of them native, were used to create a sensory garden. It was the first in a series of gardens and landscaping practices that will improve water quality, create habitat for wildlife and manage stormwater runoff; all goals of the RiverSmart Schools Program.
Students replace grass with rain gardens that help clean the bay.
Eleven raised beds were also built and filled with soil to make an edible garden that will encourage healthy eating. This learning lab will provide outdoor seating where students will learn how their gardening efforts make a difference for the Anacostia watershed and the Chesapeake Bay. Additional gardens include a bird and butterfly garden, an upland forest and a rain garden.
This $120,000 project is a private-public partnership that includes the District Department of the Environment, FedEx, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and Center City Public Charter School.
For additional information about RiverSmart Schools see Green DC or call Gilda Allen at 202-535-2239.
REINS participants and their mentors use horses and ponies to learn about their connection to the Chesapeake Bay.
The Riders in the Environment Improving Native Shorelinesor REINS project, serves students 7 – 21 years of age in public schools on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The program is funded through the Maryland DNR Aquatic Resources Education Grants Program.
The focus is to provide a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) which includes equitherapy, aquatic studies, and action projects to engage developmentally disabled students in the investigation of ponds and streams connected to the Choptank River.
The project increases student knowledge of aquatic resources, identifies personal connections to water, and determines actions which are appropriate and helpful to waterways at the study site. The student action plans, which include a rain garden and native plantings, enhance the property’s natural qualities and protect the aquatic environment adjacent to the farm.
Students use basic ecological equipment and materials, enjoy eco-art projects, learn to identify wetland plants and animals at the farm, and record findings in a naturalist journal. Because they are learning through equine-assisted strategies, students also begin to comprehend the connection between horses (and other livestock) and the health of their local waterways.
Farm staff provides equitherapy to complement the aquatic studies, which are taught by educators and other trained volunteers. To accomplish this, students learn in the classroom (barn) and on the trail (by the pond and stream areas). They are responsible for keeping track of and caring for their own saddle bags, which contain their “water study kits”. Students are provided with strict adult supervision during all lessons. Service learning hours can be earned in two ways – peer mentors will earn credits for assisting their “buddies” in the lessons, and the disabled riders will earn hours for working on the action projects.
The action component of the project gives meaning to students and helps them comprehend their roles in becoming valuable stewards of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Specifically, students work side by side with experts and peer mentors to help design and maintain a rain garden and native plantings garden. In addition, students determine ways to reduce the impact of livestock waste on their local waterways, and determine ways to reduce water pollution which may affect animal health.
For more information visit Timber Grove Farm or contact LeeAnn Hutchison at lhutchison@msde.state.md.us.
This schoolyard habitat and garden acts as an outdoor classroom for the entire school
Creating a habitat for wildlife in your schoolyard will not only give local wildlife a safe healthy place to live, but it will provide students with an easily-accessible outdoor classroom and provide opportunities for students to observe wildlife in ways they may not have had otherwise. Habitat loss is an increasing pressure on wildlife. Whether you live in a city, in a forest, or in wide-open farmland, every little step you can take towards protecting your local environment will help. It will help the environment in the short-term, and spark a long-term interest in students, which could stay with them into adulthood.
After learning how to create and care for the habitat, students can observe various animals better than they might have been able to otherwise. Students can watch as beautiful butterflies land and enjoy their mud bath. In the spring, students can watch adult birds go to/from a bird house with small twigs, then watch as the parents start bringing food to the young. Finally, students might be able to see the fledglings take their first ventures out into the wild. Classes can also observe as plants begin to grow, flowers bloom, and insects pollinate. As the season changes from summer to fall, trees can provide a lesson in biology, while squirrels’ nut-gathering can be a behavior study.
A successful habitat for wildlife needs several things. Food, water, shelter/cover, and a place for animals to safely rear their young are all essentials. The National Wildlife Federation provides a guide on how to create a schoolyard habitat, as well as instructions on how to register your habitat with the National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat™ Program.
