Wetland With Prairie Buffer

Sixth-graders identified an unmaintained area of land that had become a polluted eyesore. Their project started as a simple plan for tilling the land and planting wildflower seeds. When the students researched the history of the area, they discovered that the land was once a lake, which was drained nearly a century earlier. They felt that this background provided even more reasons to restore the area as a wildlife habitat.

Students created a list of questions and interviewed experts. In light of the responses, the scale of the project mushroomed. Students and teachers created a sediment pond to detain pollutants that flowed into the area via the road. The land was excavated to allow the sediment pond to flow into a wetland area, through a burn, into a wildlife pond and wetland area, and finally through a rock spillway. In addition, the group created a prairie buffer around the entire area, where it planted prairie wildflowers and grasses.

In order to implement this plan, students had to first present it to the village board and receive permission to use the village-owned land, a process that provided insight into local government and an opportunity to strengthen their presentation skills. In preparing for that meeting, students designed visuals to illustrate the proposal and flyers to notify the community of the presentation.

Adapted from "Learning from Experience: A Collection of Service-Learning Projects Linking Academic Standards to Curriculum," &#169 2000 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (800) 243-8782. www.dpi.state.wi.us/pubsales. Used by NYLC with permission of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.