Classroom Activity: Name That Wetland!

Dense Cypress swamps and serene coastal marshes seem very different from each other, but they are both types of wetlands. In this activity, students learn about a variety of wetlands.

| Materials | Preparation | Procedure | Evaluative Questions | Extensions|

Objective:

Students will identify and classify four types of wetlands using a key.

Concept:

There are many different kinds of wetlands, but they all share certain properties.

Time:

30 - 60 minutes.

Materials:

One wetland card for each pair of students.

Preparation:

1. Reproduce the Wetland Key illustration onto a large bulletin board or chalk board.
2. Reproduce the four Wetland Card descriptions onto card stock. Make multiple copies so each pair of students can start with one card.

Procedure:

1. Ask students if they have ever been in a wetland. Have them describe the area. What made it a wetland? Guide the discussion to include the two key characteristics described in the background section on wetlands. On the board, list different wetlands experienced by students.
2. Introduce the group to the use of the Wetland Key illustration. Demonstrate that the key can be used to identify different wetlands. To use the key, proceed from left to right. Explain that the key offers two choices at each step. Demonstrate how to select between the two choices and how to proceed to the next set of choices until you find the answer.
3. Distribute the wetland cards, one per student pair. Based on the information on the card, students will work their way through the key to determine which type of wetland they have. (NOTE: Four of the wetland types on this key are not used for the student activity.)
4. Once the first round of keying is complete, have teams trade cards and repeat the exercise. Continue until all student pairs have keyed all four types of wetlands provided.

Evaluative Questions:

What makes wet land a wetland?

Use the Wetland Key during the Wild Wings: Heading South broadcast and answer the following questions:

What type of wetland is Bosque del Apache NWR?

What kind is WWT Welney?

Compare the different wetland types.

What features do they all have in common?

Wetlands are very easily damaged by human activity. Why are they so fragile?

Extensions:

• Research the following wetland types and use their characteristics to make a key: seagrass bed, swamp, sandy beach, aquatic bed and stream bed.
• What are the current threats to each of the wetland types in this activity (e.g., draining of wet meadows for agricultural land)?
• Community Action Extension: Use the key to identify a wetland near you. (HINT: Look for low-lying, wet areas near streams.) Research this wetland type to find out what kinds of animals use it. Are people using it for anything? How can your class help protect it?
• For Advanced Students: Map the different types of wetlands found in North America. Present a report to the class or make a bulletin board describing each type and ways that people and animals use them.

Wetland Cards

1. While this area may not look like home to many animals and few or no plants grow here, there are lots of creatures living down in the substrate. When the water goes out, watch for hungry shorebirds searching in the muck for tiny animals to eat!
2. Low-lying grassy areas may fill with rain and stay wet for several weeks. These areas often seem alive with the high-pitched calls of frogs looking for mates. In the heat of the summer, these areas usually dry up for a while. Plants here are valuable food sources for ducks, geese and swans.
3. Tall grasses and other kinds of plants grow up out of the water. Even though the water has little or no salt, the tides push the rivers up far enough to change the water level here, so the ground is sometimes flooded and sometimes dry. The plants provide food and places to hide for many kinds of animals, including fish, snails, muskrats and lots of birds.
4. Where trees grow in low-lying areas, the ground may hold water for part of the year. In the spring, many beautiful wild flowers grow here, and frogs and salamanders find wet places to lay their eggs. At night, their calls produce an eerie chorus.

Wetland Card Key:

1. mudflat
2. wet meadow
3. tidal freshwater marsh
4. forested wetland

Adapted with permission from WOW!: The Wonders of Wetlands. (c)1995. Published by Environmental Concern, Inc., St. Michaels, MD, 410-745-9620, and The Watercourse/Project WET, Bozeman, MT, 506-994-1917.

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