Creating structure (Source: PC)

Overview:

Students will examine the benefits of urban marshes in improving water quality, creating habitat for flora and fauna, and restoring historic hydrological and soil functions.

Objective:

Students will identify the benefits of smaller marsh restoration projects.

Materials:

Paper and colored pencils

Video: Wetlands Restoration

Online Tool: CRMS Spatial Viewer

Article:  "Building Urban Resilience with Nature"

Worksheet: Value of Urban Marshes

Article: "Why are Wetlands Important?"

Article: "Economic Benefits of Wetlands"

Reference Material: "Benefits of Wetlands"

Procedure:

Ask students to create a sketch of their schoolyard.  Direct them to focus on natural areas.  What plants have they seen?  Is there water anywhere?  When it rains, do any areas stay flooded?

Explain that urban areas were once another kind of ecosystem.  What ecosystem do they think their schoolyard was before it was part of a city?  Many Louisiana cities and towns are built on former wetlands.

Share the video Wetlands Restoration.  Should wetlands restoration be a priority in urban areas?  What benefits do these small projects bring?  Generate a list of possible benefits.

Find nearby urban adjacent marsh projects using the CRMS Spatial Viewer.  Have students zoom into the greater New Orleans area and choose a nearby restoration project (yellow dots) to click on.  Ask them to be sure it is a marsh site and not a swamp site.  Have students click on the Report Card Tab and select the report card for the site.  (review how to read the report card using the introduction on each report card).  How has this site progressed?  Has it been successful?  How can we measure its success?

Read and Discuss "Building Urban Resilience with Nature." In what ways are the nearby marshes featured on the CRMS Spatial Viewer  similar to the natural areas referenced in the article?  Are these large scale or smaller projects?  How do you know?  Does the size of the project matter?  Would smaller projects within urban areas have similar benefits?

Complete the Value of Urban Marshes worksheet.  Use the following resources to complete the worksheet: "Why are Wetlands Important?," "Economic Benefits of Wetlands," and "Benefits of Wetlands."

Assessment: Completed worksheets and observation during discussions.

Volunteers build the marsh (Source: PC)

Overview:

Students will explore the steps in building and monitoring an urban marsh.

Objective:

Students will track the progress and monitoring of a specific urban marsh project.

Materials:

Google Maps

Article: "Bayou Saint John"

Poster: Bayou Saint John Wetland Creation Project

Power Point: "Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Project"

Data: Water Quality Inside the Gate and Water Quality Outside the Gate

Worksheet: Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Tracking Sheet

Procedure:

Ask where could we restore a marsh in our city/town?  Use Google Maps to zoom in on your urban area.  Have students locate places they think would be good for a restoration project.  Why did they choose the locations they chose?

Read and discuss "Bayou Saint John."  How can such a small project be significant to the nearby urban ecosystem?  What details from the article stand-out that may shed light on the impact this project may have had in the area?

Explain this project was accomplished through a series of steps.  Have students brainstorm what those steps may have been.  Why did they choose those steps?

Compare and contrast the steps the students generated with the steps outlined in the Bayou Saint John Wetland Creation Project poster.  How are they similar?  Did they leave any steps out?  Were they surprised by any of the steps?

View and discuss the "Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Project" powerpoint.

Complete the Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Tracking Sheet.  Use the powerpoint and Water Quality Inside the Gate and Water Quality Outside the Gate data to complete the worksheet.  Has the marsh restoration project been successful?  How can we know?

Assessment:

Completed worksheets and observation during discussions.

Healthy marsh (Source: PC)

Overview:

Students will explore how marine debris and invasive species have impacted the restored urban marsh at Bayou Saint John.

Objective:

Students will identify the unexpected outcomes of a small restoration project.

Materials:

Article: "The 10 Worst Plant Invaders on the Louisiana Coast"

Reference Material: "Invasive Species of Wetlands"

Index cards and colored pencils

Article: "Sources of Aquatic Trash"

Google Maps

Worksheet: Proposed Solutions to Negative Impacts

Computer/Internet

Procedure:

Reflect on the previous two sessions.  Was the Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh project beneficial?  Why or why not?  Has it had any negative impacts?  What might those be?  Have students pair-up and generate a list of possible negative impacts that may have occurred.  Share each teams answers.  What were the most common predictions?

Read and discuss "The 10 Worst Plant Invaders on the Louisiana Coast." Why is the newly planted marsh at risk of encouraging populations of these non-native, invasive plants?

Explain that non-native, invasive species include animals, as well.  Share "Invasive Species of Wetlands." Do they recognize any of the species?  Which would most likely be successful in this small urban marsh?

Ask students to choose either the Apple Snail or the Asian Carp.  Have them create a basic fact flash card for their species on the index card.  Include a sketch, origin, description, and important information about the species.

Share and discuss "Sources of Aquatic Trash."  Do they think this was an unexpected problem in the marsh?  Explain that the marsh is littered with marine debris all the time, but especially after a storm.  Ask why that might be?  Use Google Maps to zoom into where Bayou Saint John meets Lake Pontchartrain.  What do they notice?  The lake is really an estuary.  It has several bayous and canals that open into it.  They all carry debris, but it also opens to the Gulf of Mexico through the Rigolets.  Storm surge brings marine debris into the small wetland and deposits it there.

Pair up and complete the Proposed Solutions to Negative Impacts worksheet.  Use the internet to research mitigation techniques for apple snails and marine debris.  Will their proposed solutions work?  Did they choose different techniques?  Why did they choose the methods they chose?

Assessment:

Completed flash cards, worksheets and observation during discussions.

Young marsh plants (Source: PC)

Overview:

Students will survey their schoolyard and design and propose a mini-marsh project utilizing planning materials and suggested native plants.

Objective:

Students will design an urban mini-marsh restoration project.

Materials:

Reference Material: "Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (Wetlands)"

Wetland Site Assessment Guide

Reference Material: "Wetland Plants"

Procedure:

Reflect on where you could plant a mini-marsh in the schoolyard. Refer to "Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (Wetlands)" for background on how to complete this project.

Explain that the potential site needs:

• a source of water
• an area that holds water after rain or an area that can be dug out to create a small pond
• clay-like soil that will hold water

Pair up and complete the Wetland Site Assessment Guide by walking the schoolyard and using the guide to assess potential planting sites.

Create a plan for planting.  What shape and size will the marsh be? How many plants will you need?  Which plants will you use?  Where will you get the plants?  How will you fund it?  Who will you submit and pitch the idea to?  Use the "Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (Wetlands)" as a tool to complete each step.  Use the "Wetland Plants" reference PDF to decide which plants to use.  Local sources for plants include Pelican Greenhouse at City Park and Delta Flora Native Plants.

Assessment:

Completed guides and worksheets and observation during discussions.

Healthy Marsh (Source: PC)

Overview:

Students will communicate the key take-aways from this exploration by reflecting on what they have learned through the previous sessions.

Objective:

Students will discuss how they can participate in decisions that impact them directly.

Materials:

Article: "How Do You Know That a Wetlands Restoration is Successful?"

Power Point: "Bayou Saint John - a Short Presentation"

Worksheet: The Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Project

Procedure:

Read and Reflect on "How Do You Know That a Wetlands Restoration is Successful?"  In what ways have these sessions echoed the sentiments in this reading?  What questions should students hold space for as they explore the issues facing nearby wetlands?

Ask which community members have shaped this urban marsh project.  Who got to decide if the urban marsh would be built and where?  How was the marsh protected?  Was it protected?  Who has benefited from the project?  What negative impacts happened as a result?

Explain that environmental justice is a factor that is central to communities that have been historically marginalized.  Is it likely that small urban marsh projects could impact    communities differently depending on factors such as economic status or race?  Why or why not?

Ask students to reflect on whether the local peoples, including themselves, have had adequate input into these restoration projects in their communities. How should the perspectives of residents and potential residents be factored in to discussions about restoration projects?  How could community forums have altered projects such as the Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Restoration?

Complete the The Bayou Saint John Urban Marsh Project worksheet as a way to reflect on what each individual student has learned.

Share and discuss student's answers.  Where can they find out more about this topic?  What aspects of this exploration had the most impact on their thinking about this topic?

Assessment:

Completed worksheets and observation during discussions.