Exploring Wetlands with Whales
/The Whales began a study of wetlands this week, investigating the important role that wetlands play in our environment. We learned that the native plants in a wetland help to clean and filter impurities in our water and provide shelter for birds and other animals. To deepen their understanding, the Whales worked like scientific illustrators, creating beautiful paintings of four important wetland plants. In addition, we discovered the pivotal role that wetlands play in controlling run off and flooding in our city. We conducted an experiment that showed how a wetland works to hold, filter and clean our water before it comes out of our tap. We also discovered that our very own Cedar Classroom has a bio swale that works like a little mini-wetland for Pacific University, helping direct and control run off from campus while filtering impurities and directing water to Fernhill Wetlands.
To help synthesize all that we’ve learned so far, the Whales created a stunning wetland mural together. We talked about the layers of a wetland and what they do, then worked in teams to create the final project. We will eventually add our research birds to our wetland scene.
As if all this work around wetlands wasn’t enough, we also studied the life cycle and unique qualities of a Praying Mantis. Our second egg case hatched and we have hundreds of little nymphs in our habitat. Whales spent time becoming Praying Mantis together at carpet. Whales are scientists!
