How do you help kids and their families better understand and connect with nature?
Invite them to help save it.
Over the last several months, the sixth grade class at the Dayton Regional STEM School, Fivers Rivers MetroParks and other partners have been working together to develop ways to strengthen the region’s wetlands.
“Wetlands play an important role in storm water management, clean water, and it's an increasingly rare habitat,” said Grace Dietsch, director of Conservation for Five Rivers MetroParks. “In Ohio alone, and I think it's the same stat for across the country, we've lost over 90% of our wetlands.”
Dietsch and other MetroParks employees, along with representatives of the Beavercreek Wetlands Association, B-W Greenway Community Land Trust and other partners on the project visited the school on May 6 to see research and presentations from the students.
Dietsch said they are helping to inform a restoration project at Cox Arboretum MetroPark.
"We asked them to provide their input because one of the main goals of this project is to help families, kids, people of all ages, and abilities to better connect with nature," Dietsch said. "So who better to speak to that than a group of sixth graders?"
As part of the project, students visited Cox Arboretum MetroPark to see the wetland environment and learn more about the ecosystem they'd be helping to protect. Doug Tallamy, New York Times’ best-selling author of Nature's Best Hope, visited the school and spoke to the students, as did Kara Maynard of Deeply Rooted Landscapes, a native plant landscaping company.
"My favorite part was when me and Olivia were doing research," said Janiyah Gaston, a sixth grader at the school. "We would just start singing random songs and mess around and still focus somehow."
"That was so much fun," Olivia Breehne chimed in.
“We're really excited to see them kind of flourish and be excited about making the world a better place,” said Sarah Paul, sixth grade social studies teacher.
Paul, along with science teacher Emily Carter, won a grant about four years ago from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and the Fund for Teachers, which they said was the impetus for this project about wetlands and watersheds.
They said students are able to take what they learn from the project and apply STEM principles to many of their classes and subjects. For example, students have learned about how to make a map that is easy to read and understand in their social studies class, which students then incorporated into their presentations.
For years, Five Rivers MetroParks' conservation staff and volunteers have worked to restore wetland habitats, such as Spring Run conservation area, formerly the Larch Tree golf course, which is adjacent to the Wetland Mitigation Bank.
They've also helped to maintain Woodman Fen, across from the Dayton Regional STEM School. The school has used the fen as a field trip location in the past due to its proximity.
"When you put a boardwalk in place, people can get a more intimate experience with the wetland and what's there," said Shane Sheldon, regional manager of conservation with Five Rivers Metroparks.
Both Dietsch and Carter underscored the difference anyone can make in their own backyards.
"Students have been talking a lot about wanting to build their own wetland and build their ecosystem in their own backyard," Carter said. "With Five Rivers MetroParks, we got a bunch of native plant seeds and a lot of kids have been taking them home and planting those."
Dietsch said no improvement is too small:
"If you have a small yard or even just a balcony, you can still help native species. Whether it's leaving the leaves or mowing less or installing trees where appropriate, everybody can do something."
