Preserve hosts exercise for school students
Beach Elementary fourth and fifth graders experienced being part of the “web of life” last week when they participated in a dual activity within Matanzas Pass Preserve.
More than 30 Beach school students participated in Connection Inspection & Ed’s Diary, an expanded idea of the Home Sweet Home program that third graders witnessed last year.
Preserve volunteers Dorothy Rodwell and Kathy Light gave an introduction to the exercises at the amphitheater then instructed the “trainees” within the preserve.
“Connection Inspectors look for connections in how things relate to other things and see how things are interconnected,” said Miss Dorothy.
The “web of life” deals with the exchange of air, water, soil and energy -needed for every organism (any living plant or animal) to survive. Plants need the components for photosynthesis, a process to use light energy into chemical energy to fuel activities. Water and soil provides nutrients for growth.
Students answered many questions during a sit-down session within the natural confines of the preserve. Each student participated in the Q&A.
The organisms were said to be interdependent (working together and getting benefits from each other). After students learned about the process first by the plant-animal relationship between a caterpillar and a leaf, then found out first-hand through an exercise to prove the point. They were assigned to be a plant or animal by way of sign placards, then received belts with four ropes to signify water, soil, energy and air. Each particular plant and animal had to connect to posts (via carabiners) that indicated lakes or rain, sun, animal and soil. The process took some time and showed the students how complicated it could be.
“That’s the idea of the web of life and how it works,” said Miss Dorothy. “Some of you had to go over or under and things had to be moved. We started out as individuals, but look at us now. We are not so much individuals any more. Everyone is interconnected.”
The students then found out what happens when a human connects to the complicated system. For example, if oil for a vehicle is used and afterwards a human places that used oil (containing pollutants) back into the ground, then the oil contaminates the nearby lake. Each organism feels the impact and the human mistake causes disconnection due to the reliance on the lake. A fragile environment is greatly affected, but adaptations can be made.
“When you are a Connector Inspector, you try to keep every connection, but that might not be possible,” said Miss Dorothy. “There will be some connections, like if you didn’t get air from that animal you may be able to get it from another animal. You can really see how things relate to each other.”
The Ed’s Diary exercise involved readings from the diary and a map to help navigate through other sections of the preserve. From the amphitheater, the group first stopped at the nearby bridge to view fish and learn about mangroves through excerpts of Ed’s diary. They then walked up the boardwalk to spy a tree with Spanish moss, a noted air plant that gets nutrients from rain and air. The path then led to the right boardwalk to look for animal munchings and continued on the trail to a black bark tree. A box turtle was found and a bromelaid (a member of the pineapple family) was located within the tree hammock.
On the return trip out of the preserve, the students had to make connections on their own.
“This doesn’t end now. You are Connector Inspectors,” said Miss Dorothy. “You now have the insight to see how things are connected and know that we must keep those connections intact.”
As part of Lee County schools fall classes in preserves, Connection Inspection & Ed’s Diary is a new class offered by the Lee County Parks & Recreation Department.