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Wetlands Education

National EPA Wetland and Information Links
Links to Wetlands Educational Resources

 

Wetlands Curricula Available on the Web

A World in Our Backyard An adobe acrobat version of the complete curriculum, divided into nine printable chapters. Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1. Chapters include: wetland science, wetland types, wetland functions, threats to wetlands, find a wetland to study and adopt, a wetland field study, protect your wetlands, how to adopt a wetland, and the appendix. Each chapter contains background information and activities. The chapters take a little longer to load because they have graphic depictions. Stay with it. These depictions are clear and helpful. The activities sections for each chapter can be accessed independently of the chapter background information.

Discover Wetlands exit EPAPrepared by the Washington State Department of Ecology, "Discover Wetlands provides Washington State educators a coherent collection of teaching materials on wetlands. The activities in this guide focus on what wetlands are, what makes them valuable, and how human actions have affected them. With its expanded field studies unit, this guide will be of great interest to the many schools who have discovered a nearby wetland to use as a study site. . . This copy of Discover Wetlands is a thorough revision of the original 1988 version. It has been expanded from a target age of grades 4-8 to include activities for kindergarten through twelfth grade. "

Welcome to the Water Sourcebooks. The Water Sourcebooks contain 324 activities for grades K-12 divided into four sections: K-2, 3-5, 5-8, and 9-12. Each section is divided into five chapters: Introduction to Water, Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment, Surface Water Resources, Ground Water Resources, and Wetlands and Coastal Waters. This environmental education program explains the water management cycle using a balanced approach showing how it affects all aspects of the environment.

WoW! The Wonder of Wetlands Educator's Guide

Activities for Learning about Wetlands

Frog Watch USA exit EPA
National Wildlife Amphibian volunteer monitoring program relies on volunteers, like you, to collect information regarding frog and toad populations in neighborhoods across the nation.

Frogweb exit EPA
Is part of the U.S. Government’s website for national biological infrastructure and contains links to frog and toad volunteer monitoring programs.

Wetlandsexit EPA
Wrtten by the Wetlands Team of the Michigan DNR, with cooperation from the Michigan Sea Grant targetted at 4-H and youth programs through the Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan Sate University. Eight simple activities demonstrating the influence of water in wetland development and the life in wetland soils. 
Teacher/Leader Guide for Wetlandsexit EPA 
This is the Accompanying Guide for the above wetlands activities.

Wetlands Migrationexit EPA 
Migration Hopscotch. Grades 3, 4, 5, 6
Curriculum Connection: Fall Birds
Through the science museum of Minnesota and the Lee and Rose Warner Nature Center in Minnesota Comes ar giant game board that can be brought to the classroom. Students become life-sized game pieces in the game of Migration Hopscotch. The students must migrate from North to South America successfully avoiding an increasing number of obstacles in the form of habitat loss, foul weather, pesticide use and more. As the game gets more and more difficult the students feel first hand the physical nature of migration. Other activities also for this center 30 miles north east of St. Paul.

Wetlands Reading Materials

The EPA Wetlands Division has put together a Wetlands Reading List which consists of non-fiction and fiction books focused on wetlands which touch upon wetlands in reference,theme, or setting (for the pre-kindergarten through Grade 12).

Listed below are a few of the informative books and magazine articles addressing wetlands that are likely to be found in your public, and possibly school, library.

Wetlands. 1989. William A. Niering. The Audubon Society Nature Guides. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.
Golden Guide to Pond Life. 1967. George K Reid, Ph.D. Western Publishing Company, Inc.; New York
Walking the Wetlands. 1989. Janet Lyons and Sandra Jordan. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
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Marshes and Swamps. 1983. Linda M. Stone. Children Press, Chicago (elementary)
Wetlands. 1989. Linda M. Stone. Rourke Enterprises, Inc., Vero Beach (elementary)
Estuaries, Where Rivers Meet the Sea. 1973. Laurence Pringle. The MacMillan Co., New York (elementary/middle school)
The Mystery of the Bog Forest. 1984. Lorus J. Milne and Margery Milne. Dodd, Mead and Company, New York (elementary/middle school)
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The Life of the Marsh. 1966. William A. Niering. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Although printed in 1966, this is still a very worthwhile read. (middle/high school)
Life and Death of the Salt Marsh. 1969. John and Mildred Teal. Ballantine Books, New York (middle/high school)
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Wetlands. Kids Discover Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 10, December 1997
Wetlands. Ranger Rick Magazine, Volume 30, No.4, April 1996.
Our Disappearing Wetlands. National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 182, No.4, Oct. 1992
The Last Wetlands. Audubon Magazine, Volume 92, No.4, July 1990

National Sea Grant Libraryexit EPA
A collection of the state sea grant program publications addressing oceans, estuaries, wetlands. Select the Digital Library; then Education then Curriculum, Field Trips and Activities. Or, select Search the Database; then wetlands.

Supplemental Materials: Posters, Booklets, Videos

Web Interactive Wetlands Poster - An interactive poster illustrating plants and animals commonly found in wetlands. This poster is one of a series illustrated by nature artist, Larry Duke. Through this link you can also find a list of non-profit organizations that distribute a 36" X 24" version of the poster and a poster guide.

The following materials are also available from the Washington State Department of Ecology Website . Try searching their Publications and Forms Request page for the following:

Wetland Walks: A Guide to Washington's Public Access Wetlands (90 K) - A county-by-county listing of 225 easily accessible public wetlands.

Fabulous Wetlands, 7 minutes - A wacky and entertaining video featuring Bill Nye "the Science Guy" talking about the importance of wetlands.

Although the curriculum has been prepared for educators in the state of Washington, it is more generally applicable. 

Produced by the Isaac Walton League

SOS Handbook for Wetlands Conservation and Sustainabilityexit EPA Page contains information on aquatic life and stream health, wetlands.

Wetlands Stewardship: A Call to Action (video) exit EPA

The Digital Field Trip to Wetlandsexit EPA
Educational versions include workbook materials and public performance rights.

 

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