Our fifth-grade zebras studied the White Oak habitat recently. They discovered it was a managed ecosystem and that Native Americans burned it every year to keep unwanted plants from taking root. They discussed the ways in which the White Oak has been affected by development and population growth, and how it and other dependent species are now becoming fewer.
The entire group then took a trip, sponsored by Columbia Springs, to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. There the kids rotated through four stations that dealt with the following:
- how fire affects a prairie ecosystem;
- how to use GPS devices;
- how to measure trees; and
- how Native American cultures depended on the White Oak.
The kids loved it. It was completely funded by a grant written by Columbia Springs.
Posts
