Wetland Sessions at USD 497 Workshop

In July, Lawrence teachers took part in a workshop designed to strengthen teachers’ ability to use fine arts to teach science.  Wetland Learners Coordinators Sandy Sanders and Alison Reber took teachers on a virtual field trip to the Wakarusa River Valley including wetlands and pollinator ties to Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Science, Art and the Environment In this session we’ll take a virtual field trip to local wetland areas and explore ecological concepts that have a strong cross-disciplinary reach.  Session participants will get an overview of the Wakarusa Wetland Learners Project, wetland functions, and the relationship between wetlands and pollinators.   portion of the session will focus on hands-on activities with easily obtained native plants and insects.  (Ties to the Lied School Performance of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other Etic Carle Favorites.)

For props we used a large satellite map of the Wakarusa River Valley, live plant specimens, a variety of preserved pollinators, and live aquatic animals.   We also had a collection of photographs of the wetlands.