Jay students learn science through ecocolumns
The project teaches kids about the effects of pollution on the environment.
JAY – After a week-long vacation, Jay Middle School fifth-graders rushed impatiently back to school on Monday.
But their top priority the first day back wasn’t saying hi to their friends they’d missed, showing off their new haircuts or talking about the high school boys basketball team’s regional tournament win.
Instead, students sped through the doors of their science classroom first thing, eager to see how the tiny ecocolumns they’d left behind had fared.
In some, the sprouts had shriveled and bloated; mosquito fish floated at the bottom. In others, the grass had grown and the water snails were thriving.
Earlier this year, fifth-graders designed ecocolumns out of two and three litter plastic soda bottles and instead the bottles, created two ecosystems, one like a terrarium, the other an aquarium.
The top level is constructed of soil, pebbles, grass and dead leaves and an occasional live cricket or pill bug tossed in. The bottom is filled with stones, sand, algae, duck weeds, tiny fish and snails.
Together, the two systems work together to support and destroy the life contained within the plastic.
Shake it up
Sometimes though, the fifth-graders introduce new elements to the ecocolumn equation, that shake things up a bit.
After the systems suffered over being ignored as they sat in the quiet school over break, it was time on Monday to really give it to them.
So, during science class, students tossed in pollutants, whether it be vinegar mixed with water to simulate acid rain, or the chemicals used in fertilizers.
The goal, said teacher Teresa Schmidt, who is overseeing the project along with fellow teacher Shannon Hussey, is to teach students how systems interact and how humans can keep them healthy.
“They are doing really good science,” Schmidt said proudly, looking around the room as students observed their ecocolumns, making notes of plant growth or drawing a rendition of a bug they saw inside.
Students have been passionate about the project, especially since they added live animals, likes bugs or fish into their ecosystems.
The one group of students who added “acid rain” to their project before break started was surprised to come back and find a lone plant had actually grown quite tall in their absence, although the leaves of the plant inches below in the water were burned, the water was an orangish tint and the rocks were covered with a green film.
“We get acid rain every time it rains out, but our grass doesn’t just shrivel up and kick the bucket,” offered student Chris Mcghee as explanation. “The environment learns to adapt.”
‘Become alive’
“It’s really become alive for them. They’ve been jumping out of bed to come in and see what happened since they left school the day before,” Schmidt said.
She hopes the project will teach her students how to better take care of the natural world by preventing pollution or cleaning it up. Later in the project, they’ll study the Chesapeake Bay, a system negatively affected by pollution.
“This is really cool. Every day, it’s something different,” said 10-year-old Jacob Lord, peering through the plastic at the ecocolumn’s two snails, Gary and Larry, named after the snails from the popular television show SpongeBob.
He pointed to the bottom of the bottle where a tiny fish floated, obviously dead. “I’ve learned a lot. One thing is that you’ve gotta water the plants.”
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