The Wonder of Wetlands
/Kids say the darnedest things sometimes, especially when they’re traipsing through a smelly wetland teaming with life and fun new experiences.
This past October, fourth grade students from Discovery Elementary joined the Conservation District’s Sound Education staff (Jessica Kinney and Laura Goff) at the North Creek Park wetlands for an outdoor field trip.
Laurie James’ and Sue Sander’s classes tested water quality at Nickel Creek, which runs into North Creek, near the edge of the park. Later, they identified native wetland plants and built models of their plant’s unique adaptations out of recycled materials.
After a break for lunch, the students continued their wetland study with a nature walk through Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary, an engineered wetland built in the 1990’s near the Everett Boeing facility (Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary Park Website).
Back in the classroom, students wrote poetry and essays to encourage wetland protection. Some of their art and essays are shown here.
Sound Education is the Snohomish Conservation District’s youth education program. Free classroom lessons, field trips and service learning opportunities are available for students in Snohomish County and Camano Island. You can learn more about Sound Education by visiting the website: www.snohomishcd.org/sound-education.
"Wetlands" by Robert
I think wetlands should be protected for many reasons. Wetlands are important to animals that live in wetlands. Their habitat would be destroyed. I feel strongly about wetlands being protected. Kids want to learn the information. Animals need wetlands for survival. Without wetlands, more animals would be extinct. Wetlands collect and hold floods.
It’s easy to see why some people prefer to destroy wetlands because we would have more money for houses and parks. Still water attracts mosquitoes. When people visit wetlands they could slip and fall in the cold water and get sick. So, some people want to destroy wetlands.
However, if people destroy wetlands, animals would die. The animals never did nothing to you!
Wetlands also hold flood water. So if people destroy wetlands, their houses would be destroyed. People who worked so hard to build them would watch their hard work destroyed and also people would die. The still water [in a wetland] calms people down.
Admittedly my choice is not perfect either. When people visit wetlands they can slip and fall or get lost in all the tall grass. And when you want to take a sip from your coke, you’ll need to check for bees.
The merits of my choice far outweigh any other choice because wetlands are important to America and the world. They are what make Earth a beautiful Place to live. They provide a home to a wide variety of plants like red canary grass and duckweed and yellow monkey flower and they also have over 30 species of animals to study - maybe more, who knows? So, my choice is the best so don’t argue with me. My choice is the best for the world.
"Wetlands are Not Nonsense" by Dylan
Wetlands are important for the environment. Wetlands should be kept. Some people think wetlands are nonsense.
It’s easy to see why some people prefer not to have wetlands because if you destroy wetlands, you can save more land for housing, schools, etc.
However, if you destroy wetlands habitats for animals, there would be less water for plants and animals and they could die. There would be more flooding.
Admittedly, my choice isn’t perfect. You could slip off the board walk and fall, but they should make them sturdier. Still water does attract mosquitoes, but that’s a small price to pay for the merits of keeping wetlands.
The merits of keeping wetlands far outweigh destroying wetlands. Keeping wetlands provides over 30 different kinds of species of animals [a home]. Kids can learn about wetlands, water, animals and habitats. [Wetlands] provide a home to animals that live in water. [They] help with erosion and, most importantly, collect and hold flood water.
As you can see, my choice of keeping wetlands is the best choice. I choose keeping wetlands over destroying wetlands because keeping wetlands has more pros than cons. Yes, my choice isn’t perfect, but it’s the best choice.
