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KDSS students work
as environmental scientists counting plants

Education/Science

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Patrice Darnell (L) and Gabriela Bogomolof Taquegami of Kincardine District Secondary School, pitch in and help the Penetangore Watershed Group conduct a plant survey as the first step in rehabilitating a local storm pond
photo courtesy of Erin Gouthro

Students from Kincardine District Secondary School got a chance to work as environmental scientists for an afternoon, identifying and counting plants. 

The count is  part of a rehabilitation project led by the Penetangore Watershed Group in partnership with local schools and the Municipality of Kincardine to re-plant the storm pond. 

Located in front of Tim Hortons on Highway 21, the pond is owned by the municipality and manages stormwater runoff for the immediate area. 

Erin Gouthro, president of the watershed group, said re-planting the pond  will help improve the quality of the water leaving the pond. 

"The water flowing through the pond ultimately ends up in our lake and affects our beaches," she said. "We're hoping re-planting the pond will also make a positive difference in  the health of our watershed by improving biodiversity in our insect and plant populations."

Counting and doing an inventory to see what kinds of plants are now living in the storm pond is the first step in the project, said Gouthro. "The students are confirming what I surmised from my own quick walk through the pond - there are many invasive weeds exotic to our local ecosystem. These plants worry me because they crowd out plants that would be more nutritious to beneficial insects that pollinate agricultural crops; insects in decline across the province."  

Students also inventoried stands of cattails - a native plant known to clean water by up-taking nutrients and helping sediment to settle out. Managing the plant community in the pond will help preserve the cattails from being over-run by exotics encroaching on the detention basin.

 
KDSS teacher Jennifer Evans said she sees the project directly benefitting her students because it serves as a living classroom within walking distance of the high school. 

"This gives students  a chance to learn about environmental challenges and solutions first-hand," she said. "It gets them out of the classroom so they can experience field-work and see principles of the natural environment unfolding in front of them."


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Saturday, November 05, 2011