In their unit on ecosystems, students in grades 6-7 have been learning the importance of our state’s salt marshes and participating in restoring an essential ecological keystone species, spartina alterniflora, with plans to germinate and grow the seeds they collect and plant them in key locations in the lowcountry.
In December, students began the first step of collecting the seeds under the guidance of Seeds to Shoreline volunteers and educators. Students collected thousands of spartina seeds and explored the salt marsh of Shem Creek as a first step of their restoration service project. In another field study, students explored Cypress Gardens and learned all about the wetland features of cypress swamps. In January, students joined Charleston Waterkeeper in their clean-up of Filbin Creek as one of the cornerstones of their service projects in science this year, as they strive to learn about how to solve real-world problems affecting our community’s wetland ecosystems. Students cleaned up trash polluting the creek and observed and planned how to address any lack of spartina grass that should grow in this creek.
