Education for, in and about the Frontenac Arch Biosphere

 

PROGRAM OUTLINE (2 HOURS)
Students will visit three areas where secondary succession is evident, a pond, a meadow, and a forest clearing. They will observe and record the succession of new plant life in each of these ecosystems. Students will also observe an example of primary succession of lichens and mosses on glacial boulders, and an example of bio-invasion, purple loostrife in the wetland.

 

ACTIVITIES

1. THE POND- Students are shown and learn to identify the plants of the pond including trees and shrubs native to wetlands.
The stages in succession, which is taken place in the pond, are discussed and students complete a worksheet recording some of the changes and sort a set of picture to show the order of succession in a typical shallow pond.

2. BIO-INVASION AND PRIMARY SUCCESSION- On a short hike, the students observe the invasion of purple loostrife in the wetland and the primary succession of lichen and moss on glacial boulders.

3. THE MEADOW- Following identification of wildflowers and bushes and saplings in this ecosystem, students do a sampling of the population of herbaceous plants and bushes and saplings and observe the gradual change of this area from field of forest.

4. FOREST CLEARING- Students observe the types of plants growing where the trees have recently been cleared.

PREVISIT PREPERATION-
Students could be pre-taught vocabulary- ecosystem, succession, primary succession, secondary succession, and bio-invasion.

CLASSROOM IDEAS-
Follow the field trip
1. Do a mural showing the stages in the succession from pond to meadow.
2. Set up a “Forest in a Jar” experiment for students to observe succession in miniature over a period of time. (An information sheet will be given to the teacher).