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Wasatch Elementary and WEST
team up to restore a small wetland at the Tracy Aviary. |
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This
project is designed to help students become engaged in wetland conversation.
Students take part throughout the school year in various aspects
of restoring a small wetland area that is currently not open to the
public. WEST hopes that by allowing them to participate directly
in the decision-making process, the project can serve as a mechanism
for students to better understand their role in the natural world.
Students will visit the Aviary wetland various times during the year
and will be involved in observing the area pre-restoration. They
will be collecting scientific data to allow for a comparison of this
wetland area to other wetlands in the state. The goal is for students
to develop their own strategy for conservation, with the help of
WEST fellows from the University of Utah. Other experts along the
way can be eventually utilized at this site as well.
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On the first trip to the Aviary, students were instructed on how
they would be collecting plants. |
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Elliot, a WEST fellow, had students draw maps of the wetland to help
survey the existing area. Each plant that was collected was pressed
and its location was marked on the student maps. Students then took
the plant collections back to their school to identify them. With
Elliot’s help and dichotomous keys, students are beginning
to get a clear picture of the existing wetland. |
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