Woodford County Middle School: UK Science Study

By: Sixth Graders: Jacob Arvin, Haley Willis, Jane Watts, Hayley Johnson,

Matt Turner, and Will Jones

A wetland is Like ………… 9/25/08

A wetland is like a sponge because it holds water and stays wet part of the year or the whole year. One acre of land can store 1-1.5 million gallons of water. Wetlands stabilize soil that wetland plants are growing in. Wetland soil filters water by balancing particles all around the wetland. Many birds, insects and mammals depend on the wetland for a home. They find shelter, food and protection there. A wetland is also like a nursery because all living things can raise their young in a safe environment. Even though wetlands are used for a home they are also used for a recreational purposes too.

Saloto Game Farm 10/31/08

When our sixth grade science class took a day trip to Saloto Game Farm, we explored the different types of animal species and mostly the wetland. The wetland had recently been dried up by winter. Even though it was somewhat dried up we still learned a lot. Our guide Mr. Radcliff told us that the animals that were being held at Saloto were either endangered or hurt . The animals were all unique and our class decided that the eagle was the most interesting. The wetland had plants and moss even in deep parts. We learned that some plants that lived in wetlands were called hydrophilic or hydrophobic. Hydrophilic plants like the water but hydrophobic do not.

Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary

While we were at Buckley we discovered many interesting facts. Such as the smallest flowering plant is called a duckweed. We also discovered different levels of pond water have different levels of density. We went to a bird blind and tried to discover a new species of bird. We split up between boys and girls. The boys saw a crow and a vulture and the girls saw a junco and a goldfinch. Then we went the pond and tested water samples. We saw that the pond water had a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. The dissolved oxygen level was 8.9. The electric current that was traveling throughout the pond was 7.0.pH

While we were visiting glens creek. We looked for organisms in the creek. For examples we found a crayfish, isopod, and a stonefly. We looked at the amount of clear water bugs verses bugs that can live in a muddy environment. We found that the water was normal on a scale level.

Glens Creek

A small creek at SalatoA bear habitat.

Eagle Landing at Salato.

More Salato Game Farm Pictures

One of the Students testing the water quality at Buckley Wildlife Center.

A sample of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Algae sample from the pond.

Organisms At Glens Creek.

Glens Creek.

What we’ve learned …