Nate's What-A-Boat Activity

 By Nate Feldman

Activity: What-A-Boat

Objective: Students understand the importance of Wetlands, one of which is it has plants that can be used as materials for boat building

Lesson: Gather students in the wetland area, whichever one is assigned.  There are two, one on the right, and the other on the left of the bridge across the Valley Stream. 

Opening Question: We are now in a wetland.  Why do you think this area is referred to as a “wetland?” 

Answer: Wetlands are areas where the water does not drain well.  The ground is saturated, or filled, with water.  In many cases, the ground is actually covered in a shallow pool of water.

Question: Why are wetlands important for us?

Answer: They are the home of many plants and animals.  Also, because the ground is saturated, it can absorb excess water (for example during heavy rains) and thus can prevent flooding.

Small Activity: Ask the students to look around.  What do they notice about the wetland plants?

Answer: Wetland plants often have shallow roots and are buoyant to help them adapt to their habitat.

Question: What does the word buoyant mean?

Answer: It means the ability to float?

Question: Why might that be important in a wetland?

Answer: Because the plants are in an area with so much water, in other words, in order to help them survive.

Activity: Because wetland plants are buoyant, or are able to float, their materials have been used to build boats throughout human history.  For that reason, today we are going to use the materials from the wetlands here to help build a boat.  Students will be split into groups of 2-3, and together, they will build a boat with the plant materials they find.  They have to stay in the vicinity of the wetland.  Afterwards, we will head to the valley stream and drop our boats in.  We will have a boat race! 

Conclusion: What is a wetland?  An area where the ground is saturated with water.  Why do the plants there help to build good boats?  Because the stems of many of them can float.