Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
On Aug. 21, the Toledo Zoo’s Project PRAIRIE team visited Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School and Academy to train teachers in using the campus prairies for citizen science, inquiry-based learning and related classroom activities. The group also tagged monarch butterflies with the goal of learning whether they migrate as far as Mexico.
“This was such a great opportunity for us as teachers to learn about our prairie and how it can be used to teach our students about our native species and the importance of supporting our local ecosystem,” said Academy faculty member Grace Hesson. “I’m so excited to be able to provide a hands-on learning experience or ‘living lab’ that is right outside of our classroom.”
The Toledo Zoo’s Project PRAIRIE is an inquiry-based education program that trains students and their teachers to use native prairie habitats for citizen science projects that contribute to a larger body of global research to make a difference in the natural world.
The Zoo conservation staff installed and seeded the urban prairie on Cardinal Stritch’s Oregon campus in January. Perhaps surprisingly, January is the ideal time to plant native seeds because the land will thaw and freeze, over the ensuing months, which helps the seeds sink into the ground.
Zoo personnel then returned in the spring to help Cardinal Stritch students plant native wildflower seeds. Plants such as purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, swamp milkweed, and smooth blue aster were introduced into the prairie.
The school program is part of a larger initiative to restore native prairies in Northwest Ohio.
Learn more about Project PRAIRIE at www.toledozoo.org/education/project-prairie.
