A group of fourth- and fifth-grade students from Centennial Lane Elementary School wrapped up a study of bay grasses May 30, when they traveled to Gunpowder State Park in northern Baltimore County and planted bay grasses they grew in their classrooms in the Gunpowder River.

"Underwater grasses make a big difference in the health of the Bay. We are proud to be able to help grow them," Centennial Lane fourth-grader Felicia Wang said.

The study of bay grasses is an optional instructional seminar offered by the gifted and talented department of the school system. Centennial Lane gifted and talented resource teachers Carol Brzezinski and Joanne Scheler led the seminar.

Students were provided with seed pods and instructions to grow bay grasses through a program called the Bay Grasses in Classes Project, sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Brzezinski and Scheler worked with the students to help them plant and monitor the bay grass seeds. Students were responsible for weekly monitoring of the bay grass tanks. This involved cleaning, measuring bay grass growth, recording and analyzing water quality data, and entering their statistics on the Bay Grasses in Classes Web site, where they were then able to track the progress of their bay grasses and the progress of other state schools participating in the program.

In the classroom, students learned how planting bay grasses in the Gunpowder, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, benefits the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By wading into the Gunpowder River and planting the grasses, students had a bird's-eye view of the bay grasses they grew in their classroom in a natural habitat.

Fourth-grader Katie Cox said planting the grasses was "the most exciting part of this seminar."

The students from the seminar who went to plant the bay grasses were met at the Gunpowder River by Mark Lewandowski from the State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources, coordinator of the Bay Grasses in Classes project.

The scale of the restoration, while considered small, does have a positive effect on the overall health of the bay, Lewandowski said. In addition, the Bay Grasses in Classes project provides "an education based program focused on the environment."

"What a wonderful way to extend curriculum objectives while become stewards of the environment at the same time," Brzezinski said.

"The grasses will help create hiding places for young crabs, remove harmful nutrients and sediment from the Bay waters and help reduce wave action," fourth-grader Megan Oliver said.

---

user comments (0)