Ms. Dilov's Field Trip to the Wetlands

On Tuesday morning, Ms. Dilov’s grade four/five class ventured to Heritage Park for a full day field trip.  We spent the morning at the man-made wetland, learning about the importance of wetlands and exploring the creatures that live in the water.  As we walked down to the wetland, the students were paired up, to take turns carrying a sixteen litre pail of clean water, picking up garbage to place into the bucket.  When we arrived at the first location of the wetland’s water purifying process, we poured the dirty water into the rocks. This gave us a visual and tactile way of understanding the wetland’s purpose.  The wetland was a thriving ecosystem of birds, trees and water.  The students were encouraged to collect samples of the water with nets and observe the inhabiting invertebrates under microscopes.  The boys and girls were really excited about this process.  After learning about the several species that live in the marsh, we made our way back to the park for lunch.  The kids were thrilled about being able to make a quick visit to the candy store on our break.  The afternoon was spent in a classroom in the Gasoline Alley building.  A video was shown and then the students got to design and create their own invertebrate (or bug) out of craft materials.  Their energy and excitement matched that of the morning activity during this creative process.  The field trip was a success.  Our Heritage Park representative was energetic, patient and knowledgeable, the weather cooperated for us, the students (and adults) learned valuable information about the wetlands and the boys and girls had fun!