UMaine Scientist and Orono Teachers Collaborate in New Wetland Science Project
Contact: Nick Houtman, Dept. of Public Affairs, 207-581-3777, houtman@maine.edu
ORONO, Maine — Students in the Orono schools could be the first in Maine to put a new wetland science curriculum into action this fall. If all goes well, their efforts could eventually pay off in helping the Town of Orono to conserve wetland hot spots known as vernal pools.
Vernal pools are critical habitats for some types of amphibians such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders. The pools are fishless and often dry up by early to mid-summer.
University of Maine wetland ecologist Aram Calhoun has been meeting with three Orono teachers this summer to lay the groundwork for a new science curriculum that is based on studies by her and several UMaine graduate students. The curriculum will guide classroom and field research activities designed to give middle school and high school students experience with collecting, managing and interpreting scientific data.
The multi-year project has grown out of two earlier efforts: a high school environmental science program called Wetland Connections; and a test of vernal pool conservation steps developed by Calhoun and UMaine master’s student Damon Oscarson of Rye, NY. In the latter, Calhoun and Oscarson worked with citizen volunteers in the rapidly developing communities of Falmouth, Maine and three Farmington River watershed towns in Connecticut.
“We tested the (Best Development Practices) manual with citizen volunteers, and it worked,” says Calhoun. “They identified vernal pools in their towns, mapped them and assessed them. Then they ranked them for conservation purposes, from high to low priority.”
The goal was to help each community determine where to focus its wetland conservation efforts and where to allow development to proceed. “We know that we can’t save every vernal pool on the landscape. Let’s pick the ones that have the best chance to keep sustainable populations of animals,” Calhoun says.
Teachers involved in the Orono project include Cindy Clay, Jessica Archer and Danielle O’Neal. Over the next year, Orono students will study two vernal pools, one on school property and another on private property. UMaine graduate students will help to teach the younger students how to identify different wetland species and their egg masses, signs of reproducing populations.
The project will integrate a variety of classroom activities including language arts, mathematics and computer skills. A website will be developed for students to share data, photographs, maps and reports.
Eventually, the project could grow to include all vernal pools in Orono. In addition to doing science, students will learn how to ask landowners for permission to study pools on their property. Students will not study privately owned pools unless landowners give permission.