Sarah’s Big Idea:
Students will determine human impacts on the Nebraska prairie by investigating native plants. Emphasis will be placed on collecting data regarding native plants versus turf and lawn grasses and impacts to biodiversity, pollinators, and erosion rates. Plants will be grown in hydroponics and soil in the classroom. Students will collect data from a prairie and an area impacted by humans through development (turf landscaping on school grounds). Students will use that data to construct explanations on the impacts of prairie degradation, alterations on biodiversity and the physical and biological components of the ecosystem.
Interesting Fact:
Sarah is an avid traveler and most recently explored Japan followed by the Badlands in South Dakota.