© Mozart Dedeaux | Click image to enlarge
Refractometer
  • The focus of field trip visits is to teach students the concepts of what defines a wetland, how our wetland restoration project will help rebuild the watershed estuarine, introduce students to the bayou and its physical place in the watershed, its interaction with the marsh, river, and greater estuary, the basic concepts of what defines a bay head swamp, the different habitat scales of various wetland types, and to allow students to grasp the concepts of how different wetlands contribute to the health of the estuarine system and the greater watershed. Through this process, students will learn the importance of aquatic estuaries, wetland conservation, and storm water management.

    All of this information ties into the general theories of conserving the quality and understanding of the watershed in the Pascagoula River basin. In turn, these concepts of the watershed are emphasized to students and the general public on local, regional, and global terms. Hands on activities will reinforce these concepts, and allow students to see the greater connection that conservation techniques play in preserving all wetland habitats.

  • Students will explore the biodiversity, habitat, and food chain of bayou organisms. Through this process, students will come to understand that the bayou is a permanent system that ties the tidal marsh to the river and its tidal movement.

    Attention is placed on the biodiversity of organisms in the bayou and their symbiotic relationship to the structure and food web of the estuarine system. In turn, activities will focus on identification and lifecycle of invertebrates, and their role in watershed ecology. Identification of organisms will include, but not be limited to examples from the zooplankton, macro invertebrate, and fish.

  • The bay head is particularly important to understanding the concepts of storm water management, pesticide and chemical usage in the community, and supporting different organisms that may not be present in other “salt” marshes. Infuses is placed on the differences and the interaction that all the wetland habitats have with each other and the watershed.

    More particularly, students will grasp the understanding that all three wetlands feed each other via water, but the bay head swamp is not entirely supplied water by the river alone. On site storm water management techniques will help students synthesis how important run off and storm water control is to the health of the river.