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Wetland Resources

Wetland Resources for Teachers & Students

Connect to the local environment using these place-based resources from Royal Botanical Gardens and Cootes Paradise Marsh. Dive deeper into biodiversity and human impacts on wetlands before or after your class trip to RBG or for a project or inquiry.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été réalizé avec l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.

Photos

Grade 6: Biodiversity

The Common Carp, a case study: what was the marsh like as a monoculture of carp? Has the ecosystem changed with the decrease of carp? In what ways?

Unit Plan Outline

Grade 7: Interactions in the Environment

How has technology like cars/roads, fertilizers impacted Cootes? How does the monoculture of Carp impact the food chain, the sustainability, of Cootes?

Grade 8: Water Systems

Investigate Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs): Where are the WWTPs in your community? Are there any WWTPs near Cootes Paradise and Hamilton Harbour? How do WWTPs and CSOs affect water quality?

The document 20 Year Trends in Water Quality gives a timeline of major upgrades of facilities that affect water quality in Cootes Paradise and Grindstone.

You can use the full report or the student copy to help students answer the question: Did upgrades to the facilities improve water quality?

Grade 9: Sustainable Ecosystems

Big Question: How has RBG managed invasive species in Cootes Paradise Marsh?

“A Strange Project” looks at strategies for managing invasive common carp. Students can read the article and answer the questions both to begin to answer this question and to prepare for the OSSLT.

The Water Quality Trends document walks students through some of the data before and after infrastructure improvements to observe the changes in water quality over twenty years.

The articles on purple loosestrife management look at the impact of different management practices, particularly biological control, can be used to increase sustainability in an ecosystem.