PROJECT TITLE: "WETLAND WARRIORS: RESTORING HEALTH TO OUR WETLANDS"
TEACHER NAME: Fran Wachter
STATE: Illinois
GRADE LEVEL: 7th

Our first ever grand-prize winning middle school classroom sought to restore the health of the Cache River Wetlands through restoration work, research on the effects of forest fragmentation, and the implementation of various outreach programs to educate the local community. Performing hands-on work on site at the wetlands, students planted pickerelweed plants, restored trails, built nesting boxes to reduce brood parasitism in bird species, and performed water quality tests as part of ongoing research. They also presented their research to the public, created teaching binders for distribution to local teachers and children’s books for distribution at a local wetlands center, built a website to promote public awareness and are currently raising funds to aid in the reintroduction of the alligator snapping turtle to their local wetlands habitat. View their grand prize winning portfolio in the digital portfolio section of our Sample Portfolios.