Salt, Sun, Spartina & Seaweed at Spear
A science lesson in Amy Castaldo’s third-grade class took a creative
turn when students put together dioramas that included many native
plants in salt marshes that they were learning about. As they learned
about the importance of salt marsh ecosystems and the benefits they
provide to both humans and the environment, they discovered the distinct
zones of vegetation determined by elevation and how they shield land
from coastal storms. They were also taught many new vocabulary words
including phragmites, photosynthesis and intertidal as well as many of
the plants such as purple plume, glasswort and sea lavender that they
used to dot the shoreline of their dioramas while seaweed seemed to
float in the water on many of their projects.