The Ward Melville Heritage Organization

Electronic Explorations: The Salt Marsh Ecosystem

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Students who participate in this program can study a marine environment without ever leaving the classroom. This distance learning program utilizes two-way video conferencing and wireless technology to enable students outside our locale to "visit" and study the temperate salt marsh.

With the help of a qualified naturalist, students explore the plants and animals native to the marsh and their respective roles in the marsh food web. Students consider the essential question "Why is it important not to interfere with the balance of an ecosystem?" Broadcast in real-time from the Marine Conservation Center in WMHO's 88-acre wetlands preserve, the program is offered in cooperation with the University at Stony Brook's Marine Sciences Research Center.

Wearing a wireless camera set in a specially-equipped pair of eyeglasses, and a vest which transmits two-way audio, the naturalist teaches right from the water's edge. Students are able to see the live specimens the naturalist uncovers, ask questions and converse with him or her in real time.

Program availability: April-November (weather permitting).

Teachers who book a program will receive an extensive Support Kit.

Level:	Grades K-12
Format:	Remote students connect with the naturalist in the wetlands, or... remote students connect with the naturalist and a local class on-site in the wetlands.
Duration:	Approximately 60 minutes for remote class; 2 hours for on-site students
Fee:	$150.00 (Remote school places the call.)
Location:	Your own classroom
Connectivity	ISDN 256kbps

Developed in cooperation with the University at Stony Brook's Marine Sciences Research Center

Correlation to New York State & National Learning Standards

This program meets Standard 4 of the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science and Technology. See key ideas 6 and 7 for elementary students as they reference the interdependence of plants and animals, the sun as a source of energy for living cycles, and the ways in which humans have changed their environment and the effects of those changes. See also key ideas 6 and 7 for intermediate students as they reference the interdependence of plants and animals, the flow of energy and matter through food webs, and the effects of environmental changes on humans and other populations.

The program adheres to the Benchmarks for Science Literacy published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See benchmark A, Diversity of Life for grades 6-8; benchmark D, Interdependence of Life for grades 6-8; and benchmark E, Flow of Matter and Energy.

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