Bill Timm - a teacher a Center Hill Middle School in Mount Carroll, Illinois - decided to build a wetland with his science class. Because the soils and drainage patterns of the land around school would not support a true wetland, he planned to mimic the conditions of wetland. In October of 1994 he sent a note home to the parents of his students and asked them to send a variety of things to school - if they had them lying unused around the house.
As requested, the boys and girls brought spades, very large stones and bricks, and pieces of old carpets and rags. Those who lived on farms or knew farmers brought lots of hay or straw. Bill brought a large piece of very sturdy black plastic, which he washed carefully to make sure there were nor chemical residues on it.
When everything was gathered, Bill and his students, after asking permission of the principal, selected a piece of flat land down a hill at the side of the school. They set stakes to show where they should dig and they set to work.
They dug a hole 15 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 2 feet deep with sloping sides and lined it with carpet pieces and rags to protect the plastic, which they laid on top. They secured the plastic around the edges of the hole with large stones and carefully replaced the sod under the outer edges of the stones. They threw in about 4 inches of dirt and lots of hay - "This, along with a bucketful of water from a nearby pond, provided the beginning of micro-organism growth, the basis of the food chain. Then we added water to about 4 inches from the top," explains Bill, "and let nature take its course."
Since then, Bill and subsequent 6th-grade classes have built two more pond/wetlands. The first wetland now has tall cattails growing. "They just appeared," says Bill. "We didn't plant or add a thing." Deer prints have been sighted, frogs have been both seen and heard, pond snails have arrived and keep the water clean. Sparrow and song birds visit. So do mice. In late summer, when the grasses around the pond are high, grasshoppers and other insects abound. The classes have seen and learned the meaning of succession as they see how the wetlands change and become richer from year to year.
If you want more information on how to build a wetland, write to Bill Timm c/o Mount Carroll School District, 300 S. Main, Mount Carroll, IL 61053.
Wetland Wonders, a 67-page book of information and activities about wetlands, comes with a poster to color, and a set of 24 high quality wetland slides. It is available through the Illinois Natural History Survey Distribution Center, 607 East Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820. Cost $7.