Peat in Education
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Lesson plans to demonstrate the benefits of wetlands and peat can be easily exercised in the classroom. Increasing awareness through education, both public and in the school system, is an effective tool that can be used to create change.
Lesson plans to demonstrate the benefits of wetlands and peat can be easily exercised in the classroom. Increasing awareness through education, both public and in the school system, is an effective tool that can be used to create change.
Peat experiment
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An easy example of a project that teachers can use in the classroom is to compare decomposition rates under anaerobic (low oxygen) and aerobic (high oxygen) conditions. This can help to illustrate to students how the low oxygen levels present in peatlands leads to the buildup of peat.
Materials required include:
- soil
-2 two cups of the same size (one with a tight fitting lid)
- water
- organic material, such as a banana peel, orange peel, green kitchen waste or fresh leaves
To perform this experiment, fill the two cups 1/4 full of soil. Place the organics on top of the soil, and put more soil in the cup until it is ½ full. Fill the cups with water to just before ¾ full. On one of the cups, place the tight fitting lid. This experiment should be kept outside, just for the sake of possible odour and mess. If these cups are outside, it will also expose the experiment to the ‘natural elements of the outside world’. The cups can be monitored once a week to see the rate of decomposition. Students can examine the contents of the cups with their fingers in the open cup and by shaking the closed cup and also compare smells of the two. This is an especially good idea for outdoor classrooms because you can keep the mess outside!
The contents in the cup with the tight fitting lid should decompose much slower than the contents in the cup without the lid. The lid is to help simulate low-oxygen conditions and also to prevent the water from evaporating to represent water-saturated conditions. The cup without the lid will let the water evaporate and decomposition should happen faster than in the cup with the lid.
An easy example of a project that teachers can use in the classroom is to compare decomposition rates under anaerobic (low oxygen) and aerobic (high oxygen) conditions. This can help to illustrate to students how the low oxygen levels present in peatlands leads to the buildup of peat.
Materials required include:
- soil
-2 two cups of the same size (one with a tight fitting lid)
- water
- organic material, such as a banana peel, orange peel, green kitchen waste or fresh leaves
To perform this experiment, fill the two cups 1/4 full of soil. Place the organics on top of the soil, and put more soil in the cup until it is ½ full. Fill the cups with water to just before ¾ full. On one of the cups, place the tight fitting lid. This experiment should be kept outside, just for the sake of possible odour and mess. If these cups are outside, it will also expose the experiment to the ‘natural elements of the outside world’. The cups can be monitored once a week to see the rate of decomposition. Students can examine the contents of the cups with their fingers in the open cup and by shaking the closed cup and also compare smells of the two. This is an especially good idea for outdoor classrooms because you can keep the mess outside!
The contents in the cup with the tight fitting lid should decompose much slower than the contents in the cup without the lid. The lid is to help simulate low-oxygen conditions and also to prevent the water from evaporating to represent water-saturated conditions. The cup without the lid will let the water evaporate and decomposition should happen faster than in the cup with the lid.
_ENVR 4000 Sustainable Water Management 2012