Join us as an Everglades Explorer

Updated: May 10

We are inviting all homeschoolers to join us this semester in being an everglades explorer. Lessons are available for grade K-8 and can be done at your own pace. Share photos of you doing the lessons to be enter each week to win a prize. We will be posting new lessons each Monday. We also have a few opportunities to explore the everglades in person for those of you that live in South Florida. Let's get started!

Week 1 Lesson - February 7, 2022 - Cypress Dome

Welcome to the Everglades. We will start by exploring this amazing resource. Follow along with Richard Kern from Odyssey Earth as he explores different habitats of the Everglades using a drone with a 360-degree camera. Explore the 360-degree videos on habitats such as the Cypress Dome, Mangrove Swamp, Sawgrass Prairie, Seagrass Meadow, and more! Use your cursor to scroll up, down, and all around to view the habitats. You can use your computer, a smart phone, cardboard VR or VR Goggles to view. Local Students can "borrow" our VR glasses (limited quantity available - email info@surfskatescience.com) Each video comes with a field guide and scavenger hunt questions created by Odyssey Earth. You will use the Field Observation Datesheets to complete a digital field study of the habitats. This week we will explore the Cypress Dome. The cypress dome habitat is one of the most mysterious, fascinating and important habitats in the Everglades. If you’re up for some adventure and don’t mind getting a little muddy, a trip into a cypress dome is an experience you’ll never forget! First, download your 1st field guide here:

https://2feeae1a-1cd0-41cf-a9c1-cce331bd4e47.usrfiles.com/ugd/2feeae_d5eb4899deb14de69dff658f2bb582a8.pdf

Cypress_Dome

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Then, watch the first video here: https://www.odysseyearth.com/videos/cypress-dome-360/ Finish the field guide and take a screen shot of your online quiz. Email these back to info@surfskatescience.com for credit toward your explorer certificate and for you chance to win a monthly prize. Next week we will explore the Mangrove Fringe! Want to explore in person? Here is this week's opportunities Saturday, February 12th (Space is Limited) Try-It Paddling at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge Session 1: 10:00 am Session 2: 11:00 am Session 3: 12:00 pm Loxahatchee Adventures invites you to try paddling a canoe or kayak on the refuge! Locations at Lee Road (Boynton Beach) and Hillsboro boat ramps (west end of Loxahatchee Road, west of Boca Raton) Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Sessions last approximately one hour. Space is limited, reserve your spot online. Cypress Swamp Boardwalk ToursFebruary 9, 2022 at 9:00 am February 10, 2022 at 1:30 pmFebruary 12, 2022 at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm Join a refuge naturalist for a walking tour of the 0.4-mile Cypress Swamp Boardwalk to learn about the plants and wildlife that live in the cypress swamp. Meet behind the visitor center. Groups of 5 or more should make reservations by February 3 by contacting Veronica_Kelly@fws.gov. Marsh Trail Guided WalksFebruary 7 at 2:00 pmFebruary 9 at 10:00 amFebruary 11 at 10:00 am Join a refuge naturalist on a one-mile guided walk to explore the Marsh Trail. This area of the refuge is similar to the habitat found inside the 141,000-acre Refuge Interior to the west and it contrasts with the 400-acre Cypress Swamp to the north. Along the way we will look for wildlife and discuss the different habitats of the Everglades and some of the key native plant species that call the refuge home. Meet at Marsh Trail Pavilion. Groups of 5 or more should make reservations by February 3 by contacting Veronica_Kelly@fws.gov. LILA ToursFebruary 8 at 10:00 am (bilingual tour, Spanish and English)February 8 at 11:00 am (bilingual tour, Spanish and English)February 10 at 9:30 amFebruary 10 at 10:30 am Join tour leaders from South Water Management District for a walking tour to learn about the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment – or LILA for short. LILA is a working model of the Everglades and the world's largest living laboratory. Space is limited, register by February 3 by emailing catherine@loxahatcheefriends.com.

Week 2 Lesson - February 14, 2022 - Mangrove Fringe

Welcome to Week 2 of our Everglades Explorer class. This week we are exploring the mangrove fringe. Grab some google cardboard VR google and explore this habitat in 360 degrees here: https://www.odysseyearth.com/videos/mangrove-fringe-360/ If you look at South Florida from above, the coast is fringed with…houses and hotels. But go back in time and you would have seen dense forests of mangroves. The coastal Everglades is still loaded with mangroves, which is a really good thing. Watch the video, use the field guide (click the button below) and take the quiz to identify three things you might encounter in an Everglades cypress dome. Good luck!

Mangrove-fringe-360-field-guide

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Guided Note-Taking Sheet

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Mangroves

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Send us a photo of you exploring a local mangrove habitat and learning about mangrove through this lesson to be entered in our February giveaway. Vocabulary List

Mangal: a community or forest of mangrove trees
Lenticel: a pore-like structure found on vascular plants that is designed to absorb oxygen and for the exchange of other gases
Pneumatophore: specialized aerial roots that enable certain plants to breathe air in waterlogged habitats, similar to a snorkel. Black mangroves have pneumatophores, and cypress knees are also considered pneumatophores. The surface of these pneumatophores are covered with lenticels
Exclusion: keeping apart; blocking an entrance
Aerial roots - Short roots above ground.
Brackish water - Fresh water mixed with saltwater
Drop roots - Roots that hang down from the branches of the upper stem.
Ecosystem services - Natural services that support life on earth and are essential to the quality of human life and to the functioning of the world’s economy.
Facultative halophytes - Plants that can live in either fresh or salty water.
Mangroves - A term for a variety of tree species and a habitat associated with brackish water. There are three main types of mangroves: red, black, and white. Mangroves provide a primary line of defense against hurricanes. LAB SUPPLIES:
2 Shallow Trays
Sand
Water
Red, Black & White Pipe Cleaners
Straw
Rule
Scissors

Mangroves are one of the most highly adapted species in the Everglades watershed. They have evolved a specialized root system and physiological mechanisms that ideally suit them to their specialized niche as the interface between land and sea along the coastline. This lesson on mangroves is a perfect vehicle for characterizing how biotic components can define an ecosystem. There are three species of true mangroves that live in Florida: red, black, and white. A fourth tree – the buttonwood, is closely related to the white mangrove and is sometimes considered a mangrove, but is intolerant of flooding, and is not limited to coastal mangrove swamps. The red mangrove’s shallow prop roots extend from the lower stem like arching spider legs, giving it the nickname “the walking tree.” Drop roots hang down from the branches of the upper stem. The parts of the roots that are above ground (and above water) contain small pores or lenticels that allow the roots to take in oxygen, which then moves down through the tissue and prevents water and salt from entering during high tide. The waxy, dark green leaves of the red mangrove are larger than those of the other mangrove species, and help the tree retain water. The red mangrove gets its name from the reddish layer just beneath its thin grayish bark. Its seedling, or propagule, is long and cigar shaped. The red mangrove grows closest to the coast and is even found in off-shore mud flats, and sand bars.

The black mangrove is typically found more inland. Its root system consists of shallow cables that radiate outward many feet away from the stem. Peg-like aerial roots called pneumatophores extend upwards from the cable roots. These pneumatophores contain lenticels that help in oxygen exchange. The black mangrove gets its name from the dark, blackish bark. The leaves have a silvery underside and are able to excrete salt. Its propagule looks like a lima bean. The white mangrove is found even further inland and its root system is able to exclude salt by filtering brackish water, freshwater mixed with saltwater. It is the smallest of the true mangroves and has oval shaped leaves with a distinct gland-like opening on the leaf stem, called a petiole. White mangroves also have pneumatophores like the black mangrove. Mangroves serve important ecosystem services in coastal communities, by helping protect the fragile coastline from erosion during storm surge. Mangroves also contribute to the growth of new land by trapping organic debris in their root system. They shed part of their leaves throughout the year, adding to that buildup. Preparation: 1. Gather materials.

2. Cut pipe cleaners in half (6 inch lengths).

3. Build sample model to show class (optional), or draw a sketch on the board of where to place the mangroves in the model (see diagram of mangrove models).

4. Have materials for each group’s station in place: sand, water in beakers, pipe cleaners, trays, and ruler. Directions:

You are going to construct two models to demonstrate the role mangroves play in the coastal community. One model will include mangroves, the other will not.
In each tray, students will: create a shoreline by placing a 3 to 4 inch pile of sand at one end of the tray. On one of the models, use the colored pipe-cleaners to simulate the three kinds of mangroves. Securely insert the pipe-cleaners into the sand. For red mangroves: twist together 4 sections of red pipe-cleaners at their mid-point to form the trunk and spread the ends apart to form prop roots. Add a coastal fringe of 3 red mangroves along the coast- line from side to side of the tray by interlocking the simulated prop roots and pushing them down into the sand. For black mangroves: twist 4 black pipe cleaners together but spread the simulated roots apart and flatten them like spokes of a wheel. Use one “spoke” to anchor the mangrove in the sand. Add pneumatophores by twisting the ends of the pipe cleaner so that they project upwards. Place the black mangroves in a band behind the red mangroves so that the pneumatophores stick up above the surface. Make 3 black mangroves. For white mangroves: twist 4 white pipe cleaners together. Spread the “roots” and stick them straight through the sand behind the black mangroves. Make 3 white mangroves.
Add more sand to cover the base of the mangrove root systems in the model. Add water to the model to a depth of about one third of the tray. For the mangrove model, make sure the water covers the lower part of the prop roots of the red mangrove and covers all the roots of the black mangroves so that only the pneumatophores project above the water.
Add the same amount of water to the model with no mangroves.
With a ruler, measure the depth of the sand just above the water line in each model. Create a data table and record this measurement. If students are not using science journals, have them create a data table on a piece of paper.
Use a ruler to simulate waves by placing it in the water end of the tray and moving it gently back and forward for 30 waves. Push it strongly towards the "beach" to simulate storm surge about 5 times. Repeat this procedure in the model with no mangroves.
Observe the results. In the same spot that you measured initially, take the measurement again of the depth of the sand. Repeat this procedure in the model with no mangroves. Record your results on your data table. Observe the amount of sand that has spilled into the water in each model.
Share your results with us by emailing your graph and photos to info@surfskatescience.com. How do mangroves help protect our coastlines and our local wildlife? This week’s field trip opportunities:
Today is the last day to register for our Everglades airboat ride RSVP
Explore a local park with mangroves and try to identify the different species. Here are some parks we recommend but you can find mangroves at many parks that line the intracoastal waterways.
Deerfield Island Park
Anne Kolb Nature Center
Holland Park
West Lake Park
Secret Wood Nature Center
Mizell Johnson State Park
Oleta Rive State Park
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Par

Week 3 Lesson - February 21, 2022 - River of Grass

Week 4 Lesson - February 28, 2022 - Seagrass Beds

Seagrasses don’t get enough love, but they’re really, really, super important. Follow us on a 360 tour of a typical seagrass meadow to find out why.

Watch the video, use the field guide (click the button below) and take the quiz to identify three things you might encounter in an Everglades seagrass meadow.

Watch the video, here:

https://www.odysseyearth.com/videos/seagrass-meadow-360/

Then use the field guide and take the quiz to identify three things you might encounter in an Everglades seagrass meadow.

Download the field Guide here

Then finish and complete the Field Data sheet. Download below. If you are unable to download, go to this link.

Everglades_Seagrass

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Download PDF • 159KB

Seagrass live in the coastal waters of most of the worlds’ continents. They are the main diet of manatee and sea turtles. Sea turtles, manatees, parrotfish, surgeonfish, sea urchins and pinfish feed on Florida seagrasses. Many other smaller animals feed on the epiphytes and invertebrates that live on and among seagrass blades.

Seagrasses absorb nutrients from coastal run-off and stabilize sediment, helping to keep the water clear.

In order for seagrass to grow, the water must have a critical balance of temperature, salinity, waves, currents, depth, substrate and sunlight. If the balance is thrown off, the seagrass habitat can die.

Seagrasses are one of Biscayne Bay's critical habitats. Seagrass beds serve as a food source, a habitat for small marine organisms, and they regulate water quality by stabilizing sediments and cycling nutrients. However, seagrass cover in the Bay has drastically declined over the last decade.

Seagrass coverage over the last 10 years:

Seagrass coverage has significantly declined in Biscayne Bay over the last 10-20 years. The most notable area in Biscayne Bay experiencing this decline is near the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Seagrass coverage decreased by nearly 90% in some areas around the Causeway. The problem with seagrass decline is that once it's removed from the ecosystem, it's very hard to restore and recover.

Google Satellite images of seagrass coverage, represented in darker shading, near Julia Tuttle Causeway in 2011 (pictured left), contrasted with coverage in 2016.

High volumes of nutrients from leaky septic systems and sewage spills (SSOs) as well as fertilizer runoff are a few of the contributing factors causing the decline in seagrass coverage. As an estuary, Biscayne Bay requires both fresh and saltwater to support its diverse ecosystem. While the Bay receives freshwater through the region's intricate canal system, the quality of that freshwater can be poor. This poor water quality is having measurable impacts on the Bay and is likely contributing to the localized seagrass die-offs we are seeing in the Bay.

Interested in learning more about how you can improve local water quality? Read more HERE.

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