WONDERFUL WETLANDS

Ready Your Habitat
Before we start mixing materials, let’s set up an environment for our wetland to live:

1. Place the paint tray liner in the paint tray.
2. Next, let’s use one block of modeling clay create a levee -- or a wall or dam -- toward the bottom of the paint tray’s slope (about two-thirds of the way down should work just fine). This will help to keep your water from overflowing.Tip: Be sure to roll out the clay for your levee until you have a long flat surface, about the size and shape of a ruler. Once you have done this, you can use your clay to divide the tray into sections. Stick each end of your clay wall against the sides of the paint tray to keep it in place.

Create Your Soil
The makeup and saturation of a wetland’s soil is important, because it determines how plants and other living things will grow in and around it.

1. Before adding any materials to your wetland, it’s important to make sure they are clean. Rinse both your activated charcoal and aquarium gravel in a strainer.
2. Put 2 tablespoons of activated charcoal – which will represent carbon stored inside the earth – on the very bottom of the paint tray. Feel free to spread it around.
3. Add 1 cup of aquarium gravel over the charcoal in your paint tray. The gravel will imitate the rocks and stones found on the earth’s surface.
4. Now it’s time to add your natural filter by placing the elements you collected outside on top of the gravel. The vegetation and mulch you collected will imitate the plants, roots, and other natural elements that you would find in a wetland.

 
Create Your Water Mixture
Now that you’ve created a habitat for your wetland, it’s time to see what it can do.

1. Fill the larger measuring cup with 2 cups of clean water.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of Italian dressing to the clean water in the measuring cup. If you don’t have Italian dressing, you can mix ½ tablespoon of cooking oil, ½ tablespoon of vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of dried spice mix to create your own.

 
Just Add Water
Slowly pour the water mixture across the top of the slope in the paint tray. Observe what happens as the water runs down toward the levee and reservoir. Does the empty area of the paint tray flood? Or does it stay dry?
Did You Know? The spices in the salad dressing should simulate debris and other large pollutants, while the oil will simulate grease and oil runoff from roads and parking lots. What do you notice about the oil and spices when you pour the water mixture into the wetland?

Bonus Activity (Optional)
Try different combinations of materials to simulate different areas of the wetland, with some areas having more vegetation, some more gravel, etc. Collect the water in the reservoir and pour it through the wetland again. Observe and record what you see this time.