Warren Students Recognize Earth Day

Approximately 200 students from Beaty Middle School completed activities in planting, removal of non-native invasive plants, and seeding during Earth Day week, April 22-24; they put finishing touches on their projects on May 7, 2008. Environmental Science teachers Jeremy Criswell and Wendy Gray, and Physical Science teacher Carolyn Yurick, led the students through their Earth Day activities on the school grounds along Conewango Creek.

Earth Day week kicked off on 4/22 when 200 students planted 80 trees and shrubs provided by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The white pine, red oak, and mountain ash trees will provide winter thermal cover and fall/winter food for wildlife in the form of berries and acorns. The silky dogwood shrubs will produce berries in the fall. The message to students was that by planting trees and shrubs, and providing more of a streamside buffer, they can help wildlife, air quality, and water quality.

Approximately 180 students worked on removal of non-native invasive plants, such as garlic mustard, on April 23 and 24. The students learned firsthand from Forest Service hydrologist Chuck Keeports and ecologist April Moore, and Watershed Specialist Jean Gomory of the Warren County Conservation District. The message to students was that non-native invasive plants can displace native plants and disrupt ecological processes because ‘everything is connected’. An example of disruption in ecological processes is when garlic mustard plants outcompete native toothwort plants and interfere with the life cycle of a rare butterfly.

On May 6, the students got their hands dirty as they gained hands-on experience on constructing terraces on side hills to slow erosion, and planted native wildflowers and grass seed mixes to revegetate the disturbed soils. Students planted 16 silver maples donated by the Warren County Conservation District and 30 willow and dogwood plugs donated by the Conewango Watershed Association. The Conewango Watershed Association purchased their plugs with a grant from the Dominion Foundation and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The message to students was that invasive short-lived plants can temporarily slow erosion, and native long-lived plants, which have deeper roots and are adapted to the climate, are needed to slow erosion for a long time.

A highlight of the week was the opportunity for ninety students to work with Wildlife Conservation Officer Dave Donachy of Warren County to build bluebird houses. Officer Donachy gave a presentation about bluebirds. The students and teachers thank the Northern Allegheny Conservation Association for providing a grant of $700+ for supplies for Earth Day week.

The students have more work planned. In early June they will hang their bluebird nest boxes so the boxes will be available for the second nesting season. The students will mulch the trail along Conewango Creek and line it with stones. One student constructed a bat house as part of a ‘learning about threatened and endangered species of Pennsylvania’ project. This bat house will be mounted in early June, too.