Lake Zurich students present study on Cuba Marsh

A third-grade class at May Whitney Elementary School recently studied invasive plant species that are changing and damaging the ecosystem at Cuba Marsh and will present their findings this week.

The students will present their findings to Lake County Forest Preserve District officials Monday, Feb. 22, at May Whitney Elementary School at 10 a.m. and at the Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board meeting Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at the Lake Zurich High School library.

The student project used inquiry based learning strategies to investigate, understand, and research solutions for a real-world problem in the community. During the unit, students learned about life cycles, adaptations, food chains, and how they impact ecosystems.

The students wrote a paragraph titled "The Problem at Cuba Marsh" that represents the information they gathered and will present.

Here's what they wrote:

"We went on a field trip to Cuba Marsh and met Eileen Davis from the Lake County Forest Preserve. She took us on a tour and showed us what we could find at a marsh. There is a BIG problem at Cuba Marsh! The European Buckthorn and Garlic Mustard are threatening the natural habitat. The Buckthorn is covering other plants so they can't receive sunlight. The Garlic Mustard is spreading everywhere and there is no room for the other plants to grow.

These plants can spread to other areas. These invasive plants are breaking the food chain. For example, the Buckthorn is killing other plants that may be food for an animal. That animal will now die. Also, if a specific animal has an adaptation to a specific plant the animal cannot survive.

Here are some possible solutions. You need to pull Garlic Mustard out of the ground, roots and all, preferably during the first year of its life cycle. Then put the Garlic Mustard plants in a black bag so the sun can turn it into a liquid. You need to chop down the Buckthorn trees and carefully paint herbicide on the tree stump. You may need to contact a trained person.

Community members can come out to Cuba Marsh on pulling days to help get rid of these invasive plants. They also need to get rid of these plants in their own backyard so they don't travel back to Cuba Marsh.

Now that we have possible solutions we will be presenting our findings to a panel of four from the Lake County Forest Preserve. We will also be presenting to the Board of Education, explaining how our learning was different from what we would normally have done."