Dist. 220 students are ‘citizen scientists’

Fourth-graders in Barrington Area Unit District 220 were citizen scientists in September and early October. They hiked, created drawings, took plant measurements and did the important work of collecting seed for prairie preservation during a field trip to the prairie nearest their school — Grigsby Prairie, Spring Creek Prairie or Flint Creek Savanna.

This collaborative program between Citizens for Conservation and the school district, part of the Prairie Preservation unit of the fourth-grade science curriculum, is in its third year.

It involves the coordination of scores of volunteers from Citizens for Conservation, Friends of Spring Creek Forest Preserves and parents.

An advance team of speakers from Citizens for Conservation made visits to all eight schools’ fourth-graders to help them prepare for their roles as citizen scientists and their day on the prairie where they collected seed of big bluestem, little bluestem and Indian grass.

Thank-you notes from the fourth graders indicate that the opportunity for students to engage in the authentic work of “doing science” in Barrington’s distinctive prairie environment and connecting more with the natural world is fun and memorable.

As one young student wrote, “I love prairies. I felt like I was at home.”