Creation
of a Food Web: Students should use their checklist of organisms that
are found in Ninigret Salt Pond and draw a food web using these organisms.
Students can also create comparison food webs of organisms from different
environments.
Travel
Brochure: Students will use the information provided to them in this
web site to create a travel brochure for the Ninigret Salt Pond in Charlestown,
Rhode Island. They should be encouraged to attract visitors to the
area, but at the same time, educate them about the fragile environment
they will be traveling to.
Barrier
Beach Mobile: Young elementary students will enjoy creating a salt
pond mobile which displays the plant and fish life encountered during their
virtual field trip. Obtain black and white pictures of life found
at the salt pond. Organize these pictures onto a worksheet.
Your students can color, cut, and hang these pictures from a clothes hanger.
Certain students may be stimulated by researching the accurate colors associated
with these life forms.
Poetry
Writing: Students can compose various forms of poetry which express
their knowledge of the salt pond. Incorporation of emotion and the
senses should be encouraged to describe their virtual field trip experience.
Reading
and Organizing Data: Using the table provided in the
field trip journal, students can create graphs which represent the average
number of the various species of fish and sea life gathered during the
seining process. Graphs of all types can be used to organize this
data.
Persuasive
Writing: The Ninigret Salt Pond is used by many people for various
activities. Have your students take the perspective of one of the
salt pond users, for example: the swimmer, the quahogger, the beach goer,
the wind surfer, or the environmentalist. Have the students explain
in essay form why they feel other users of the salt pond interfere with
their use of the salt pond. Why should other users of the salt pond
not be allowed in the area?
Interview
and Research Skills: Students can invite the Department of Environmental
Management to visit the classroom. Students can inquire as to the
purposes for the opening of the Ninigret breech way and the effects that
it appears to have had on the life forms native to the area. They
should discuss the effects of tourism on the Ninigret Salt Pond and be
informed on how they might help in maintaining it in the future years to
come. To further investigate, students can independently research
other salt ponds in Rhode Island. In a research paper, they can relate
the information they gathered and draw conclusions based on their research.
