A trip here is really something different and maybe technically not in the city. The USDA is in the middle of restoring a large portion of tallgrass prairie where the Joliet Arsenal used to be. Better yet, it's in the middle of other areas reserved for wildlife, so it's a large contiguous stretch of more-or-less wild country. Apparently they're going to have a herd of bison there in the near future, but I digress.
There is a small visitor center on Rt. 53, which is where I took the picture above. The staff was helpful, so helpful that you might get the feeling that the number of visitors is low. The history of the area was on display, particularly how the settlers turned the prairie into farms and arsenal, but you're here for the prairie. Maps and the like are at the visitor center. If you've not been here or don't live near here, you probably ought to go to the visitor center first.
We hiked on a trail that was both in the sun and in the shade, so be prepared for both, but mostly sun. There aren't many trees in the fully restored sections of prairie. There were a lot of grasshoppers, and by the creek we saw a lot of frogs. Like pestilential levels of frogs.
How this pertains to elementary grade students
This trip is both a science and a social studies sort of thing. For the science, you can talk about the grassland biome (or whatever they're calling it these days). I pointed out how the grasshoppers were in the sun but the frogs were near the water. Different living things need different conditions.
For the history, I told my daughter that this is what much of Illinois looked like before the settlers came west. Since there is so little prairie, and what of it there is is in small clumps, the bigger portions are something to see. I cannot imagine how the first settlers dealt with it. Prairie is a very dense. (Fire does come to mind though.)
There is a small visitor center on Rt. 53, which is where I took the picture above. The staff was helpful, so helpful that you might get the feeling that the number of visitors is low. The history of the area was on display, particularly how the settlers turned the prairie into farms and arsenal, but you're here for the prairie. Maps and the like are at the visitor center. If you've not been here or don't live near here, you probably ought to go to the visitor center first.
We hiked on a trail that was both in the sun and in the shade, so be prepared for both, but mostly sun. There aren't many trees in the fully restored sections of prairie. There were a lot of grasshoppers, and by the creek we saw a lot of frogs. Like pestilential levels of frogs.
How this pertains to elementary grade students
This trip is both a science and a social studies sort of thing. For the science, you can talk about the grassland biome (or whatever they're calling it these days). I pointed out how the grasshoppers were in the sun but the frogs were near the water. Different living things need different conditions.
For the history, I told my daughter that this is what much of Illinois looked like before the settlers came west. Since there is so little prairie, and what of it there is is in small clumps, the bigger portions are something to see. I cannot imagine how the first settlers dealt with it. Prairie is a very dense. (Fire does come to mind though.)
No comments:
Post a Comment