Students investigate the question, “How can we work together to be stewards of our salt marshes?” by observing a local marsh on a field trip, studying salt marsh plants and animals, and learning from partners such as Bears Bluff, Kiawah Conservancy, Charleston Aquatic, DNR, and Dill Sanctuary. Over 7 weeks, they read and discuss informational texts and non-print sources, ask and answer questions, sequence ideas, and write an informational piece through a Salt Marsh Animal Research/Adoption study. They use weekly project journals with drawings, labels, and voice recordings to reflect on how their thinking about marsh care and teamwork changes, then revise their work after peer feedback. The learning culminates in a presentation or gallery walk with stations featuring animal research/adoption, artifacts, field trip learning, community partners, conservation, and signs of fall in Charleston.

Students will ask and answer questions from books, videos, field observations, and community experts to learn how salt marsh plants and animals live and how people can help protect them. They will explain text features, identify an author’s purpose, and sequence information as they research a salt marsh animal and create an informational writing piece with facts, details, and a concluding statement. Through field sketches, artifact study, journals, and weekly reflection, students will compare plants and animals across habitats, track how their thinking changes, and use feedback to revise their writing and presentation pieces. They will also practice shared decision-making, listening, and speaking clearly as they work with classmates and prepare exhibition stations for families and partners.

Students will create field sketches, labeled observation pages, artifact collections, and weekly project journal entries with drawings, labels, or voice recordings after a marsh or boat field trip and ongoing study with community partners such as Bears Bluff, Kiawah Conservancy, Charleston Aquatic, DNR, and Dill Sanctuary. In teams, they will develop Salt Marsh Animal Research/Adoption pieces that include sequenced facts from print and non-print sources, text-feature examples, and an informational writing piece about an animal, plant, or habitat feature. They will also make exhibition materials for stations on salt marsh animals, artifacts like shells and spartina seeds, the field trip experience, conservation actions, community partners, and what fall looks like in Charleston. By the end, students will revise their writing, journal pages, and presentation pieces after peer feedback and share them in a gallery walk or presentation that shows how their understanding of teamwork and salt marsh stewardship has grown.

Begin with a field trip to a salt marsh or a short boat trip where students use clipboards to sketch what they see, notice marsh plants and animals, and collect questions about how people can care for this habitat. Invite a partner from Bears Bluff, DNR, Kiawah Conservancy, Charleston Aquatic, or Dill Sanctuary to guide observations, share artifacts like shells or spartina seeds, and model how scientists look closely and ask questions. Back in the classroom, students sort their observations into categories such as animals, plants, human impact, and conservation, then co-create a class wonder wall around how we can work together to be stewards of our salt marshes. End by introducing project journals so students can add labeled drawings or voice recordings about what they noticed and how they worked with others.

Host a Salt Marsh Stewardship Museum and gallery walk where 2nd graders present to families, classmates, and community partners from Bears Bluff, Kiawah Conservancy, Charleston Aquatic, DNR, and Dill Sanctuary. Set up student-led stations for Salt Marsh Animal Research/Adoption, marsh artifacts such as shells and spartina seeds, field trip sketches and photos, conservation actions, community partner learning, and “What Fall Looks Like in Charleston,” with students explaining their informational writing, journal pages, drawings, labels, and voice recordings. Invite visitors to ask questions, make animal adoption pledges, and leave feedback, then close with short student presentations about how working together helped them learn to care for the salt marsh.