Grade 2 students at Marlboro Elementary School recently enjoyed having their science curriculum come to life through the school’s annual partnership with the Mohonk Preserve.
Earlier this month, the students were named "Pond Keepers" and were given the responsibility of taking care of a real pond and its living creatures for two weeks. During that time, the Dukes were able to study organisms including tadpoles, snails, dragonfly nymphs, backswimmers, water scorpions, caddisfly larvae, and more. The experience taught the students about the diversity of pond life and how all of the creatures in the habitat rely on one another to survive.
During a closing program on March 21, a program educator from Mohonk visited classrooms to recap what the students had learned about the uniqueness of the pond ecosystem. During the recap lesson, students played a rousing game of “Jeopardy” that had them choosing categories and earning points for each question they were able to answer.